Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop won't "see" more than one DIMM at a time reliably

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vfrickey

vfrickey

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Oct 11, 2013
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When I got my Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop, it had a single 512 Mb DIMM installed, even though the motherboard has two DIMM sockets. It runs fine with just one DIMM installed. Fine, I thought, I'll just upgrade with a pair of matched DIMM (to eliminate any bad juju with different RAM refresh speeds between the DIMMs). I got greedy and bought a pair of 1 Gb DIMM from KomputerBay (through amazon.com, who I find have the best and least expensive computer parts resellers).

Unfortunately, my Dell Inspiron 8500 usually only recognizes one DIMM at a time. It doesn't matter which DIMM I leave in (I assumed first that one DIMM of the pair was defective/burned out, but they both work, just not at the same time).

The odd twist is that NOW AND THEN the system will "see" both DIMMs at once and I have a 2 Gb system for as long as I leave the laptop on. I just can't make that happen when I wish to.

My local used computer parts guys tell me that the chip manufacturers never really got started with high-capacity (>1 Gb) RAM in the DDR format, you have to spend big money for a 2 Gb DDR DIMM, and even then they're scarce. Searches on amazon.com (where I got the 1 Gb RAM I have now) and elsewhere seem to confirm this.

I'd love to have this laptop running with at least 2 Gb of RAM. Can anyone suggest how to get it to see both my current DIMM, or at least a reasonably-priced source of 2 Gb DDR DIMMs?

Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
hang-the-9
Did you check for a BIOS update and made sure the RAM you got matches the specs for the laptop? Looks like it wants DDR 2700 speeds. Some systems are picky with the RAM they use, some don't like double-sided RAM in both slots, some are OK with it, things like that. Plus you can just have a bad second slot.
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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Did you check for a BIOS update and made sure the RAM you got matches the specs for the laptop? Looks like it wants DDR 2700 speeds. Some systems are picky with the RAM they use, some don't like double-sided RAM in both slots, some are OK with it, things like that. Plus you can just have a bad second slot.
 
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Solution
vfrickey

vfrickey

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Oct 11, 2013
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vfrickey

vfrickey

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Oct 11, 2013
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"No" to your questions, and thanks - I'll check to see what the laptop requires.

However, I've ruled out the "bad second slot" issue, it doesn't matter which slot I populate, it'll just see one stick of RAM. Both sticks I have work equally well in either slot.

But you have a good point, I could be using non-spec RAM. Which is, I guess, too bad for me, because my local computer shop tells me that DDR in sizes larger than 512MB/stick is expensive new, and difficult to find to satisfy a particular specification.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
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You can find plenty of used RAM on craigslist or ebay, as well as new stuff from www.crucial.com or www.newegg.com
 
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vfrickey

vfrickey

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Oct 11, 2013
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thanks for your answers, Hang the 9. I know where to get the RAM (see my original post). I just wanted to know if anyone had a quick answer on why it only sees DIMM A or DIMM B sockets, but not BOTH at the same time. My guess is a bad motherboard. Nothing much to do about that, unfortunately. But thanks for trying. You get "Best answer" because at least you tried.
 
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vfrickey

vfrickey

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Oct 11, 2013
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I've loaded the latest drivers from Dell, and unfortunately, no help... it's a pity, because the video card on this thing screams... the bottleneck is insufficient RAM on the mobo. On the very rare occasions when it feels like seeing both sticks at once, the performance improvement's stellar. (sigh). The most cost-efficient move (to at least salvage my investment in DIMMs that can't be used much of anywhere else) would be to troll eBay for another laptop of this model (but working) and put the memory and hard drive into it. Probably cost me well under $100 and give me a very nice working system. But thanks for your help and everyone else's.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

Titan
Mar 25, 2010
60,387
1,081
152,940


Did you do a BIOS update also or just the drivers? It's a bit different than just drivers as the BIOS updates the motherboard controller. If the system used DDR RAM, you may as well replace the thing for a Core 2 Duo or faster laptop, it will be a better place to put your money than buying RAM for a system that used DDR ram. Pentium M is pretty much a Pentium 4 optimized for laptop use. It's a bit too old of a system to put money in when you can buy a much faster used Core 2 Duo laptop for a it over $100. Another thing with RAM, systems from Dell, HP and such are usually picker with what RAM works with them, more so than the enthusiast parts like MSI, Alienware, ASUS, et...
 
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redingepor

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Aug 9, 2014
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Nothing much to do about that, unfortunately. But thanks for trying. You get "Best answer" because at least you tried.
tCHyxz
 
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