User:Gordon/Memory Wall Maintenance
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Hey everybody! This page exists in my user space for now because I created it here, but please feel free to edit it as needed. --Gordon (talk) 01:05, 7 October 2009 (UTC)
Problems
- Many of the memory tester motherboards on the "memory wall" are in bad shape, with bad slots, missing or loose RAM clips, etc.
- The mixture of motherboard types may no longer reflect the stream of incoming RAM, as well as Free Geek's priorities in testing it.
- We have pounds (literally) of SDRAM in Tardis. A lot of SDRAM still comes in, but it is now very rarely used in build. We already reject PC100 and the PC133 keeps piling up. There is too much to sell in the store and the asking price isn't great.
- DDR volume is increasing, as is DDR2. DDR3 is just beginning to trickle in very slowly, but when we get it would be nice to sell whatever we don't keep for infrastructure for big bucks in the store.
State of the Motherboards, October 2009
At the beginning of October 2009, I took stock of the motherboards on the memory wall.
| board | capacity | status | RAMBUS | SDRAM | DDR | DDR2 | DDR3 | proposed replacement | RAMBUS | SDRAM | DDR | DDR2 | DDR3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RAMBUS 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | DDR 4 slot | OK | 4 | replaced Oct 14! | 4 | |||||||||
| 3 | DDR 2 / SDRAM 2 slot | OK | (2) | (2) | none | (2) | (2) | |||||||
| 4 | DDR 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| 5 | DDR 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| 6 | DDR2 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| 7 | SDRAM 3 slot | 3 slots marginal | 3 | DDR3 board | 3-4 | |||||||||
| 8 | DDR 2 / DDR2 2 slot | OK | (2) | (2) | none | (2) | (2) | |||||||
| 9 | DDR 4 slot | runs all as DDR266; reports incorrectly | 4 | DDR 4 slot | 4 | |||||||||
| A | SDRAM 4 slot | 1 slot bad | 3 | DDR2 4 slot | 4 | |||||||||
| B | DDR2 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| C | DDR 3 slot | 2 slots marginal | 3 | DDR 4 slot | 4 | |||||||||
| D | DDR 2 / SDRAM 2 slot | OK | (2) | (2) | none | (2) | (2) | |||||||
| E | nonexistent | immediate replace | DDR2 4 slot | 4 | ||||||||||
| F | DDR 4 slot | OK | 4 | none | 4 | |||||||||
| G | SDRAM 4 slot | 2 slots marginal | 4 | SDRAM 4 slot | 4 | |||||||||
| TOTALS | 4 | 10(4) | 23(6) | 8(2) | 0 | 4 | 4(4) | 24(6) | 16(2) | 3-4 |
Replacements Needed
- 1 SDRAM 4-slot board
- This must be a Pentium III or equivalent; Pentium II and slot-based processors almost never support PC133. Very old boards will not work. 1GHz bare minimum processor is a good rule of thumb.
- 2 DDR 4-slot boards
- If possible, before bringing from pre-build ensure that they support up to PC3200 (DDR-400).
- 2 DDR2 4-slot boards
- Must support DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) minimum, DDR2-1066 (PC2-8600) if possible.
- 1 DDR3 board, 3-4 slots
- Try to get a board supporting DDR3-1600, but 1333 or 1066 would do in the interim. The smaller heat sink the better. Good luck with this one.
For pre-build volunteers, this could be simplified to "show all 4-slot motherboards to a pre-build instructor" and then have the instructor check the boards for usability and pass them on to advanced testing.
Advanced Testers Needed
I'm only in for a solid block of time on Saturdays. Thus, if somebody (George?) could communicate to people in advanced testing that we are trying to test some boards with an eye to use as memory testers, that would be helpful.
- Should put something on the wall listing the type and number of boards we need.
- Need a well-labeled special box for boards that pass muster to go into, so I or somebody else can come along and replace the dying boards with them according to the plan above.