RAM problem!!!

[peomp]

I have a Sony Vaio PCV-RX850 with a 512MB RAM with 3 sockets, 2 empty. So I opened my desktop to find out what kind of RAM is have 512MB DDR DIMM 226MHz PC2100 184 PIN.
I wanted to put more memory in, so I bought a RAM online:
ACP-EP 512MB DDR SDRAM Memory Module - 512MB - 266MHz DDR266PC2100 - ECC - DDR SDRAM - 184-pin DIMM

when i got the RAM, I installed it into my desktop, turn it on and it made beeping nosies - meaning it's the wrong RAM? So i compared both RAMs and they were different---my pre-installed RAM has total of 8 black rectangles on both sides [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []. my new RAM i bought has total of 9 black rectangles on both sides and two littles rectangles in the middle [] [] [] [] * [] [] [] [] [].

Same specs but different looks of the RAM.

What should I do?
Anyone know what kind of RAM my Sony Vaio PCV-RX850 has?

Thanx in advanced!!

[Richard_G]

Sometimes they have the chips on both sides, sometimes only on one side. Depends on who made it and shouldn't make any difference. The main things to look out for are the speed (PC2100) and the number of pins (184) and you've got both of them right. The only thing that may be different is the one you bought is ECC, some machines will run fine with ECC, others prefer non ECC, and the rest don't care.

Put it in and see if it is detected and the machine boots. If it does, great, if not, get non-ECC.

However, whether this is marketting BS or not, I don't know, but this is what one supplier says about your machine http://www.upgradecomputermemory.com/ram.cfm/memory/S/Sony-VAIO/Sony-Desktops-VAIO-PCV...AIO-PCV-RX850/ although he is trying to sell you some (expensive) RAM.

[Webster]

my new RAM i bought has total of 9 black rectangles

The extra 9th chip is for the error correction usage.
You cannot mix-matched non-ECC and ECC RAM on the same motherboard.
Try to remove your original non ECC RAM and install your new ECC RAM to see if your board can use it. Chances are they may not work.

What should I do?

Contact your chip vendor and ask for a return authorization for the wrong chip and order a non-ECC chip. Depended upon the vendor, you may have to pay a up to 15% restocking fee and pay for shipping cost (unless when you ordered the RAM, you clearly specified to the vendor that you are ordering the chip for your specific system.)

[peomp]

Put it in and see if it is detected and the machine boots. If it does, great, if not, get non-ECC.

Yeah is tried that and it dont work the computer made beeping noises and i did got a ECC ram and my is non-ECC all specs r right expect the ecc and non-ecc

okay i now have to contact buY.c0m and let know i got the wrong ram

Thanx for all ur help!!

[redwudz]

ECC is generally used for servers and other data critical applications and most of the time is slower and more expensive than non-ECC RAM. Not really needed for most computers.

For RAM info, you can go to one of the larger RAM manufacturers like Crucial, Kingston, Corsair, Micron, Samsung or others and several have a configurator that will tell you exactly which type and speed of memory your particular computer needs.

More than you probably want to know about RAM, but easy reading : http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram3.htm