Stargate 4116 Ram?

cpyne

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My Stargate just started showing a 1-2-3 RAM error when trying to boot up. I moved the 4116 ram chip that was in Bank 2 Slot 3 down to Slot 4 and the error changed to 1-2-4 so I'm pretty sure that chip is just bad. I've read how these chips aren't very reliable, but I'm wondering if anyone has a ballpark estimate on how often they fail? Is this the type of part where it's good to have 2?, 5?, 10+? pieces on hand? Just wondering people's experiences with these so I don't over or under order.

Thanks
Charlie
 
4116's are a pretty frequent failure point for Williams games, they require 3 different voltages to operate, they run hot, and just suck, IMHO. If you decide to stay with the 4116's, have a couple of spares on hand all the time. The better solution is to convert to 4164's. It requires an adapter harness (or mods to the cpu board), but the result is better, more reliable memory.
http://www.robotron-2084.co.uk/techwilliams4164.html
pre-made adapter for $8.50:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/parts.html#wms
4164's for $0.49 each, $25 minimum
http://198.170.117.30/IC/DYNAMIC.html
 
agree on above.

also depends on
(a) how long you intend to keep the game (short term to prob sell off, medium term till you get bored, or long term collector ?)
(b) how long you plan to run the game - periodically ? continuosly ?
are you going to take extra measures to keep the boards/ram cool ?
(c) how good either mains power supply is (do you protect your games with line filters/spike protectors ? lightning protection ?) do you have power outages much ?

for me, i plan to keep them a long time, so for each game, i am intending to accumulate enough spares to have at least one set of all ics on hand incl ram to hedge against loss of availability of parts, and for speedy repairs in event of failure. i'll probably keep an extra set of ram overall too. just in case.
 
4116s are still cheap. Check some of the usual suspects GPE, Jameco, Digikey, etc. There are probably even some KLOVers near you that may have some to spare.

ken
 
Thanks. I just ordered 5 of them from Bob Roberts. I'm planning to keep this machine long term, but I'm always ordering something new, so I guess it's not critical that I stock up for life.

Thanks
Charlie
 
I'm planning to keep this machine long term,

So... unless you are

A: using this cab to set work records with Twin Galaxies

OR

B: Extremely anal about originality

THEN

the best practice is to follow the advise to convert to 4164 RAM.

Just my $0.02,
Saltbreez
 
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