Solved: Memory upgrade

I have an old Dell Dimension 8200 (it's now a little over 5 years old). It has 512MB of RAM and I was thinking about upgrading it. I've been reading that since it runs with RDRAM (PC800, 184 pin RIMM) that I should only put that kind of memory in there. My friend (who has upgraded memory in a countless number of systems but is no technician by any means) says it's ok if I put 2 256MB DDR memory modules in there (I know that the system requires memory modules to be installed in pairs). I don't think it's a good idea to put the DDR in here, but I wanted to know for sure. I was thinking that I just buy two of the PC800 RDRAM modules. Thoughts?

 

RDRAM is not the same as DDR RAM. The type of memory you have is incredibly expensive. A 512MB chip is about $290 dollars. I believe some boards accepted two different types of RAM, either RDRAM or DDR, but you can't mix and match. If you have RDRAM now, exclusively, you have to either upgrade with that or replace it completely.

 

That's exactly what I thought but I wanted to make sure, thanks for clearing it up for me.

 

I highly suggest against blowing over $500 on RAM for a 5 year old computer. You can buy a new system with that.

 

Don't know if u guys are still around but I have a delima on the same pc trying to figure out what exactly is the type of RAm I have in it. I get conflicting answer's from varying sources. Can anyone help?