Exactly what type of RAM do I have

Draupnir

I own a Dell and I wanna find out exactly what kind of RAM i have so I can buy some more! All i know is that I have 512 mb of DDR ram but Im not sure if thats all I need to know to buy more

L5

www.crucial.com/uk

L5

oh and go to the dell site, enter your product code(should be on a sticker somewhere on your dell) it'l pull up all your details. You need to know how many sticks the memory is in ie. 1 512 stick or 2 256 sticks. You also much buy 512, memory has to be added in pairs etc etc...

Col_Loki

What processor do you have?

If its....
400mhz FSB then Pc1600 will do nicely
533mhz FSB intel chips then you need Pc2100 Ram (ie to run at 266mhz)...
800mhz FSB (new intels "C" chips) then you need minimum Pc3200

The Ram will work at slower speeds, ie Pc3200 will run at Pc2700 or Pc2100 with no problems. Chances are its a 533mhz FSB you have which would mean Pc2100 DDR (un registered and non ECC).

Loki

Draupnir

Ok, Ive found out that I havea ctually got 512 (2 x 256) Mb of Rambus RDRAM. I was wondering if this means that my motherboard wont accept DDR Ram. I have a 533Mhz FSB.

Just another question, what exactly is the difference between RDRAM and DDR RAM, which is better?

Creamy Goodness

RD ram is older and it's more out of date but you can buy some of it. RD ram comes in two speeds i think PC800 and PC1066 don't know which is inside your machine but here's the place to buy RDRAM

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?AvdID=1&CatID=17&GrpID=2&t=483&l=2


click the link twice

Venom

I believe Dell were using PC1066 RD ram in there pc's. It cost a fortune to upgrade it when I tried 6 months back.

Draupnir

cheers lads, i checked it all out, its gonna cost me an 232 euro to add 512mb, not too bad a price considering.

Now I just gotta figure out if I have 16 bit or 32 bit memory, apparently 32 bit has more pins. I know I have 2 x 256 pc1066 RDRAM

Sir Random

Jeez, that's a lot of cash for that ram.
You don't say why you want 1Gb of ram, but that sort of money might be better spent on a gfx card if you're a gamer.

OfflerCrocGod

Originally posted by Draupnir
cheers lads, i checked it all out, its gonna cost me an 232 euro to add 512mb, not too bad a price considering

Are you smoking crack? - or are you being sarcastic.

dazberry

Originally posted by OfflerCrocGod
Are you smoking crack? - or are you being sarcastic.

That seems a good price for RDRAM considering the last time I priced 2x128mb sticks (about 3 months ago) for (ex)work it was e180 ex VAT.

... anyway to replace the motherboard, add 1024mb of DDR SDRAM and possibly a DELL to ATX power converter would cost more than e232. Isn't legacy a b1tch .

D.

unkel

Originally posted by dazberry
anyway to replace the motherboard

And probably the case

Originally posted by dazberry
a DELL to ATX power converter

Is there such a thing?

Originally posted by dazberry
Isn't legacy a b1tch

Not legacy, just proprietary

Moral of the story - Dell is grand as long as you get one of their true bargains and you're not planning to upgrade it - ever*

* Except hard disk, cd rom, soundcard et al

Venom

Originally posted by dazberry
That seems a good price for RDRAM considering the last time I priced 2x128mb sticks (about 3 months ago) for (ex)work it was e180 ex VAT.

... anyway to replace the motherboard, add 1024mb of DDR SDRAM and possibly a DELL to ATX power converter would cost more than e232. Isn't legacy a b1tch .

D.

I had the same problem mate, €780 for 256mb RD ram for my old dell. Built my current system up instead for a little more.

dazberry

Originally posted by unkel

/Edit: Dell PSU:/ Is there such a thing?

http://www.quietpc.com/uk/cables.php#dell Not for everything - but its a start.

Not legacy, just proprietary

LOL - It was the next big thing, with Intel once fully behind it - so I guess its legroprietacy

Venom: fook - that's insane

D.

unkel

Originally posted by dazberry
so I guess its legroprietacy

Fcuk - don't give me a healthscare now m8

Venom

Originally posted by dazberry
[URL]Venom: fook - that's insane

D. [/url]

Yeah it was a right joke all right. Took me ages to get the info from Dell as there Indian workers couldnt speak English (great idea moving your support centre to that location Dell) and after much checking on the web and ringing around all the prices I found were mental.

256mb pc1066 RD ram €800 inc vat and shipping
1024mb TwinMos 3200 DDR ram €199 inc vat and shipping

Go to hell Dell, go to hell and die.

Giblet

Buy 1066 Rambus from Komplett.

You need two identical sticks though.

2x256 is about 250 including shipping, but you said you have this already, so there is no reason why you should have to buy more.

Draupnir

Cool, how do I work out if I need 32 or 16 bit ones? I need more ram cos I use a train simulation software package and basically it could work a lot better than it does right now i reckon.

Giblet

What chipset is the Motherboard.

Intel 815e or better uses 184 pin RDRAM

1066 RDRAM is damn expensive and hard to find, Komplett have PC800 2 x 512 for 560 euro, which will run, but not as fast. Might see an improvement, but you can nearly buy a new PC for that price!

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?action=info&sku=109683&p=&t=483&l=2&AvdID=1&CatID=17&GrpID=2&cks=PRL

1066 ram is available in 128 MB form only on Komplett.

You could check elsewere, but is it really worth it.

Could just need a CPU upgrade.