| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 7:10:55 AM | I've been helping a friend with his computer. He only has 256 Mb RAM and he's routinel using at least 380 Mb of RAM. So I thought he'd be better off with another 1 Gb.
I ran Siw.exe on his computer, and it reported he has 5 slots that each can take 1 Gb each. But it also said his motherboard's maximum capacity is only 512 Mb.
There's no point him splashing out on 1Gb, if the motherboard will only see a maximum of 512 Mb.
If he buys 1 Gb RAM, will the motherboard see it all, or will it only pick up the extra 256 Mb?
Thanks in advance for the help. | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 7:57:41 AM |
If he buys 1 Gb RAM, will the motherboard see it all, or will it only pick up the extra 256 Mb?
Nope , if the maximum Ram capacity of the mobo is 512 Mb , then it will only detect , use and display 512 Mb of Ram , so it's a waste of time and money to get 1 Gb.
If the mobo can only take 512 Mb of Ram , then it's a fairly old mobo , so you will need to find out exactly what Ram sticks it can take , because it sounds like it may use 168 pin SDRam instead of 184 pin DDR Ram or DDR2 Ram.
Download and run CpuID to find out exactly what type of Ram the mobo is using.
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
When buying the Ram , you can use Ram with a faster bus speed than what you have in the existing mobo because it will be backward compatible , BUT , it needs to be the same TYPE of Ram.
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 7:58:06 AM | | It depends on what board it is, your better off finding out what motherboard it is, going to the manufacturers web site and finding out from there as to what it can and cant take, because the answer is, it depends on what chipset he has, how the manufacturer has set it up to run, and what typpe of RAM you get for it | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 8:18:29 AM |
It depends on what board it is, your better off finding out what motherboard it is, going to the manufacturers web site and finding out from there as to what it can and cant take, because the answer is, it depends on what chipset he has, how the manufacturer has set it up to run, and what typpe of RAM you get for it The motherboard chipset is a Sis 741 GX-M Ver 1.0E.
The BIOS is a Phoenix-Award BIOS v6.00PG
The CPU is an AMD Sempron 2200+.
Closest I've found on the internet is an Elitegroup 741 GX-M. That says it can take up to 2Gb.
http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Ecs-ECS-741GX-M-Socket-A-SIS-DDR333-Motherboard
What do you think? Can his handle 2Gb or only 512Mb? | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 9:06:04 AM | Get your friend to run the CupID application to find out exactly the make and model number of the mobo and then do a google search for the mobo's make and number.
Different brands of mobos can change the number of Ram slots , so you need to find out exactly what mobo it is.
<div class='quote'>
http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Ecs-ECS-741GX-M-Socket-A-SIS-DDR333-Motherboard
In your original post you said that the mobo had 5 memory slots , the mobo you quoted above has only 2 memory slots , but it does take 2 Gb of DDR Ram . | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 9:38:26 AM | Dont want to open up a can of worms or anything here but there is more to RAM than the physical interconnect, and the amount of sticks / slots you havem and there is also more than one side to a stick of RAM too, and when I say side I dont mean physical sides, because they all have two sides...
The best way, but by no means the only way to pick RAM is to either go by the motherboard manufacturers recommendations, or your OEMs recommendations, they know bcause they built it.
The reason it can tell you it has 5 slots and yet it physically only has two is due to the implimentation of the chipset.
The pipelines for the RAM are there, but the physical slots are not. | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 11:09:21 AM |
The reason it can tell you it has 5 slots and yet it physically only has two is due to the implimentation of the chipset.
The pipelines for the RAM are there, but the physical slots are not. I thought it would have 2 slots. But when I opened it up, there were 5 physical slots for RAM. | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 11:15:47 AM | check crucial.com they have a memory advisor tool. You can also select the computer from a list.
You can use it just as a reference and you can also buy it there... IMO Crucial is the best memory manufacturer in the world. | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/12/2009 11:36:56 AM |
I thought it would have 2 slots. But when I opened it up, there were 5 physical slots for RAM.
Well in that case, when you opened it and looked at the board did you notice who made it?
From a model number or name you can get the manufacturer, and from there the recommended list for RAM...
I remember a very long time ago, back in the P4 days, I had a lot of trouble getting the right RAM for my board, so many different types, and yet all go by pretty much the same name...
I myself always go with Corsair, which harks back to my early days in computing, Supermicro always recommended Corsair, best RAM in the business, and always use Samsung chips, which are universally recognised as the best, not sure why, they just are! | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/17/2009 11:23:59 AM | | Go to 4allmemory.com or crucial.com. They have a great way of selecting the correct memory. Their details section will probably also mention the maximum amount of memory supported. You can call or email them and ask for suggestions as well. | |
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| Help with buying RAM
Posted: 10/19/2009 12:16:01 AM | You can buy cheap and good used computers at your local swap shops usually.
For example:
IBM 3.0GHz 1024MB 40GB Desktops w/Windows XP for only $75 | |
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