# PC3200 or PC3200U



## mrgreenjeans53 (Dec 14, 2012)

Hi,

I am attempting to upgrade the ram in my pc to install the windows 8 upgrade software. I got a message that said I need at least 1gb of ram to run the install. I knew I only had 512mb. I pulled 1 stick of ram to see what kind I needed and found that it is PC3200U. I have been to numerous stores that carry ram but can only find PC3200, no "U".

I spoke to one of the people at one store that does repairs on PC's and he told me that he had never come across the PC3200U. He looked it up and told me that the "U" stood for "Unregistered" and said that all the RAM that they had in the store for sale was the unregistered so I bought a 1gb stick from there. 

I joined this site today and looked up PC3200 vs PC3200U. I found that the "U" stands for "Unbuffered". I am really confussed now, more than I was already....lol. 

My question is......can I use either (PC3200 or PC3200U) or should I return the one I bought and continue to search for the PC3200U?

Thank you in advance for your assistance. Great site by the way!! I'm sure I will learn a lot here.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Download and run the Crucial System Scanner to find out what type of memory your PC supports. It will also suggest the best upgrades for you.

Crucial System Scanner tool.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

The PC3200 you'll find in most electronics stores in unbuffered. The memory you want to stay away from in home machines has an "R" designation at the end. The "R" stands for "registered," and registered memory is not compatible with unregistered memory.

Normal, non-ECC non-registered memory has chips the same size, in numbers divisible by 8. ECC memory has an extra chip per bank, so the number of chips is divisible by 9. Registered memory has an additional registration chip which is much smaller than the normal memory chips. Registered memory also has the key notch in a different place; you cannot fit it onto a board which is not designed to accept registered memory.

You _can_ use ECC modules on a non-ECC board, so long as they are non-registered modules.


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