Greetings Carlos and list--
----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos E. Camacho <[log in to unmask]>

I've interspersed my responses to the following questions.  I
hope they are of some help.

> I own a Pentium 200MHz, MMX PC whose motherboard accepts SIMMs
and DIMMs as
> RAM memory combined.

While there are some motherboards that will permit this, it is my
opinion that, given the usual
voltage and speed differences (SIMMS are [I believe] 5.5 V and
60ns [EDO]; DIMMS are [I
believe 3.3 V and anywhere between 4 and 10 ns in speed), it is
still not a good idea to mix
the two types of memory.

> From the factory, it came with two SIMMs for a total of 32 MB
in RAM. Then,
> I added one 32 MB SDRAM DIMM strip, getting 64MB of RAM. The
computer has
> been working with no problems since then.
>
> Willing to get more speed, I bought one 64MB 8x64 3.3V SDRAM
DIMM 66MHZ to
> a friend. After adding this memory, I got only 80MB total RAM.
That means
> from the 64MB available, only 16MB were recognized. Even with
the added
> memory, the speed was not as good as before with only the first
64MB.
>

The other issue here is the chipset your motherboard is equipped
with.  If you have a VX
chipset, you are effectively limited to 64 MB of RAM.  There is a
way to get past this barrier,
in the form of adding a TAG RAM chip.  I have never seen this
done, although if an empty
socket is present on the motherboard for this type of chip, the
process should be fairly
straightforward.  Consult your owner's manual.  I have such a
motherboard, but no empty
socket is present for a TAG RAM chip.  I have been told that such
an operation can be
accomplished by soldering the necessary components in/on, but I
have no desire to attempt
this.  Additionally, the slow-down you mention is a symptom of
the memory above 64 MB not
being cached.

HTH and good luck,
Paul A. Shippert           Library/Media Specialist
"   . . . and your wise men don't know how it feels
   to be thick as a brick."  Jethro Tull
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