You shouldn't have to pay others to do it!
Jun 12 '00 (Updated Sep 11 '06)
The Bottom Line Installing Ram is an Easy Process
Ok stop everything for one second, I want to share something that I have written with a friend. This person works at Best Buy with me. Its called my "Taking out the Trash" hand-book. The paragraph is just a short portion of our book…
"Picture this: a guy walks up to the counter and you ask him if he needs any help. He says that he needs more memory. Harmless enough, right? So you ask him if he means hard drive space or RAM or what? But then what does he do?!!? He gives you this part confused, part terrified look that only a deer gives to a pair of speeding headlights. What the F!@K?!!? Then after he gives you his fifteen-minute dissertation on what his computer is doing and why he needs more memory, you finally decipher that he needs more RAM. But then you forget, and dare to ask him what type of RAM. He gives you that same deer-in-headlights look only now its all terror and no confusion and you can start to smell urine. So what do you do? The light bulb turns on and you decide that despite this guys unintelligible bantering you magically pretend to realize what he needs, grab some EDO RAM chips, ring him out, and boot his @$$ up out of my store. LATER BUDDY!"
However this is an everyday thing, and believe me it gets old fast! Now that you’re refreshed and ready to have fun learning here we go! Just kidding I’ll make this as painless as possible. :)
Installing Ram is simple and you shouldn't have to pay a tech or so called-friend to do it. Ram is easier than changing oil in your car and less time consuming. I believe that installing ram is a stepping-stone to learning more about what goes on inside your computer. (Plus it gives you a good excuse to look inside the unit!!!)
People pay for this?
Why you ask
**Now IF you don't know what you’re doing, I fully agree with NOT messing around inside of an expensive piece of equipment.**
There is always the chance of:
1.) Frying the motherboard or other vital component, (Static Shock).
2.) Breaking a board, chip, or other "thing" in the unit.
3.) Damaging the RAM or card your installing in the PC.
4.) Just plain screwing "something!" up.
So with these warnings, sometimes it’s smart to let someone else do it. As for Ram, just take your time, relax, and follow the simple instructions. These instructions are usually located in your owner manual or in the box when you buy the RAM chip. My instructions are somewhat accurate, sometimes I might confuse you, so read the actual instructions given with your RAM chip.
I install ram like this:
1.) Shut off & unplug the computer from the outlet.
2.) Take the cover off your computer.
3.) Remove the Ram from packaging.
4.) *Put on your static free wrist guard before digging around inside your computer.
5.) Look at the other Ram chip in the computer, there should be on inside already (this helps you see which way the Ram goes so its not upside-down), line up the new chip in the empty slot…
6.) Gently apply pressure at a 45-degree angle to the empty slot, and push in towards the slot centering the chip. Make sure the “clips” which hold the ram chip, are in the out position, *NOTE: some connector clips automatically move while applying pressure.
7.) Make sure the connectors line up, and push down to secure the chip. *You shouldn’t have to exert too much force… The clips should be firmly holding the Ram in place.
* Anti-Static wrist guards prevent you from “frying your motherboard” or other vital component in your PC. If you don’t have a wrist guard, you can get anti-static mats or in extreme cases you can ground yourself. This can be done by touching the metal part of your computer, which tends to “ground” and prevents any electric shock to your computer, do this BEFORE touching anything else inside the unit. I recommend being safe and using the $3 wrist guard.
Umm, I don't know anything about my computer what RAM do I get?
I've become an expert at deciphering inadequate information from people.
Me: Well Sir, we have Fastpage, EDO, SDRAM (PC 66, PC 100, We don’t carry PC 133 MHZ Bus yet), and SO-DIMM 144Pin (NOTEBOOK MEMORY).
The average person: Uhh...err.umm, yea, I have--duh...A computer.
For me its process of elimination
I'll ask the brand of PC, the processor speed (MHZ), processor type (Pentium?), and how old the unit is??? These are all basic questions people SHOULD know about there computer. This will help your sales person figure out what kind of RAM you'll need. A smart idea is bring in your manuals that came with your computer this contains your Ram types and other information.
Differences in Ram
Well what is the difference & what do I get???
Fastpage RAM: This is typically used on older units usually on: 486 units up to the Pentium 166 MHZ. If you have a Pentium Processor you must upgrade as pairs. Example: buy 2-16MB or 2-32MB Fastpage chips place them side-by-side in the ram banks. (Don’t buy a 16MB & a 32MB chip and put them together.) Your max for Fastpage Pentium class chipsets is 128MB. However if you don’t have a Pentium you may buy one chip and slide it in an open bank/ram slot. Fastpage memory may sometimes be interchangeable with different EDO-chipsets; the truth is EDO is faster. Although they are both 72-pin and look the same they aren’t). Lets say I have EDO in my computer (16MB) that’s two eight meg chips. Most of the time if I took out the EDO and put in just Fastpage it would work. I don’t recommend this because again Fastpage is slower.
EDO RAM: EDO is Faster than Fastpage, typically by 10ns (nano-seconds). The same rule applies for EDO as well as Fastpage, buy in pairs! EDO is usually used in chipsets of the Pentium class, from 120MHZ-233MHZ speeds. EDO cannot be used in a chipset that requires Fastpage. Trust me people do this all the time and believe me they get angry when their computer doesn’t power up. Your max for EDO is typically 128MB because you have 4 slots, and the biggest RAM chips they make for Fastpage/EDO is 32MB. Sometime you can get 64MB chips, but the computer doesn’t handle them well, not to mention I’ve never seen them.
SD-RAM 66Bus, 100bus ,133 Bus Mainly used in all Pentium II’s, AMD-K6 2’s, or in the Intel Celeron processor. The 66MHZ bus speeds start with the lower classes of upper Pentium speeds 200MHZ-300MHZ (I’ve seen computers that used DIMMS at 166MHZ?!!? Go Fig?). ***Some Motherboards have the capability to use SIMMS and/or DIMMS, never mix the two. Instead use either the 2 DIMM slots or the 4 SIMM slots. This prevents many errors/conflicts by not mixing the RAM. The PC-100MHZ bus RAM is for the Pentium II’s/III’s because they have a Front side bus speed of 100MHZ. I don’t know too much about the 133MHZ BUS-RAM or the 200MHZ BUS-RAM… We don’t carry it, but I believe it’s self-explanatory.
I know some of you are bored to death, however I want you to know I’ve estimated most of the MHZ speeds. I’ve tried to give you a basic idea of what I know to be true, with what Ram I’ve sold.
Thanks for reading this and remember RAM is just as important as the video card or power supply because without Ram your computer won’t even start!
---DeRango
Questions E-mail me or Post a comment about my story if you liked it, I’ll be happy to explain anything.
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