Memory: "Am I missing something?"

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Below the response I got from OWC to an e-mail I sent them.



I was under the impression that PC100 CL2 is the better/faster memory, hence my question, "Am I missing something?" :confused:



- T.I.



---------------------



Robert --

We often substitute newer PC133 memory for PC100 memory for no additional charge when our stock of PC100 is insufficient to fulfill an order. It is fully compatible and should perform up to PC100 CL2 standards in your machine.

Regards,

Dennis



-----Original Message-----



From: Robert



Dennis --



after all this to-ing and fro-ing, I received the memory yesterday. I had ordered "PC100 / CL2".



Your paper work says, "PC100 / CL2".



What I got was, "PC133 / CL3".



Yours . . .
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    cherylcheryl Posts: 5member
    Hmm... the only way it might perform up to those standards, is if your Mac had a 133 MHz bus.



    I'd say PC133 CL3 is faster than PC100 CL2, the faster bus speed making up for the difference between CL2 and CL3.



    But, if you have a 100 MHz system bus, the 133 stuff they sent doesn't help you at all. All you "get" is CL3 instead of CL2, which is slower...



    You got ****ed.
  • Reply 2 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by Cheryl:

    <strong>But, if you have a 100 MHz system bus, the 133 stuff they sent doesn't help you at all. All you "get" is CL3 instead of CL2, which is slower... </strong><hr></blockquote>Which is what I feared. I have a Titanium/550. Bus speed 100MHz.



    - T.I.



    [ 03-18-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 22
    cherylcheryl Posts: 5member
    100 MHz Bus on the 550, 133 on the 667s.
  • Reply 4 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by Cheryl:

    <strong>100 MHz Bus on the 550, 133 on the 667s.</strong><hr></blockquote>You beat me to it by 2 mins.



    I think a strongly worded e-mail is on the way to OWC unless anyone else here can convince me that I/we are wrong.



    - T.I.
  • Reply 5 of 22
    stroszekstroszek Posts: 801member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Installer:

    <strong>Below the response I got from OWC to an e-mail I sent them.



    I was under the impression that PC100 CL2 is the better/faster memory, hence my question, "Am I missing something?" :confused:



    - T.I.



    ---------------------



    Robert --

    We often substitute newer PC133 memory for PC100 memory for no additional charge when our stock of PC100 is insufficient to fulfill an order. It is fully compatible and should perform up to PC100 CL2 standards in your machine.

    Regards,

    Dennis



    -----Original Message-----



    From: Robert



    Dennis --



    after all this to-ing and fro-ing, I received the memory yesterday. I had ordered "PC100 / CL2".



    Your paper work says, "PC100 / CL2".



    What I got was, "PC133 / CL3".



    Yours . . .
    </strong><hr></blockquote>





    The same thing happened to me (except that I ordered PC66 and got PC133) They told me that "it would clock itself down and run fine in my system"

    <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=000967"; target="_blank">Here's the thread about my ram...</a>



    I haven't had any problems with it, and figure that when i get a new computer, I've got 256MB of RAM that can go in it. I wouldn't have had that if they had sent me what i had asked for.
  • Reply 6 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>





    The same thing happened to me (except that I ordered PC66 and got PC133) They told me that "it would clock itself down and run fine in my system"

    <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=000967"; target="_blank">Here's the thread about my ram...</a>



    I haven't had any problems with it, and figure that when i get a new computer, I've got 256MB of RAM that can go in it. I wouldn't have had that if they had sent me what i had asked for.</strong><hr></blockquote>My contention is that the RAM they sent me is actually *inferior* to the one I ordered/paid for and will slow down my machine, admittedly by not much, but that is not the point.



    I think you got better RAM than you had ordered.



    - T.I.
  • Reply 7 of 22
    stroszekstroszek Posts: 801member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Installer:

    <strong>My contention is that the RAM they sent me is actually *inferior* to the one I ordered/paid for and will slow down my machine, admittedly by not much, but that is not the point.



    I think you got better RAM than you had ordered.



    - T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Sorry, missed that point. Guess I was reading too fast. Or drinking too much?
  • Reply 8 of 22
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
  • Reply 9 of 22
    stimulistimuli Posts: 564member
    possibly, but not necessarily. Besides, he'd feel better about his purchase if it was the product he ordered.





    Earn your namesake, Installer. Pop it in, and check Apple System Profiler.



    [ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: stimuli ]</p>
  • Reply 10 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by AirSluf:

    <strong>PC133 CL3 has the same absolute latency as PC100 CL2, about 7.5ns or less. OWC did not sell you short, you actually got equivalent memory. - Because the PC133 has to respond to a faster bus speed for the first reply internally it is inherently faster with less cumulative gate delay than the same CL of slower bus memory. In short it can put data in it's outbound buffer in the same time as CL2 PC100 can. Both will be ready to clock data off chip on the same cycle on a PC100 bus.</strong><hr></blockquote>Well, all this *is* absolute news to me. Not wishing to doubt what you are saying, but you are sure that my machine (Titanium/550) would "benefit"?



    [edit: My system bus is 100Mhz,and I have a feeling that I would be better off with CL2 memory, which incidentally is what Apple had popped into my machine, namely PC100/2-2-2S SDR.]



    Thanks.



    - T.I.



    [ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by stimuli:

    <strong>possibly, but not necessarily. Besides, he'd feel better about his purchase if it was the product he ordered. - Earn your namesake, Installer. Pop it in, and check Apple System Profiler.[ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: stimuli ]</strong><hr></blockquote>No need to to pop it in - it's still in it's little vacum plastic bag - because it's clearly labelled as 133/CL3. And if I am going to return it, I'd rather keep it in mint condition, so to speak. Thanks.



    - T.I.
  • Reply 12 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>Or drinking too much? </strong><hr></blockquote>As long as it's not too "too much"...



    Cheers



    - T.I.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    T.I., just ask your friend Google,; some examples:



    From <a href="http://www.ocsystem.com/pcorpcwhicsh.html"; target="_blank">this site</a>



    "The speed of memory you should get depends on what Motherboard you have. The speed of the Front Side Bus (FSB, the main communication route in your PC) determines the maximum speed that your Memory can run at.

    You can use PC133 memory in a PC100 system and you can use PC100 memory in a 66MHz system. However, the memory will only run as fast as the Motherboard is capable of handling. For example, your PC133 module will run at PC100 speed in a system with a 100MHz Bus.

    Some people will buy PC133 memory for systems that don't support PC133 SDRAM with the intent to upgrade the system at a later date with a motherboard supporting PC133 memory. That way, you can simply take the memory out of your old system and use it in the new one."



    or <a href="http://www.memorymonster.com/faq.html"; target="_blank">this one</a>



    "7. What is the performance difference between CL2 and CL3?

    CL2 parts process data a little quicker than CL3 parts in that you have to wait one less clock cycle for the initial data. However, after the first piece of data is processed, the rest of the data is processed at equal speeds. Latency only affects the initial burst of data. Once data starts flowing, there is no effect. Keep in mind, a clock cycle for a PC100 module is 10 nanoseconds so you probably won?t notice a significant performance difference. Most systems will accept either latency part. However, there are some systems that require either CL2 or CL3 parts. "
  • Reply 14 of 22
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Listen to AirSluf. CAS-3 PC133 will run at the equivalent of CAS-2 PC100 when installed in a machine with a 100 MHz bus. Check Apple System Profiler...
  • Reply 15 of 22
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Installer:

    <strong>



    [edit: My system bus is 100Mhz,and I have a feeling that I would be better off with CL2 memory, which incidentally is what Apple had popped into my machine, namely PC100/2-2-2S SDR.]

    ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Are you sure that you actually have 100mhz CL2 RAM and not 133 CL3 ram and that it's showing up as 100mhz cl2 ram on your computer? I ask because I've got a 667 TiBook and it seems that Apple installed 133mhz CL3 ram. I find it hard to believe that they would use different modules for these computers, especially if they're putting better ram in a less expensive computer. I think that the guys who told you it was the 133/cl3 = 100/cl2 were right.
  • Reply 16 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>Listen to AirSluf. CAS-3 PC133 will run at the equivalent of CAS-2 PC100 when installed in a machine with a 100 MHz bus. Check Apple System Profiler...</strong><hr></blockquote>Thanks for that Eugene. Just wish that OWC had explained it in this precise fashion.



    Will be installing once I've found the correct sized screw driver



    Also thanks again to everyone else, except to Leonis,because the little bleeder didn't bother post here, now did he?



    - T.I.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by torifile:

    <strong>



    Are you sure that you actually have 100mhz CL2 RAM and not 133 CL3 ram and that it's showing up as 100mhz cl2 ram on your computer?</strong><hr></blockquote>Yup. It shows up in A/S/P as PC100 2-2-2S SDRAM.



    - T.I.
  • Reply 18 of 22
    Reply I received from the OWC Tech Support Dept.:



    There is a chip on the memory module that controls the performance of the module. It is called the SPD chip. It has Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary settings. This means that the Primary setting for that chip is PC133 CL3. The Secondary setting, if the computer it is installed in, is NOT PC133, is PC100 CL2. The Tertiary is PC100 CL3.



    - T.I.
  • Reply 19 of 22
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    actually, i went through this with another RAM company a while back. i ordered the default 512 meg chip for the Powerbook. it showed up on their page as PC100 (and for my 550 machine that was just fine i thought.)



    turns out that the Cas3 PC100 don't cut it, which is what i got. then they told me i needed pc133 RAM. the pc133 worked just fine.



    so like everyone has been saying, cas2, or PC133, either one works just fine.
  • Reply 20 of 22
    [quote]Originally posted by alcimedes:

    <strong>...so like everyone has been saying, cas2, or PC133, either one works just fine.</strong><hr></blockquote>I just put it in, and it *does* show up as PC100 2-2-2. All very confusing :confused:



    - T.I.



    [ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>
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