Did I install the additional Ram sticks correctly?

Yes, I'm still a newbie but not in age/years.

Installed today 2 (1GB each) additional Memory sticks in my computer today. I used the Everest software program to find out if they were found. Here is the info:

DIMM1: MoselV826632K24SATGC0 (256MB)
DIMM2: Micron Tech.16VDDT12864AY33F2 (1GB)
DIMM3: Mosel (same as DIMM1)
DIMM4: Micron Tech (same as Dimm2)

Are they in the right slots?

Thank you.

WindowsXP Home SP3

 

It depends on the make and model of your motherboard but that looks right for the vast majority of Motherboards that have 4 x DIMM Slots, but could you look at the Motherboard>>>>SPD in EVEREST and see what timings and MHz are for the different pairs please. I would also consider putting the Micron in DIMM 1 and 3. (swapping the pairs around).

 

I won't go into the technical aspect of it, but a general rule of thumb when installing multiple ram sticks, is that you always put the largest ram in the lowest numbered slots. That's usually the slot closest to the CPU.

I can't see anyone buying 256meg ram sticks in today's market.
Kind of a waste of time and money!

I'd imagine, that didn't improve things that much.
I doubt you'll even see any difference in the way the computer runs.
I would have gone to at least 512 x 2. That would have given you the max usable ram for the system, (3 gigs) if you're using Windows XP. (32 bit version)

Anyway, good luck and Happy Computing!

The Shadow :cool

 

No, please do!

 

Thank you for responding. I didn't see in Everest (SPD) the timings and MHz for the 2 pairs. Dell had the 2x256 MB in slot 1 and 3 pre-installed, so I left them there and installed the 2 1GB additional ones in slots 2 and 4. The clips on slots 1 and 3 are white while the slots 2 and 4 are black. Had a very hard time installing the additional ones because I followed the instructions to put them in straight and push them down. It was impossible to insert them like that, so I had to push them in on one side and then the other. It only worked that way. It took me almost an hour to figure that out.

I will swap the pairs around in the near future. Thanks.

 

Initially when I purchased my Dell Windows XP Home in 2004, I was told by the sales rep that 512 MB would be plenty. I added 2 additional 1 GB sticks because purchasing 4 new memory sticks would be too expensive and my 32 bit version only supports 3.5 GB anyway. The remaining 512 MB would be a waste. I read that one should purchase the same amount of RAM in pairs.

Thanks for you reply.

 

Thats good to hear you were obviously being very careful! A tip is to lay your PC on it's side when you do it and it is better to apply a bit more straight down force than wriggling, so next time a little wriggle but a bit more force. After you have done it 4635273498456736 times you will have a lot more confidence

 

Thanks for your encouragement. I added additional memory sticks to my previous Dell computer and I could just push them down without a problem. This time though the sticks had to be installed differently (push down one side first and then the other) although the manual told me to push them straight down on both sides at the same time. The manual was wrong! Well.... live and learn. If I have to install additional or new memory sticks in the computer, it'll be in a new one.

 

Argh - now I'm REALLY confused! I just checked with the Belarc Advisor and this is what is shown as how the memory sticks are installed. See:

2560 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 0' has 256 MB
Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 0' has 256 MB
Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 1' has 1024 MB

In order to get the most out of the memory, what do you suggest? Should I leave them just as is or put the 2 x 1024 MB in DIMM 0?

Thank you for your continued support and advise.

 

Okay I think you should swap them around 1Gb in each DIMM_0 Channel, but I would like you to open EVEREST and give me your:

under Motherboard;

Motherboard Name:

under SPD;

xxxMHz and ?-?-?-? for both differing pairs of RAM.

But it looks fine and dont be concerned 2.5Gb of RAM will be better than 2Gb of RAM but's let make sure they behave nicely with each other .

 

Hi Boldeagle. Thank you for your response. I could not transfer/compress the info you requested into another software program and upload it here. Don't know if I'm giving you too much info. Sorry about that and therefore here is the info (almost) in full:

[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------



--------[ Motherboard ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID <DMI>
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 4600i


Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type Dual DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
Real Clock 167 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 333 MHz
Bandwidth 5333 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties:
Bus Type Intel Hub Interface
Bus Width 8-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 267 MB/s

Motherboard Manufacturer:
Company Name Dell Computer Corporation
Product Information http://www.dell.com
BIOS Download http://support.dell.com


--------[ SPD ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ DIMM1: Mosel V826632K24SATG-C0 ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Mosel V826632K24SATG-C0
Serial Number 976E101Ah
Manufacture Date Week 28 / 2004
Module Size 256 MB (1 rank, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Mosel Vitelic, Corp.
Product Information http://www.moselvitelic.com/frames/frame_DMM.html

[ DIMM2: Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AY335F2 ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AY335F2
Serial Number E7144C6Eh
Manufacture Date Week 22 / 2008
Module Size 1024 MB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Micron Technology, Inc.
Product Information http://www.micron.com/products/category.jsp?path=/DRAM

[ DIMM3: Mosel V826632K24SATG-C0 ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Mosel V826632K24SATG-C0
Serial Number 9D6E1008h
Manufacture Date Week 28 / 2004
Module Size 256 MB (1 rank, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Mosel Vitelic, Corp.
Product Information http://www.moselvitelic.com/frames/frame_DMM.html

[ DIMM4: Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AY335F2 ]

Memory Module Properties:
Module Name Micron Tech. 16VDDT12864AY335F2
Serial Number D335B1D8h
Manufacture Date Week 23 / 2008
Module Size 1024 MB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Module Type Unbuffered
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC2700 (166 MHz)
Module Width 64 bit
Module Voltage SSTL 2.5
Error Detection Method None
Refresh Rate Reduced (7.8 us), Self-Refresh

Memory Timings:
@ 166 MHz 2.5-3-3-7 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
@ 133 MHz 2.0-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Memory Module Features:
Early RAS# Precharge Not Supported
Auto-Precharge Not Supported
Precharge All Not Supported
Write1/Read Burst Not Supported
Buffered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
Registered Address/Control Inputs Not Supported
On-Card PLL (Clock) Not Supported
Buffered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Registered DQMB Inputs Not Supported
Differential Clock Input Supported
Redundant Row Address Not Supported

Memory Module Manufacturer:
Company Name Micron Technology, Inc.
Product Information http://www.micron.com/products/category.jsp?path=/DRAM

 

Ouch ouch ouch.........will look at this tomorrow! And we will talk about "screen shots"!!

We have a little work here!

Tommorow always comes with BE!

 

Great Bold Eagle!! Will be looking forward to your help!! Yeah, a big ouch isn't it?

BTW: what is "BE"?

 

Wow thats really nice all the 2 different pairs of RAM have exactly the same "Memory Frequency and Timings", the SPD match up exactly.......Damn I have 2 x (2x1GB) kits form the same manufacturer with same part number and they don't do that!!! So they should behave very nicely.

Well that makes it very easy when you have time just swap the RAM kits around, you can readily use both kits in as they have "exact" timings! Im amazed with that you have done very well!

 

Thank you so very very much Bold Eagle!!! To tell you the the truth I purchased also the PC Pitstop Optimize software and ran that immediately after booting up the computer. This was recommended by the salesperson. Don't really know if that helped the memory though.

Yes, I will swap the memory sticks around soon. Thank you once again for your excellent help!!