PC100 SDRAM

PC100 SDRAM is SDRAM that meets Intel's PC100 specifications. It is specifically designed to work with Intel's i440BX processor chipset, which reaches speeds of 100Mhz (hence the PC100 designation.) In order to be qualified as PC100 SDRAM, trace lengths, widths, and spacing, as well as EEPROM programming specs must all exceed Intel's minimum requirements.

Intel's PC100 requirements are strict because RAM that falls short of their minimum requirements causes Intel's recent chipsets to malfunction or dramatically under perform. At speeds of 100Mhz and above, the timing within the CPU must be so exact that even the slightest thing can throw off an entire system. System errors are common occurrences on CPUs that should but do not use the right type of RAM.

Buying PC100 SDRAM

When buying PC100 SDRAM, you will almost certainly want to go with a guaranteed compatible manufacturer. Not all modules marked as PC100 SDRAM modules are stable at the 100Mhz speed. There are many independent manufacturers that try to market PC100 SDRAM, but they cut corners on quality and fail to meet all of Intel's specifications.

It is also important to note that PC100 SDRAM only improves performance on systems with a 100Mhz (or faster) system bus. Slower bus speeds will not be able to utilize the speed of the RAM. No matter how fast the majority of your CPUs components are, a CPU will always be limited by the speed of the computers slowest component.