Max memory for Gateway Essential 800?

[Rob Chambers]

Does anyone have a definitive figure for the maximum memory installable
on the Gateway Essential 800? Some memory sellers reckon it's 256Mb
(2x128MB) and others 512Mb (2x256Mb). I can't find the original manual
at the moment - any ideas?

Rob

[BillW50]

Post by Rob Chambers
Does anyone have a definitive figure for the maximum memory
installable on the Gateway Essential 800? Some memory sellers reckon
it's 256Mb (2x128MB) and others 512Mb (2x256Mb). I can't find the
original manual at the moment - any ideas?
Rob

Nobody answered you on this yet Rob? Well I dunno either. But my
experience is the one with the higher value is generally correct. The
one with the lower value is what the manufacture claims is the max.
Which can be wrong a good number of times.

[Rob Chambers]

Post by BillW50
Nobody answered you on this yet Rob? Well I dunno either. But my
experience is the one with the higher value is generally correct. The
one with the lower value is what the manufacture claims is the max.
Which can be wrong a good number of times.

Thanks for the reply. I've tried a few different 256Mb sticks in it and
none have been recognized, so I suspect the max is 2x128Mb. I wonder if
Gateway made subtly different models for the home and business markets,
as there seem to be both Essential 800 and 800C models around - I'm not
sure what the difference is (or even if there is one) but maybe the
memory limitation is what differentiates them.

In any case, it runs XP SP3 fairly well, and dual boots Peppermint OS
(LXDE-based Ubuntu/Mint derivative) which is not too shabby (boots
Firefox in about 5 seconds) so it's not a big deal if I can't expand it
any further..

Thanks again - I wasn't sure if anyone was still reading this froup - it
seems to be overrun with spam these days...

Rob

[Frank]

Post by Rob Chambers

Post by BillW50
Nobody answered you on this yet Rob? Well I dunno either. But my
experience is the one with the higher value is generally correct. The
one with the lower value is what the manufacture claims is the max.
Which can be wrong a good number of times.

Thanks for the reply. I've tried a few different 256Mb sticks in it and
none have been recognized, so I suspect the max is 2x128Mb. I wonder if
Gateway made subtly different models for the home and business markets,
as there seem to be both Essential 800 and 800C models around - I'm not
sure what the difference is (or even if there is one) but maybe the
memory limitation is what differentiates them.
In any case, it runs XP SP3 fairly well, and dual boots Peppermint OS
(LXDE-based Ubuntu/Mint derivative) which is not too shabby (boots
Firefox in about 5 seconds) so it's not a big deal if I can't expand it
any further..
Thanks again - I wasn't sure if anyone was still reading this froup - it
seems to be overrun with spam these days...
Rob

Wondered how you made out. Memory upgrades I've done have been to run
Belarc Advisor to see whats there and whats open and then buy memory
from Crucial.

[Ben Myers]

Post by Rob Chambers

Post by BillW50
Nobody answered you on this yet Rob? Well I dunno either. But my
experience is the one with the higher value is generally correct. The
one with the lower value is what the manufacture claims is the max.
Which can be wrong a good number of times.

Thanks for the reply. I've tried a few different 256Mb sticks in it and
none have been recognized, so I suspect the max is 2x128Mb. I wonder if
Gateway made subtly different models for the home and business markets,
as there seem to be both Essential 800 and 800C models around - I'm not
sure what the difference is (or even if there is one) but maybe the
memory limitation is what differentiates them.
In any case, it runs XP SP3 fairly well, and dual boots Peppermint OS
(LXDE-based Ubuntu/Mint derivative) which is not too shabby (boots
Firefox in about 5 seconds) so it's not a big deal if I can't expand it
any further..
Thanks again - I wasn't sure if anyone was still reading this froup - it
seems to be overrun with spam these days...
Rob

The customary Intel chipsets used in late Pentium III systems were the
810 and the 815. Both CHIPSETS support a maximum of 512MB, usually
2x256MB. But there's no telling what the BIOS supports. Which
motherboard is in the system i.e. what is the motherboard BIOS
signature? This often gives a clue. If the motherboard is an
Intel-made one, the specs on the Intel web site would be a help.

Earlier Pentium IIIs often used the Intel 440BX or 440BX2 chipset, which
handles up to 1GB of memory in a suitable motherboard. Intel cut back
on the amount of memory supported in desktop systems to make the Xeon
CPU for "workstations" look good... Ben Myers

[Rob Chambers]

Post by Ben Myers
The customary Intel chipsets used in late Pentium III systems were the
810 and the 815. Both CHIPSETS support a maximum of 512MB, usually
2x256MB. But there's no telling what the BIOS supports. Which
motherboard is in the system i.e. what is the motherboard BIOS
signature? This often gives a clue. If the motherboard is an Intel-made
one, the specs on the Intel web site would be a help.

I've done a bit of research, and this is what I know so far - the
motherboard is an MSI MS-6312 Flex ATX WH11 (WHITNEY) with an Intel
82810E chipset:
<http://support.gateway.com/support/manlib/cmponts/sysboard/8507333/07333.htm>

The BIOS is from AMI, version 0AAVIP09. Both Crucial's system scanner
and their website reckon it can take 512Mb, using either part number
CT353805 (scanner s/w) or CT192743 (website).
<http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Essential%20800&pl=Gateway&cat=RAM>

The description of the board on Gateway's site says that it can take a
maximum of 512Mb but that this can vary depending on the local market
it's sold into (mine is from the UK).

It appears that there may be newer versions of the BIOS around (the
"P09" suffix seems to be an issue number) - would a BIOS upgrade enable
me to access the full memory capacity, or is there more to it than that?

Rob

[Ben Myers]

Post by Rob Chambers

Post by Ben Myers
The customary Intel chipsets used in late Pentium III systems were the
810 and the 815. Both CHIPSETS support a maximum of 512MB, usually
2x256MB. But there's no telling what the BIOS supports. Which
motherboard is in the system i.e. what is the motherboard BIOS
signature? This often gives a clue. If the motherboard is an Intel-made
one, the specs on the Intel web site would be a help.

I've done a bit of research, and this is what I know so far - the
motherboard is an MSI MS-6312 Flex ATX WH11 (WHITNEY) with an Intel
<http://support.gateway.com/support/manlib/cmponts/sysboard/8507333/07333.htm>
The BIOS is from AMI, version 0AAVIP09. Both Crucial's system scanner
and their website reckon it can take 512Mb, using either part number
CT353805 (scanner s/w) or CT192743 (website).
<http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Essential%20800&pl=Gateway&cat=RAM>
The description of the board on Gateway's site says that it can take a
maximum of 512Mb but that this can vary depending on the local market
it's sold into (mine is from the UK).
It appears that there may be newer versions of the BIOS around (the
"P09" suffix seems to be an issue number) - would a BIOS upgrade enable
me to access the full memory capacity, or is there more to it than that?
Rob

A BIOS upgrade would not hurt, but, once again, there is no telling what
people will do to cripple the BIOS software.

The 810 chipset definitely supports 512MB, and, according to the Intel
web site: "66- and 100-MHz System Bus capable." More than likely PC133
will not work. You need a pair of 256MB PC100 non-ECC SDRAMs... Ben Myers

[BillW50]

Post by Ben Myers
A BIOS upgrade would not hurt, but, once again, there is no telling
what people will do to cripple the BIOS software.
The 810 chipset definitely supports 512MB, and, according to the Intel
web site: "66- and 100-MHz System Bus capable." More than likely
PC133 will not work. You need a pair of 256MB PC100 non-ECC
SDRAMs... Ben Myers

Well actually a BIOS update could hurt. As most BIOS programs nowadays
won't allow you to go back to the earlier version. That assumes you have
a copy of the earlier version. Here is a recent example of where a BIOS
update went wrong.

Post by Ben Myers

Hello All,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M115-S3094. I updated my BIOS and now
there are problems, such as the CPU runs high and the system
overheats. I want to reset my BIOS to a previous version, before
this issue. How can I achieve this?
Thank you for any and all assistance.

BIOS manufactures seem to think the newest is always better. But like
drivers and applications, newer isn't always better. There can be some
real serious problems. And sometimes even if the update is okay,
something can go wrong with the BIOS updating and leave your computer
unbootable.

I have three Gateway MX6124 laptops for example. One of them reads the
CPU temperature 20 to 50 degrees F lower than it should. I didn't worry
too much about it until it burned out the CPU. They are socketed, so
easy to replace. All three has the same BIOS version so this shouldn't
be a problem. And Gateway has an update for the BIOS. But there is a
great warning not to install the update unless you are installing Vista.
They all are running XP.

And most BIOS software will not let you go back to an earlier version.
Why they lockout earlier BIOS versions seems very stupid to me. But that
is what they do nowadays. Sometimes you can find old DOS BIOS flashing
software that doesn't check the version number. They usually only run
under DOS (and not under Windows DOS) and are getting harder and harder
to find.

[SC Tom]

Post by BillW50

Post by Ben Myers
A BIOS upgrade would not hurt, but, once again, there is no telling
what people will do to cripple the BIOS software.
The 810 chipset definitely supports 512MB, and, according to the Intel
web site: "66- and 100-MHz System Bus capable." More than likely
PC133 will not work. You need a pair of 256MB PC100 non-ECC
SDRAMs... Ben Myers

Well actually a BIOS update could hurt. As most BIOS programs nowadays
won't allow you to go back to the earlier version. That assumes you have a
copy of the earlier version. Here is a recent example of where a BIOS
update went wrong.

Post by Ben Myers

Hello All,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M115-S3094. I updated my BIOS and now there
are problems, such as the CPU runs high and the system overheats. I
want to reset my BIOS to a previous version, before this issue. How can
I achieve this?
Thank you for any and all assistance.

BIOS manufactures seem to think the newest is always better. But like
drivers and applications, newer isn't always better. There can be some
real serious problems. And sometimes even if the update is okay, something
can go wrong with the BIOS updating and leave your computer unbootable.
I have three Gateway MX6124 laptops for example. One of them reads the CPU
temperature 20 to 50 degrees F lower than it should. I didn't worry too
much about it until it burned out the CPU. They are socketed, so easy to
replace. All three has the same BIOS version so this shouldn't be a
problem. And Gateway has an update for the BIOS. But there is a great
warning not to install the update unless you are installing Vista. They
all are running XP.
And most BIOS software will not let you go back to an earlier version. Why
they lockout earlier BIOS versions seems very stupid to me. But that is
what they do nowadays. Sometimes you can find old DOS BIOS flashing
software that doesn't check the version number. They usually only run
under DOS (and not under Windows DOS) and are getting harder and harder to
find.
--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows XP SP3

I've never ran across a BIOS updater that wouldn't let me back up to the
previous (or original) revision, but then, I've only owned the one Gateway
notebook I have now. The BIOS flash on it went well, so I don't know if I
could revert to the old one on it or not. All of the Gigabyte, Asus, and
Biostar MBs I've used had a "BIOS Recovery" mode. But the method for all of
them was to boot from the driver and utility CD that came with it, so if
that was gone, I agree, you're pretty much hosed.
In all the years I've flashed BIOS's, I've only had one bad experience
(KOW). I flashed my Asus to the latest and greatest, thinking it would give
better SATA functionality as it said in the revision description. My MB was
the hardware revision Asus said it needed to be, so I went ahead and flashed
it. Yep, you guessed it, no boot. It would get to the POST screen, then
reboot. Keystrokes did nothing at all- wouldn't stop it, or go into BIOS. I
tried booting from the CD and it would hang there for what seemed like
forever, then get to the menu, but not any further. After numerous tries and
wasting the better part of a day (I had started this late in the morning,
and it was about 8 or 9PM by then), it finally booted into the BIOS recovery
menu, flashed it back to the original, and all was well. After making sure
everything was ok, I re-flashed to the last working revision I had before
the bad one. Needless to say, I was very hesitant to do it again, but I
needed it for my newer CPU. I don't know what I missed out on by not being
able to use the newest revision, but then I guess I never will. I'll not try
THAT one again :-)

[Rob Chambers]

Post by Ben Myers
The 810 chipset definitely supports 512MB, and, according to the Intel
web site: "66- and 100-MHz System Bus capable." More than likely PC133
will not work. You need a pair of 256MB PC100 non-ECC SDRAMs... Ben Myers

Won't PC133 RAM run at 100Mhz as well?

Rob

[Ben Myers]

Post by Rob Chambers

Post by Ben Myers
The 810 chipset definitely supports 512MB, and, according to the Intel
web site: "66- and 100-MHz System Bus capable." More than likely PC133
will not work. You need a pair of 256MB PC100 non-ECC SDRAMs... Ben Myers

Won't PC133 RAM run at 100Mhz as well?
Rob

With the 810 chipset, the answer is an unqualified maybe. Some PC133
was made with newer memory chips, leading to an incompatibility. Low-
versus high-density. Same sort of issue with laptop SODIMM memory from
this epoch of computing... Ben Myers