Caminogate IV – We have no idea what you did last summer

Be confused, be very confused

The world+dog knows that Chipzilla's chipset from Hell, Camino, has a problem counting above two when it comes to RDRAM DIMMS. Less well-known is the fact that two is -- by a remarkable coincidence -- also the maximum number of PC100 SDRAM modules that Intel's Cape Cod i820 mobo can deal with. Worse than that, if you want to mix and match DIMMs, you need to adhere to a mind-numbingly complex table to be found on the Intel web site if you want the damn thing to work. With only one bit of memory, you must put it in bank 0. With two identical DIMMs, just bung 'em in. If you have two different sized DIMMs, the big one has to go in bank 0 and the little one in bank 1. If you're foolish enough to have two same sized DIMMs but one is single-sided and the other double-sided, the single-sided one has to go in the first bank and the double-sided one in the second bank. The creaky, but increasingly well-loved BX chipset allows you to slap DIMMs in whichever slot you fancied (and there were usually three or four slots to choose from, all of which worked) Isn't progress marvellous? ®