Im Dum :/ bought wrong ram but have a question?

[OHNO MY PC BROKEY]

so I accidentally bought ddr3 ram instead of ddr2 and ive been seeing ddr3to ddr2 adapters. are these real??? do they work???

[da na]

Lol probably not. The pin count is different, I think DDR3 has 240 pins and DDR2 has 200 pins. Just return/resell and buy the right ram...
There's a good ebay seller I bought 4x2gb DDR2 from a while back that I could link to if needed

[lafrente]

Are you sure your pc is really DDR2 and you're not trying to install them the wrong way? DDR2 is a pretty old standard.

[MageTank]

4 minutes ago, OHNO MY PC BROKEY said:

so I accidentally bought ddr3 ram instead of ddr2 and ive been seeing ddr3to ddr2 adapters. are these real??? do they work???

Are they real? Yes. Do they work? Depends...

 

You can't simply throw a DDR3 DIMM into a DDR2 adapter and expect it to work on any DDR2 processor. The CPU must have a dual memory controller that supports both DDR3 and DDR2. AM3 processors are a great example of this, supporting both DDR2 and DDR3 (though not simultaneously). This is the big thing to keep in mind too. You cannot access both memory controllers at the same time. Plugging a DDR3 DIMM into an adapter to use DDR2 would disable DDR3 DIMM slots on the multi-technology boards that supported both (at least, they should, never tested this personally).

 

Frankly, I think using this adapter is an awful idea. The adapter has to be able to step down the 1.8V from the DIMM slot to 1.65/1.5/1.35 for the DDR3 DIMM (cheap adapters should NEVER be trusted to properly do this), Also keep in mind that burst length changed on DDR3 DIMMs and using the DDR2 burst length will likely cripple DDR3 performance, making it a waste of money to even use the DDR3.

 

In short, just return the DDR3 memory for a refund and source a proper DDR2 DIMM. It's not worth the headache and potential troubleshooting issues (and component damage if a poor adapter is used).

[OHNO MY PC BROKEY]

8 minutes ago, lafrente said:

Are you sure your pc is really DDR2 and you're not trying to install them the wrong way? DDR2 is a pretty old standard.

yeah my pc is old

 

[wanderingfool2]

Will they work?  There might maybe be a solution somewhere, although I would have my doubts.

 

If the PC is old enough to have DDR2 though, it might be recommended to just get a new PC.  The components inside are likely going to start hitting their end of life.  It might be a financial situation, but then you need to factor in the price of getting replacement components.

[dilpickle]

Someone in China always makes an adapter for everything. Doesn't mean it will be good. Return/Sell the RAM and get the right one.

 

Also I would agree with previous poster. Old parts often cost more than they are worth. Its better to save up for a new system.