About PC150 MemoryDo we really need memory this fast on our current PC systems? Currently, not many motherboards allow for a FSB or bus speed over 150MHz, and many run at bus speeds much slower. So you may be asking, "why do we need PC150 RAM?" Basically, if you are overclocking, for example your Intel Pentium III Coppermine from 133MHz FSB to 150MHz (or higher) with PC100 or PC133 RAM in most cases you won’t have very much luck because of the memory having to operate at much faster speeds then designed to, thus making the memory unstable. On the other hand, if you have a stick of PC150 memory in your system you could easy reach 150MHz FSB and higher with no hassles at all. Below is a shot of one of the Enhanced memory chips...
When your system bus is running at 150MHz or lower with a stick of PC150, you could actually say the memory is "underclocked" under spec thus operating cooler and making your system more stable in most operations. This is the case for many processors such as the Intel Pentium II, Celeron, Celeron II and all variants of the Pentium III. A rumored Pentium III MIGHT be released with a FSB of 200MHz. Hmm... I wonder if PC150 memory could do 200MHz?
PC150 memory will really become useful when faster system buses are released later this year which use a faster bus speed then the current standard of 66MHz to 155MHz. Intel are currently working out whether or not they will use RAMBUS (800MHz RAM) or HSDRAM in their "soon to be" released chipsets such as the Intel Tualatin which should be based on a 200MHz bus, which in that case will use 200MHz SDRAM. I think, if Intel is smart they will use HSDRAM because it is much cheaper and more widely supported compared to RAMBUS. Other chipset manufactures such as VIA and AMD will probably use a different kind of memory system called Quad Data Rate RAM (which is four times the speed of SDR RAM) which might be used for soon to be released AMD processors such as the Sledgehammer and Corvette, so if your an AMD man Mushkin’s PC150 RAM probably won’t interest you too much now I’ve said that.
So from what I have briefly explained, you should be able to see that Mushkin’s PC150 HSDRAM is most suitable for Intel systems based on the 440bx chipset which has various bus speeds from 66MHz to 155MHz who intend to or overclock the bus speed. I’ve heard that some ABIT boards using Softmenu 3 can reach 170MHz to 220MHz, unfortunately we don’t have one of these ABIT boards to see how well Mushkin’s PC150 can operate at those speeds. If those ABIT boards were based on a i440bx chipset, I’m guessing it will have troubles.
Installation & HeatI consider the installation of 168 pin memory much easier than the old days of installing EDO memory on those unforgettable 486’s. All you need to do is line the memory up properly and push into place, below is a picture of the Mushkin PC150 memory installed in my system...
Considering the operating speed of 150MHz we found roughly that the Mushkin ram operated cooler than our Apacer PC100 ram we had lying around. This is not viable at all I know, but just by touching the 2 different memories there was a noticeable difference when idle in Windows. Someone send me a thermal probe please so I can include proper results please!
OverclockingDepending on your processor and chipset you should be able to reach a FSB of 150MHz and higher.
