What does the specifications for your machine say? Go to the Dell site
and punch in your asset tag number and read the documents and
specifications for the RAM requirements. That 600-53 number seems a bit
odd for a Dimension 8100, I would expect that it would be PC800-4x but I
am by no means an expert on different Dell memory. You don't have to
buy the memory from Dell at their inflated price but you should make
sure that you have the right type of memory or else things might not
work too well.

I would expect your board to be an Intel 850 with a 400 MHz bus but it
could also be a 533 MHz bus, verify with Dell. If your bus is 400 MHz I
beleive that you can use PC800-40 or PC800-45 RDRAM, if your bus is
533MHz you can use PC800-40 RDRAM only, once again it is up to you to
confirm this.

Your motherboard has (or should have) 2 memory channels and RDRAM should
be installed in pairs of matching size, speed and timing. If you do not
have matching pairs you have to install continuity modules to fill the
slots (CRIMM's). I don't think it's a good idea to mix RDRAM memory on
the same board with ECC and non-ECC but if you do it should work but the
ECC will be disabled. You should definitely not mix memory with
different speed or timing.

These sites have good search engines for Dell RAM or they have pretty
good configuration tools that can scan your system and find what type of
RAM you have or should have. The online scan tools usually need to be
run with Internet Explorer, Firefox/Mozilla usually doesn't allow these
things to run on their browser, a security thing...

http://www.powerleap.com/
http://www.4allmemory.com/
http://www.upgradememory.com/

John

idontno wrote:

I have a Dimension 8100 and it uses rdram. My OS is ME, don't know if that
matters.

I bought some memory upgrade. I only had 128 MB, so I bought 512 MB.

My question is, the 128 is 600-53 (nonECC). I'm guessing that means it runs
at 600 Mhz. The 512 is PC800-45 (ECC). 800 Mhz I'm guessing.

Should I leave the 128/4d nonECC 600-53 installed or will it slow down my
512/8 ECC PC800-45 too much?

I don't think you're supposed to mix noECC with ECC either? (I meant to buy
nonECC but musta picked the wrong one by mistake. I bought them online, so I
really don't want to go thru the hassle of returning them if I can still use
them without causing any harm.

What's the best way I should configure this?