The Celery Report: Issue #2

As most of you probably already know, there are reports everywhere of the finicky nature of the BH6 and it's diet as it relates to RAM. I can verify first hand that these reports are true because, during the course of testing the Celery, I've encountered these problems myself.

A couple of examples: One problem I ran in to was with 128MB modules that are only recognized as 64MB. The RAM worked perfectly stable as a 64MB and was recognized at full capacity on another brand of board. At the time, I didn't think to note the brand and type so, sadly, I don't have that information for you.

Another problem, and this one was reported by a customer, is that when 2 modules of 64MB are run at the same time, the board de-stabilizes. Running either one as a single makes the problem disappear. These modules are on their way to me, so when I have them, I'll report on product and chip number.

I've also found that one BH6 may not like a module, while another works fine with the same stick. This happened with a 64MB module of Micron "Elite" 8T. I placed it on a board for testing and it just layed their and beeped at me. Thinking I had a bad stick, I tried another one; same thing. I tried a third, same thing.

I tested each of these very same modules, all 8T's, on a different BH6 and, presto, they worked perfectly.

Many of my customers order RAM burned in with their combo's, so this week I decided to do some tests and take some notes about the modules and combinations that seem to work under all circumstances. Again, I want to emphasize that these results are no guarantee of anything; they are only what I experienced during testing.

All testing was done was done with a Retail Celeron 300A at 450Mhz, default voltage.

Other than as noted above, the Micron 8T's seem to be fine in 64MB size. I tried them as singles, pairs and all slots full with no stability problems.

The Micron 8E's also worked perfectly, both in 64MB as well as 128MB size. I tested these in singles and pairs, as I didn't have quite enough time to test in 3's. And, they do well in mixed double's of 64MB and 128MB.

We have another winner in the Samsung GH 128MB. From single stick to full population, these performed like a champion. I also tried a Micron 8E 128MB with a GH 128MB and they got along just fine.

Lastly, I had some NEC A80-9JF 64MB on hand, so I tried these. With single stick, it got along just fine with the BH6. However, when I tried a pair, I got the dreaded "beep, beep, beep". I only had time to try this on the one board so it's possible, as in the case of the Micron 8T, that this was an isolated problem specific only to this board.

In future reports, I'll try to include any relevant memory discoveries to help you select your RAM. I think it would be a good idea, if you can't find the above types, to but your motherboard and RAM from the same vendor and to ask specifically if they are compatible.

Now, on to this weeks report, but first, let's look at the testing process...