General RAM Question

[arapheon]

So, I'm running a machine with 4 memory slots. Yesterday I had two of them filled with 1GB in each one. Today, I put in a 2GB strip in the third slot so I now have a total of 4GB of RAM. RAM shows up in the system, and it is a high quality stick.

When I ran the windows vista performace check yesterday (before the upgrade), my RAM registered at a 5.9 (whatever that means). After installing the new stick, it went down to 4.7 and I haven't noticed any visible improvement. Now, I am pretty sure that the windows performance check is kind of skewed, but I'm wondering if i went about the RAM upgrade in the right way.

Long story short--is there a right way and a wrong way to upgrade RAM? And if so, which did I do?

[coolcolors]

We need to know what kinda motherboard you have and what ram type is the sticks? That way we can know what is going on but the likely hood of it going down might be cause the newer ram is slower to access thus giving it a lower point ratio. That is my best guess at the moment right now. But we need more specs motherboard and RAM and O/S for further help??

[getit29]

[QUOTE=arapheon;2550073]Long story short–is there a right way and a wrong way to upgrade RAM? And if so, which did I do?[/QUOTE]

Yes there is a right way and a wrong way to do a Ram upgrade and you [B]
pretty much went the wrong way about doing it.[/B] I’d have to say the
main reason your WEI dropped from a 5.9 down to 4.7 is when you just
had the 2 1GB sticks in the slots your RAM was running in dual channel
mode and when you just added the extra stick or RAM it took it out of
dual channel mode back to single channel or from 128bit back to 64bit.

Any time you add extra RAM it needs to be an exact match of the same
brand same size and the same speed as what you already have in there.
If you would have added 2 more 1GB sticks into both of the empty slots
and they were exactly the same as what was already in there then you
would have noticed some improvement and your WEI would have stayed
either the same or showed a little improvement in the score.

[DiiZzY]

It probably lowered the bus speed rather than single vs double channel.
//Danne

[getit29]

[QUOTE=DiiZzY;2550095]It probably lowered the bus speed rather than single vs double channel.
//Danne[/QUOTE]

Yep that is another good posibilty mixing Ram speeds say he had 1333 in there and added in a stick
of 800 then it would only run as fast as the slowest stick which would be the 800 instead of 1333.

@arapheon as coolcolors said we need to know more info like mobo make what type and speed your 2
sticks of Ram is and what speed the 2Gb stick is so we can try and help you.

[Mr_Belvedere]

[QUOTE=arapheon;2550073]After installing the new stick, it went down to 4.7 and I haven’t noticed any visible improvement.[/QUOTE] Test your pc with some really memory-hungry applications. I bet they run a lot smoother.

[arapheon]

Well, I bought this ram and stuck it in next to two of these which were already in the computer.

My motherboard is an HY175 Dell in a C521.

So, what can you guys tell me? I’m assuming that I should have gone with double 1GB sticks. If so, can you recommend a good match? And which RAM is better? Should I buy two 1GB sticks to put next to the old ones, or one 2GB stick to match with the new one?

[Mr_Belvedere]

Just put in your Dell tag number at the Dell support website and it will tell you.

[coolcolors]

[QUOTE=Mr. Belvedere;2550189]Just put in your Dell tag number at the Dell support website and it will tell you.[/QUOTE]

That would be your best option and then you can figure out what RAM is uses and get how many in pairs from a online electronics retailer that matches those specs and that should upgrade your computing experience numbers.

[eric93se]

You should sell the two 1GB sticks on ebay for like $30 or something, and buy another 2GB stick.

[getit29]

According to the Dell online manual for the C521 it does not support 2GB memory modules
and only up to 4GB total.

Memory page 93
Type 533-MHz, 667-MHz, 800-MHz z (when available) DDR2 SDRAM
Memory connectors 4
[U][B]Memory modules supported 256-MB, 512-MB, or 1-GB non-ECC[/B][/U]
Minimum memory 256 MB
[U][B]Maximum memory 4 GB[/B][/U]

DDR2 Memory Overview page 64
Your computer has a minimum memory configuration of one DDR2 memory module. This memory
module must be installed in DIMM1. If two or more DDR2 memory modules are installed, they should
be installed in pairs of matched memory size, speed, and technology. [B]If the DDR2 memory modules
are not installed in matched pairs, the computer will continue to operate, but with a slight reduction in
performance. [/B]See the label on the module to determine the module’s capacity.

Dell™ Dimension™ C521 Owner’s Manual in pdf

[arapheon]

Ok. Thanks for the responses. That must be the problem. Odd that my computer would actually recognize the 2GB stick when Dell.com says that it won’t :S

[eric93se]

I bet (2) 2GB sticks of ram will work fine

[AllanDeGroot]

[QUOTE=getit29;2550136]Yep that is another good posibilty mixing Ram speeds say he had 1333 in there and added in a stick
of 800 then it would only run as fast as the slowest stick which would be the 800 instead of 1333.

@arapheon as coolcolors said we need to know more info like mobo make what type and speed your 2
sticks of Ram is and what speed the 2Gb stick is so we can try and help you. [/QUOTE]

Like a customers computer that I just pulled two 512mb sticks out of with NO loss of performance… and actually a slight gain!

Why? because the two remaining sticks are OEM DDR2 PC2-5300,
the two I pulled? DDR2 PC2-3200… the computer runs at the speed
of the slowest RAM and 3gb@400Mhz is actually slightly lower in performance than 2Gb@667Mhz

they THOUGHT that just because they had more RAM that it would be better… Not quite:)

When I give it back to them it’ll be fully populated with matched
PC2-5300’s

Also running RAM that’s faster than what the MoBo can use is pretty
much a waste…

Then again I just installed a pair of PC2-5300 RAM into an older notebook that’s only designed for PC2-4200… because the RAM used was takeouts from another (newer & faster) notebook the RAM you have is better than the RAM you’d have to spend $40 on

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[Matth]

If it IS recognizing the 2GB module, then try the 2GB in DIMM1, 1x 1GB in DIMM2 and 1 x 1GB in DIMM4 (try DIMM3 if that doesn’t help).

Some chipsets can do dual channel with 2x 1GB on one side, and 1x 2GB on the other, and the manual is not clear on the channels - as their “channel” seems to be a set, one in each channel.

[getit29]

[QUOTE=arapheon;2550332]Ok. Thanks for the responses. That must be the problem. Odd that my computer would actually recognize the 2GB stick when Dell.com says that it won’t :S[/QUOTE]

A lot of times after the manuals are writen they come out with BIOS updates that may
support more than what the manual states as in your case. Your manual states it will
only support up to 1GB but we know that’s not the case. I guess instead of re-doing
the manual and spending a lot of extra money on it they just said let them find out on
their own that it will support 2GB sticks but as for supporting more than one 2GB stick
who knows unless you try it.