Testing 72-pin SIMMs

From: Glenatacme_at_aol.com <(Glenatacme_at_aol.com)>
Date: Wed Dec 27 22:53:17 2000

Mike Ford wrote:

> Now for a good question, any suggestions on what would make a good set of
> machines to use for SIMM testing?
>
> Now I use
>
> 30 pin, either a IIsi or a Q950 mac depending on speed of chips.
> 64 pin goes in a IIfx

Okay, you've got those covered.

> 72 pin I am wondering about, maybe a late 486 or early Pentium
> 72 pin Parity no idea
> 72 pin ECC maybe a PS/2 model 9595
>
> My thought is that some motherboards are very good at detecting the type of
> memory etc.

For testing 72-pin non-parity SIMMs I use a Soyo board which was one of the
last mass-produced 486 mobos. It will take up to a 486-133 CPU, and it will
run on one piece of FPM or EDO memory, so, unlike Pentium boards, you can
test a single piece. Additionally the boot box indicates whether the memory
is fast page or EDO.

I've never found a bullet-proof program for testing SIMMs under DOS or
windows, so I keep a hard drive loaded up with Win95. If the system boots
and I can run defrag (it being memory-intensive) then I assume the SIMM is
okay barring any heat-related problems which may only show up after the SIMM
gets hot.

Anybody know of one?

For 72-pin parity memory get an old Pentium board which requires the ninth
bit. I got mine from hitechcafe.com. The board cost $10 and a P-60 CPU was
$5. (Sorry, no onboard i/o or PCI bus).

ECC? Good luck ;>)

Glen Goodwin
0/0
Received on Wed Dec 27 2000 - 22:53:17 GMT