High Density Vs Low Density DDR2 RAM

I've been looking into getting myself some more RAM for my PC. So I looked online and watched eBay for a good price. So I made sure to look out for the exact same as what I have DDR2, PC2-6400, latency timings of 4-4-4-12, speed 800MHz, no ECC and unbuffered. I found an awesome deal with MicroXComputers on eBay, an american company selling 2GB DIMM's for $14 with free postage and packaging. I was well happy. So I bought it, got it all in one piece, threw it in my PC and wondered why it didn't like being in my PC with my two other Crucial 2 x 1GB PC2-6400 DIMM's. Tried it on its own, it worked grand, but in any other mix with the other two DIMM's, it simply wouldn't boot the PC, or it would take an age to get through the POST. I thought to myself, maybe I should have it as a pair instead. But checked around and it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyways, I went back to the listing and noticed this High Density listing it had for that specific DIMM I bought. I spent some time trying to figure out the difference between High Density and Low Density. I found out that Low Density are the better quality DIMM's and the High Density are the cheaper versions.

So you're wondering what are the differences. The difference is to do with how the memory on the DIMM is laid out. Each chip on the RAM DIMM represents a certain amount of memory like 16MB - 256MB. Low Density refers to the density of each of these chips and how they make up the size of the DIMM (1GB = 16 chips of 64Mx8). High Density would have a higher density chip (1GB = 16 chips of 128Mx4). So this must be the reason I can't mix them. I'm assuming the BIOS likes one or the other but not a mix. So I've gone and bought a second one of these high density DIMM's to test around with and get more information out of it.

The easiest way to tell if your DIMM is high density is if there's no name or manufacturer on the DIMM itself. The chips themselves will of course have a manufacturer like Samsung or something. There is no way of telling the difference between the number of these chips on the board as it really all depends on the density of each of the chips and the size of the overall memory on the DIMM itself.

So when looking to buy RAM, make note of the following
1) Speed, ie 800MHz
2) Data Rate, ie 6400
3) RAM type, ie DDR, DDR2, DDR3, RAMBUS (ignoring the older archaic stuff)
4) Density, ie Low or High
5) Latency, ie 4-4-4-12 or for DDR3 7-7-7-20 (otherwise known as the timings)
6) Is it ECC, Registered, fully buffered (slower for servers) or unbuffered.
7) What does your motherboard support?

Here's a quick glossary to the acronyms used above
RAM - Random Access Memory
DIMM - Dual Inline Memory Module
DDR2 - Double Data Rate version 2 (which in its long form is DDR2-SDRAM)
SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory
POST - Power On Self Test
BIOS - Basic Input\Output System
MB - MegaByte (not to be confused with Mb which is MegaBit!)
ECC - Error Correction Code

Tales of Monkey Island

Tales of Monkey Island
Monkey Island has returned yet again for the fifth installment of the series. This time sees Guybrush Threepwood battling against the notorious Ghost Pirate Lechuck yet again as he tries to use the secret powers of the monkeys to make himself a god.

This game is split up into five chapters to be downloaded one a month. It's an interesting concept. I wouldn't mind trying the first one, then if I like it, I'll purchase the next one. Below is a link to Tell Tale Games website where you can sign up and download the game. You better sign up fast as today 6th July is the last day to sign up and get the all inclusive offer to get all five chapters, an exclusive DVD slipcase painted by Steve Purcell, the original creator of Monkey Island, a free TellTale Games episode of your choice and access to an exclusive Monkey Island section of TellTale Games website.

http://www.telltalegames.com/store/talesofmonkeyisland

Belfast Weekend

Just back from a crazy weekend up in Belfast. It was a crazy booze fueled weekend of night clubs, pubs, watching the Lions beat South Africa 29-9, dancing, hostels and that's just the mild stuff. Other parts of the night included talkin to unionists, nationalists, police. We stayed in a hostel with red, blue and white kerbs across the road from the Royal. There was security threats on the train home from Belfast as well, with the run up to the marching season, things were getting hot up there.

I seriously recommend a trip up North, it really is a beautiful place up there, just don't go wearing any Irish sportswear and keep the accent to a minimum.

You should have come, you could have been shot

Ford Fiesta Fixed and roadworthy again

So after a hard day's slog, we finally finished with Ciara's Ford Fiesta. We replaced the wishbone, the steering strut and another part of the steering connected to the wheel. I'm not great with the names of the parts but it wasn't that hard a job.

Unfortunately, we had a problem with the passenger side door being jammed shut. When the car hit the kerb, the wing on the front left chassis must have been pushed back under the car door frame, which is jamming it from opening. My dad's brother in law recommended an interesting technique for fixing it. So here's what we did, we attached a heavy duty rope to the underside chassis of the car, on the front left, just behind the wheel and attached the other side of the rope to a JCB, then we simply pushed the car away from the JCB as hard as we could to pull the wheel back into place. This took about 4-5 pushes. Now the chassis still needed to be pulled back into place so we attached a piece of wood on either side of the underside of the chassis (where the mudflaps go) and we attached a vice grips and the rope again. We did the same push back technique as mentioned above and next thing you know, we can open the door again.

we brought the car for a quick spin before we realised I had forgotten to mention the ball bearings needed to be replaced. This is noticeable when you drive the car, it'll sound like a loud humming noise (like a jet engine) and when you get out of the car, if you feel the very centre of the wheel (with hub caps off), it'll feel very hot. The next check is to lift the car up with a jack and simply spin the wheel. You may need to take the hand brake off so be very careful with this. If the wheel makes any sort of grinding noise, then the ball bearings need to be replaced.

After a quick job on the bearings and replacing the whole suspension strut, we were ready to go and I drove the car home. What an incredible day, sun was shining and we were out getting filthy fixing this car. Loved every moment.

Now off to Drogheda for a 21st, an open bar and a few good mates.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

So the King of Pop died yesterday afternoon of a heart attack. May he rest in piece. He was a legend in the pop world and there has never been anyone like him and there probably won't be anyone like him again.

On a dark and sinister note, I've noticed strewn across the web more jokes about his death than anything else. Seriously it was like people were just waiting for him to croak to let off these sadistic forms of humour. I won't deny that I've read a lot of them and laughed at most, but still the fact remains, this gentleman has died, regardless of what he was accused of and all his faults, he did write, sing, perform and entertain us in a way that will live with us forever.

Michael Jackson, Rest In Peace

Loan Applications

I got denied from yet another loan application. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong with these applications but it's really beginning to piss me off. Here's a chance for the banks that I've been banking with to give me a loan to consolidate my debts and earn interest off it and they say no.

I'm in full time employment, have paid off loans before and my credit rating over the last 6 months has been pretty good. I'm beginning to wonder is there something written somewhere about me that's not very flattering. I'm eager to get to the bottom of this and sort it all out. I'm very unhappy with not being able to pay off my debts right now and pay a lot less interest.

Currently I owe an amount to MBNA and Bank of Ireland. I'm trying to close my account with Bank of Ireland and my credit card with MBNA. This loan would help me achieve that as I'm losing money hand over foot to their very painful interest rates. By taking out a loan I would save loads of money and my current bank would earn the interest off the loan I would get off them instead of giving the possible money to MBNA and BoI respectively.

More to come on this.

-Mike P.

Fixin up a Ford Fiesta

So here's a project I will be workin on next weekend, the 27th, 28th of June.

My girlfriend had a problem with her nice little Ford Fiesta that she bought in Kelly's of Kilcock. The wheel seized up and she hit a kerb. It sounds like there was a problem with the car before she hit, either way the wishbone in the front left wheel was snapped. There may also be damage to the drive shaft as well, we've yet to find out exactly what the story is.

Anyways, the car was sent back to Kelly's and they gave a quote of 1800 euro to repair the damage. The car cost 2000 euro so you can imagine how annoyed she was with this quote. With a bit of haggling, they got it down to 1400 euro, which is still way too much money for what's involved.

So I figured I'd ask my Dad who knows quite a bit about cars to go inspect the damage and try get a feel if we can do the job ourselves. One quick trip to Kelly's and we figure we can do it. Another short trip to Higgin's Scrap yard (Kilcock car recycling centre) and we found out we can get the part off another car for about 30 euro. To tow the car to my grandad's around the corner could cost another little bit. So all in all the main goal is to get it all under 100 euro which is totally achievable. It's not a huge job unless we find out the drive shaft is damaged. There's also a possibility the gearbox is damaged as well. We hope it isn't as this is a much bigger job to do.

Higgin's scrap yard was amazing, it was like a children's playground for people who like to fix cars and build things. Will post a pic later to this blog to show how cool it looked.

-Mike