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On the XP machine I built, I have enough replacement parts to keep it in humming along for several more years. I have backups for everything except the RAM modules. I hesitate buying those because I have never experienced a failing RAM memory module. I have bought bad modules, but I have never seen good one fail.
I would appreciate any your personal experiences on the subject.
JBlatz
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From my perspective, I know of 2 schools of thought. The first thing is to understand that XP will only see 3.5gb anyway, so you can put 16gb in it and everything over 3.5 is just wasted. Then move on to your motherboard. How many slots?
The schools of thought come in here. A lot of people want to buy the 4gb stick and have one stick in there. If your mobo has 4 slots, I believe in 1gb sticks time 4. Then one can go bad and you aren't dead while you wait for RAM to come in the mail. OR 2-1-1, etc.... whatever your mobo form factor is.
Of course as cheap as RAM is now, nothing says you can't use a 4gb and have a spare 4gb in the drawer.
I can't even guess how many people first bragged about having 16gb of RAM in their XP machine and then argued when I told them it only accessed 3.5gb. Yes, the computer will SEE all 16gb in BIOS (BIOS doesn't know what OS you run), but the OS will never write to it. Learned that a long time ago from Microsoft themselves when I wrote nasty letters asking why they limited the RAM access. I think the exchange with the tech was up into the 20s. Back and forth we went.
And I am sure someone here will fire back about how their computer has a semi truckful of RAM in their XP machine and it "uses" all of it. My response to that has always been something close to "Believe whatever you want to believe. My life doesn't change if you are wrong." Maybe they have that one "special" version of XP that uses more RAM.....
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As more and more people are moving over to Win 7 or 8 there will be less of a market for XP stuff like RAM. Thus I would expect new RAM prices for XP to increase with time. As Eddie has said ram is cheap right now and 4 gigs is the most that you should put it.
IF you are positive that you will keep XP for several more years then personally I would buy a couple of backup sticks right now.
PS – you may be able to buy some used sticks cheap. Just try them out before you really need to use them to see if they are ok.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Those slower bus speed motherboards are going out of vogue quick and I'd grab a stick or two now. Eventually you will end up going to Win7 or 8 because you won't have a choice but why wait until older DDR2 RAM turns "vintage" and they drive the price up because it's hard to find (and because they can)?
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Quote:
Thus I would expect new RAM prices for XP to increase with time.
?????
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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RAM is simply RAM there is no XP RAM - if that what is meant. Although Yes outdated RAM does go up in price, but its usually easily available via ebay etc. I am no expert, but I think its true that as long as the slot size is the same you can upgrade RAM speedwise. Its not true that all I gig RAMs operate at the same speed. DDR 3 trumps DDR2, etc etc... After this I get a bit lost, and my nurse has to come and fetch me... 
Last edited by ZeroZero; 12/23/12 02:33 AM.
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I appreciate your responses but perhaps my fault was that I did not clearly state a question to be answered.
Have you ever personally experienced a failing RAM memory module on any of your PCs?
JBlatz
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When I was working at a compute store we did see a number of units come in with bad ram. Usually the cause was something else like an external power serge, a faulty power supply, brown out, a short in the mother board etc. So personally if I were you I would get a backup of ram
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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I have seen memory registers ON a chip fail. (A "spot" on the silicon an stop working.) It is hard to address this without knowing your experience level.
What yo need to look at is what is inside the memory chip slot. Somewhere in there will be a "key". That key, or notch, or whatever you would call it, is in different places for the different RAM speeds. You have SDRAM (Synchronous dynamic random access memory) and then DDR SDRAM (Double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory). The key in the slot will be in a different place. I have replaced at least 4 motherboards for people who tried to shove their new RAM into a slot that was not meant for it and they cracked the memory slot.
Now, Zero is correct in saying that there is no such thing as XP RAM. The RAM is determined by the motherboard. Crucial, Kingston... all the people who make RAM, they have no way to know or no concern with what OS is going to be on a computer. It's all about the form factor.
There is also speed at which the RAM is accessed. All of that is set up by the motherboard. If the motherboard will only support a CPU of a certain form factor (the pin configurations are different - the slot has to match the CPU) then the front side bus of that CPU sets the speed of the RAM. You can FIT faster RAM into a slot if the form factor is correct, but it will perform down to the speed of the slowest chip.
The best path for this is to shut your computer down, take the door off, read the markings on the chip and match it up. You may have to pull it out to see it. In fact I am sure you will have to.
But to answer your initial question, yes, I have seen RAM go bad from power dips or surges.
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Quote:
I appreciate your responses but perhaps my fault was that I did not clearly state a question to be answered.
Have you ever personally experienced a failing RAM memory module on any of your PCs?
Hard to get a straight answer sometimes. 
NO!
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To answer the question, not directly with any machine I own.
However working as volunteer advisor on computer help forums, I have seen a few enquiries where their fault turned out to be faulty RAM, so yes it does happen, rarely, but it does.
To now clarify the subject of how much RAM can you fit.
As Eddie said, Windows XP with a 32 bit operating system, the maximum that Windows can use is actually about 3.8GB, so not all of the supposedly 4GB fitted will be utilised.
However strangely enough with 64 bit operating systems, Windows XP, Vista or 7 and 8 and 64 bit CPU to match, the maximum RAM is near infinite. However that is influenced by the other hardware soldered to the motherboard, and for low end boards can be as low as that 4GB.
So if thinking of building a system now, and using a 64bit system make sure the motherboard will handle the amount of RAM you intend or would like in your system.
As far as DDR2/3/4 Each level of this is not backward or forward compatible, a motherboard is fitted with the slot type for the RAM type required, whether DDR 2, or 3 or 4.
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Quote:
I appreciate your responses but perhaps my fault was that I did not clearly state a question to be answered.
Have you ever personally experienced a failing RAM memory module on any of your PCs?
I have troubleshot and repaired computers where RAM failure was indeed the culprit.
Don't have any sort of records available on that to come up with a statistical, but offhand I'd say that, while the situation is not epidemic in nature, it does indeed occur.
It does not seem to be something that happens with time, though, in quite a few cases the failure was found in rather "new" machines or in machines where the customer had added aftermarket RAM chips to up the memory ante at some point, it probably worked at first, but at some point they would start to have failures such as the Blue Screen of Death, Freezeups, Crashes, or he inability to load a program. Most customers would suggest that they thought they had a virus or the likes when presenting. Good Diagnostic software tools can be used to pinpoint whether or not such problems are due to Memory probs, or PSU issues, etc.
As for whether or not the OP should purchase spare RAM or not, well, I cannot answer that question and neither can anybody else. Your present RAM could last forever, or it could fail tomorrow, as there are many factors to consider that might cause ram chips to go south, not just catastrophic component failures, which, if you think about it, cannot be predicted. But consider some of those other situations, such as a lightning strike somewhere on your power line that may get inside the puter and may damage ram or even other components. That could happen even if the PC is turned off but still connected to AC power and Internet/Network cabling, audio peripherals, etc.
I can say this: Those folks who have tried to maintain an older PC and matching OS for a longer time, in general, eventually always end up having to bite the bullet and upgrade anyway at some point.
Consider that Support for XP is soon to become extinct, as well.
--Mac
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Quote:
Consider that Support for XP is soon to become extinct, as well.
Yep. April, 2014. Micro$oft will disown XP.
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Thanks guys, your responses seem to substantiate what I have experienced. You have seen memory module problems and failures on other people rigs, most notably on newer PCs or PCs with RAM upgrades, but you have never experienced any on your own personal machines. I know some of you work your units pretty hard, often regularly carrying them back and forth to gigs, and that was the primary reason for asking my question on the forum.
I'll probably buy a couple of sticks of RAM, but I'll bet with the usual care, caution, and maintenance I'll never need them. In all my years of computing on the PCs I've owned, I've seen failing hard drives, power supplies, CD/DVD burners, monitors, as well as other components but never a memory module. From your responses, it is clear that memory modules are pretty far down on your GTF and PWF lists ("Guaranteed to Fail" and "Probably Will Fail" lists).
Again, thanks for taking the time to respond.
JBlatz
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