question about ram

[uchiha]

I have a few quickies...

Say I buy two different makes of ram, completely different designs, but the latencies, storage and stock speed are identical. Will they work together?

for example:
crucial 256mb DDR266 PC2100 2.5CL
kingston 256mb DDR266 PC2100 2.5CL

also, what do latencies mean? like 2-2-3-6 or whatever. I would like to get more knowledge about ram.

 

[Blind_Arrow]

yup, in this case they will, even wil support dual channel.

this case has become more sensitive on DDR's. else before that it wasnt the case. as i'm using different latency rams in my IBM Netvista PC100 and PC133. working great.

 

[Nubius]

yup, in this case they will, even wil support dual channel.

A mismatched pair of RAM will work together, but they won't run in Dual Channel together. If you do then consider yourself extremely lucky because generally it needs the EXACT design and architecture...and even sometimes when you buy one stick now and one stick down the road of the exact kind you got before, sometimes DC will still not work.

also, what do latencies mean? like 2-2-3-6 or whatever. I would like to get more knowledge about ram.

I suggest you google that kind of information as that's a reall indepth question. Each number represents a cycle in which the RAM does a specific instruction. each cycle is in terms of nanoseconds, but nanoseconds build up....so the tighter the timings you have the faster the RAM will run. Loosening the timings allows for overclocking.

 

[Blind_Arrow]

I have runned 2 different DDR chips, same latencies, same clock on dual channel succesfully.

it is as well mentioned by many board manufacturers that 2 diff made BUT identical modules can run Dual Channel.