I've got 2GB of RAM, help me find a Dell server

October 28, 2005 11:47 AM

I've just purchased 4 sticks of PNY 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz RAM (2GB). Where can I find a Dell server that will accept this RAM? I don't mind used computers and I'd like to keep it under $500. Finding which RAM to put in a given machine is easy. But I'm struggling with finding all the machines that will accept my RAM. I prefer Dell but some other server with nice case design (tool-less entry, etc) would be considered. Pentium or AMD please.
posted by phildog to computers & internet (12 comments total)

um. ebay? dell outlet? craigslist?

PC3200 should go in most newer mobos, and afaik you can put higher clocked ram in mobos that support less, they just won't be used to their full efficiency.
posted by devilsbrigade at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2005

You buy RAM first, then the computer?

That's like buying a car to match a set of tires.
posted by ToasT at 12:57 PM on October 28, 2005

Toast - Yeah, if you typically buy a set of tires that cost just as much as your car I guess your analogy holds up. Otherwise, not so much.
posted by phildog at 1:25 PM on October 28, 2005

You are probably screwed. PC3200 DDR RAM is very common on desktop motherboards, but servers often need ECC or other special RAM. You could actually go to dell's support website and read the docs on a variety of dell servers to find out which one needs what. But then that would defeat the currently popular practice of using AxMe instead of google...
posted by b1tr0t at 1:33 PM on October 28, 2005

FWIW, It will have to be a really new mobo; I have dell servers with 4 gb ram, but that is pc133. I guess they are old. Why a server? Any computer can technically "be a server." Are you look for some kind of rack mount solution? You can buy an Antec case (other brands I assume too) that have "thumb screws for the back, eliminating the need for tools. It would helpful to understand why you took this approach / where it's headed.
posted by AllesKlar at 1:34 PM on October 28, 2005

Yeah, I'm with ToasT; buying the RAM first is a pretty strange move.

That said, I'd focus on consumer machines. You may have a hard time finding a "server" that will take that RAM.
posted by bshort at 2:40 PM on October 28, 2005

RAM manufacturers offer memory configurators on their web sites to allow you to check what types of RAM a particular model will support. PNY's is here, but it only allows you to select a particular type of Dell server to search against, not see a list of compatible models for your RAM. The kind of DDR RAM you have is, as b1tr0t and bshort have said, more suitable for desktops than servers, so you're not going to see that much support on the server side.

That being said, the Dell PowerEdge 400SC server appears to support non-ECC DDR RAM of your variety, and was originally shipped as a non-ECC unit. They're available on eBay for less than $500.
posted by eschatfische at 3:38 PM on October 28, 2005

2 gigs of PC3200 should have cost maybe $200. This is nothing compared to the rest of an actual server, especially a 1U or 2U one. If you're just looking for a box to throw it in, go for it. But seriously, why all this focus on RAM?
posted by devilsbrigade at 4:57 PM on October 28, 2005

Servers take ECC Ram if they're worth anything; any server that runs with dual processors will *require* ECC RAM.

You really, really should buy the RAM to match the server, not the server to match the RAM.
posted by SpecialK at 5:10 PM on October 28, 2005

I bought a 400SC new from Dell over 2 years ago for $412, shipped, after tax and rebate, so it's hard to get excited about that eBay price. (Admittedly they have 512M and I only had 128M.) It does, indeed, take non-ECC RAM, though.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 5:16 PM on October 28, 2005

Phildog, that's the weirdest tech thing I've ever heard here. Can I ask why you did it back-to-front like that? It really is like seeing $5000 alloy wheels and buying them then wondering what car to fit them to. Except ... memory is memory is memory, mostly, error-correcting trickery aside.

Why did you buy the memory first? What appealed about it?
posted by bonaldi at 10:14 AM on October 29, 2005

bonaldi - simple, I got 2 gigs of ram for $40. I figured it was a good enough deal that I could just buy it first and see if I could match it up to a server later. And if it didn't work out, I'm out $40 which I could easily recoup on ebay.

yeah, it is a strange question :-) That is why I asked mefi and not google.
posted by phildog at 6:58 AM on October 31, 2005