Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

[DJduck]

Hi guys, i picked up sume junk a lot of time ago and i found a 2gb ddr2 memory module from the bin. It doesn't work. The problem is that there is a little ceramic capacitor missing on one side of the memory, and it can't be replaced because some shithead has tried replacing it with a soldering iron and pulled the contacts off the pcb.
I have an idea to fix this, but i am asking, that is it a good idea? My plan is to basicly remove everything from that side of the memory and have it work as a single sided 1gb stick. It should work, because i have seen a lot of single sided memory modules that have contacts on the other side to make it into a double sided memory, and i have even seen people do it, desolder all the chips from a memory module and then solder them on to the side of another identical memory module. My question is, that can i just "undo" this? Remove all the components from one side and still have it work?
The stick is an Adata AD2800002GOU DDR2 2G 800 2Gx16 - this means that it is a 2gb module divided into 16 chips, and i want to take it down to 8.

[selldoor]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

Doesnt sound likely - if it doesnt work with 1 cap missing removing more parts is not likely to make it work? However -nothing to lose trying? just time and temper.
No possibility of tracing where the contacts went and rewiring the cap to something?

[DJduck]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

The ground contact is all over the board and i can just scratch off some of the coating to make a conection, but the positive goes through the module, but it is a very tiny conection on the other side, and scratching it would be VERY difficult. And i think why it doesn't work without a cap is that one of the chips is getting no power and due to that is reporting a problem, causing it not to work. And yes, i am going to try it before throwing it away. Nothing to loose, really.
Edit: Didn't work

[kc8adu]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

problem is much deeper than that cap.module will work without it but may have errors.
its just a redundant bypass cap on vdimm or vtt.

[DJduck]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

Yea, probably was a chip fail.

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

Will you have to transplant or reprogram the SPD EEPROM? SPDtool can back it up.

[momaka]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

Will you have to transplant or reprogram the SPD EEPROM? SPDtool can back it up.

Yes, if you want to use the RAM stick as a 1 GB module, you will have to reprogram a small EEPROM on it. However, if the reason for this dead RAM stick is a bad chip and this bad chip is in the 1st 1GB side, then you will get an error again even if you did successfully reflash the EEPROM to make it into a 1 GB stick.

So all in all, it's not an easy thing to do and probably not worth the time (unless you're doing it for fun ).

I've had some "dead" DDR memory sticks work fine when under-clocked. The problem with cheap RAM manufacturers is they use reject chips that didn't meet QC spec from the original manufacturer. Just because a RAM stick has Samsung, Micron, Mosel, Kingston, or Elpida chips doesn't mean it's high-quality. Those chips could as well be rejects. Best way is to stick to known good manufacturers (i.e. Samsung, Micron, Kingston, etc.) or at least a reputable manufacturer that uses those chips.

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

The problem with cheap RAM manufacturers is they use reject chips that didn't meet QC spec from the original manufacturer. Just because a RAM stick has Samsung, Micron, Mosel, Kingston, or Elpida chips doesn't mean it's high-quality. Those chips could as well be rejects. Best way is to stick to known good manufacturers (i.e. Samsung, Micron, Kingston, etc.) or at least a reputable manufacturer that uses those chips.

I kind of worry even about most of the major module companies because photos at APHnetworks and XbitLabs show a lot of 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz DDR3 chips being overclocked by 30% - 100% by makers like G.Skill, Patriot, and Kingston. I think the only module company that hasn't done that is Samsung, but it's now hard to find their modules. Also most module companies test the validity of that overclocking with nothing but PC motherboards, perhaps running in a hot chamber (but only up to about 58C instead of the chips' 85C limit), rather than test with one of those $4 million machines, and one company even admitted it allowed up to 2 bad bits per module in overnight testing (but in early-mid 2012 they reduced that to 0). I got in an argument about this at another website. Basically, I said it was bad to go beyond chip makers' specs and that chips rated faster by their manufacturers were more likely work to reliably at high clock rates than chips that were not, and some people there said I was wrong on both counts and created a thread with my name in the title.

[Rulycat]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

Bog-standard RAM from Kingston in my experience has been the real deal. If you go past 1600mhz then it's expected it's overclocked.

[momaka]

Re: Is it a good idea to do this with a ddr2 memory module?

I kind of worry even about most of the major module companies because photos at APHnetworks and XbitLabs show a lot of 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz DDR3 chips being overclocked by 30% - 100% by makers like G.Skill, Patriot, and Kingston.

I don't consider Patriot and G.Skill high quality. In fact, Patriot is bottom of the barrel stuff. The two "dead" DDR memory sticks I mentioned in my last post are actually Patriot and they work fine as long as they are under-clocked to anything lower than PC3200 speeds.

The only type of RAM I consider good is RAM in OEM PCs and/or non-rebranded manufacturer stuff - i.e. Micron, Samsung, Nanya, Elpida, Mosel, etc.