Ram memory upgrade

[KevPride]

Because my desktop was running very slow opening Elements 7 I decided the 2 gig Ram needed upgrading. Bought the identical PNY 2gb DD2 800 and put it into the remaining available slot only to find I had only gone from 2gb to 3gb.

What gives ???

The sticker said 2gb but have I been duped or do I need to change some settings.

Any help would be appreciated.

[ameerat42]

Are you running any 32-bit operating system? Like Win XP? That's Y. DO a Google search using "3 gb limit". Actually do a forum search too. I'm sure it's been mentioned b4. Am.

[ricktas]

How many slots do you have? Were the previous 2 gb made up of 2 x 1gb chips? There is an issue with some motherboards that all the chip have to be the same size, otherwise it won't detect and use the full amounts. If this is true of yours, you have 2 x 1gb chips and a third one now acting like a 1gb one as well, if this is the cause you may need to get another 2gb chip and replace the existing 2 x 1gb ones.

[KevPride]

Thanks everyone for the advice - previous was a single 2gb Ram stick, but as I am still running on XP this seems the problem.

As it does actually run much quicker I am not that concerned.

[Wayne]

I would be inclined to agree it is a windows 32 bit OS limitation.

[Tannin]

No doubt about it. Nothing whatsoever to do with it being Windows XP, it is a 32-bit Windows limitation - Ameerat42 is spot on. Note that Vista and W7 are the same - to use more than about 3GB you need a 64-bit version of Windows XP, Vista, or 7.

Don't go jumping into that if you don't know exactly what you are doing!

[Watchamacallit]

Also depends what SP, etc you have installed as a few times it can be as high as 3.5GB (i.e. my work laptop shows 3.45GB on 32bit XP).

If you want more, you'd need to go 64bit like everyone else has said.

[Paul G]

Forgive me for crashing in on this topic but I have the same issue I believe, however I currently only have 1GB of RAM ( 2 x 512 sticks). I have four slots available (in total) so what would my best option be to upgrade? Just get 2 x 2GB sticks to still arrive at the 3GB maximum as has been said for a 32-bit system?

[ameerat42]

Well, Paul, check the colour-coding of the slots. If they are in pairs of colour, then it'll be dual-channel ram that you're after. Then you'd need to get two matching sticks of RAM. If you're not going to, say, put a 64-bit OS on that computer, I'd say just get another two matching 512MB sticks. You'll only see 3-3.5 GB, but it'll be necessary for it to work at all. If you decide to install 64-bit OS, make them 2x1GB extra sticks. Be careful whichever you do, best to take you computer to someone and try the chips 1st. (I can, hope you can.) Am.

[Paul G]

Thanks Am. It is indeed dual channel and has two pairs of coloured slots. No plans to upgrade the OS at this stage. Just looking to give the system a little boost and maximise whatever performance I can. Mines based on a Pentium 4R and was built about 5 years ago now.

[Tannin]

Don't mess about half doing stuff.

• The primary determinant of the exact amount of RAMG you see under 32-bit Windows is the motherboartd chipset.
• But don't worry about that - you will get about 3GBG, plus a bit, minus a bit, wjho cares?
• Your system will run perfectly happily with a single stick if you want to do that
• It will run faster with two matched sticks
• If you don't have a matched pair handy, it will still work just fine with two sticks of the same brand and spec.
• Nobody makes 512MB RAM in any sort of quantity these days. You can maybe get it cheap second-hand because no-one wants it, but expect to pay way, way too much new
• 1GB sticks aren't much cheaper than 2GB ones.
• Systems run more reliably with a smaller number of physical pieces of RAM - 2 is better than 4

Short answer: buy 2 x 2GB and remove your old 512MB sticks. Don't buggerise about trying to do it on the cheap - you will save a few pennies, no more. (But if a friend who upgrades offers you his pair of useless 512MB sticks for nothing, well, that's different.)

[Kym]

What Tony said ^^^

[Watchamacallit]

What Tony said ^^^

I second that. I would recommend checking what your motherboard supports before going out to upgrade.

[Paul G]

Okay then...wanted to buy, 2 x 2GB sticks of RAM
Seriously though - I've got Belarc Advisor up at the moment. Can I find the motherboard details you mention there?

[Cage]

Okay then...wanted to buy, 2 x 2GB sticks of RAM
Seriously though - I've got Belarc Advisor up at the moment. Can I find the motherboard details you mention there?

Google your motherboards model no and check the specs under RAM.

It will tell you the maximum amount of RAM your motherboard can support, and in what configuration.

Kevin

[Paul G]

This is what I've got


ABIT AA8XE - motherboard - ATX - i925XE specifications
• General
• Product type (AE) Motherboard
• Form factor ATX
• Width 12.0 in
• Depth 9.6 in
• Compatible Processors Celeron D , Pentium Extreme Edition , Pentium 4 , Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
• Mainboard processor socket LGA775 Socket
• Chipset Type Intel 925XE Express / Intel ICH6R
• Data bus speed 1066.0 MHz
• Storage key information ATA-100 , Serial ATA-150 (RAID)
• Power connectors 24-pin main power connector
• Processor
• Installed Qty (Max Supported) 0.0 ( 1.0 )
• Memory
• Supported RAM Technology DDR2 SDRAM
• Supported RAM Integrity Check Non-ECC
• RAM Installed ( Max ) 0.0 MB / 4.0 GB (max)
• Supported RAM Speed PC2-3200 , PC2-4300
• RAM Features Unbuffered , Two DDR channels
• Audio
• Audio Output Sound card
• Sound Output Mode 7.1 channel surround
• Audio output compliant standards High Definition Audio
• Telecom / Networking
• Networking Network adapter - Ethernet , - Gigabit Ethernet , - Fast Ethernet
• Features
• BIOS Features Hyper-Threading Technology
• Expansion / Connectivity
• Expansion Slots Total (Free) 4.0 PCI Express x1 - DIMM 240-pin , 2.0 Memory - LGA775 Socket , 1.0 PCI , 3.0 Processor , 1.0 PCI Express x16
• Storage Interfaces ATA-100 - connector(s): 4 x 7pin Serial ATA - 2.0 device(s) - RAID 0 / RAID 1 , Serial ATA-150 - connector(s): 1 x 40pin IDC - 4.0 device(s)
• RAID features Intel Matrix RAID Technology
• Interfaces 1.0 x Audio - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1.0 x Serial - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1.0 x Keyboard - Line-out (side surround) - 6 pin FireWire , 1.0 x Parallel - Line-out (center/subwoofer) - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) , 1.0 x Network - RS-232 - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 4.0 x Audio - Input - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1.0 x Audio - Line-out (rear) - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm , 1.0 x Hi-Speed USB - Line-in - TOSLINK , 1.0 x Audio - Line-out - Mini-phone 3.5 mm , 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF input - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25) , 1.0 x Audio - SPDIF output - 4 pin USB Type A , 1.0 x Microphone - Generic - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9) , 1.0 x Mouse - Line-in - TOSLINK , 1.0 x Audio - Generic - 4 pin MPC , 1.0 x Audio - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) , 1.0 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - RJ-45
• Additional connectors (optional) 2 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) , 4 x Hi-Speed USB

[SnowA]

Something like this should do it.
http://www.arc.com.au/pub.php?gid=23...4984&p=product

[Paul G]

Cheers Snow. Bit pricier than I thought. Might have to go the second-hand route if anyone's got some lying around unused.

[fillum]

Paul, you could just email those specs off to site advertiser Cheap Chips and they'll let you know what you need. Personally, I'd just get a couple of 1gb sticks (around $40 a stick for DDR2) and use in conjunction with your existing RAM.


Cheers.

[SnowA]

You could go generic rather than brand name ram. 2GB sticks in DDR2 will start around the $60 mark.