8GB of DDR2 Laptop memory "doesn't exist?"

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

Hey, so I have a laptop that I want to upgrade to 8GB of ram, Currently has 4GB. (Laptop is Dell XPS M1730.) I found some 8GB memory online for DDR2, but its pretty expensive. So, I phoned into some local computer shops and they said that 8GB of DDR2 "doesn't exist."
Yet here, http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145599&cm_re=ddr2_laptop_ram-_-20-145-599-_-Product
we see 8GB of Laptop DDR2 memory. WTF! Is the memory fake, or do these guys just not know what they are doing?

Also, another question...
My laptops memory speed is 667MHz. If I find memory that is 800MHz, will it work on my laptop?

USAFRet · Jul 28, 2016

DeadVCR :

That is 2 sticks of 4GB each.
The shop guy was assuming you were looking for a single 8GB stick. Which does not exist.

ss202sl · Jul 28, 2016

Your link isn't to 8gb ddr2 memory. It's 2x 4gb of ddr2 memory. your laptop needs 2x4gb sticks.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

ss202sl :

Right. Guess I was being a bit vague. I want 2 x 4 GB. So this stuff is real?

boosted1g · Jul 28, 2016

Yes 4GB ddr2 memory sticks are real, and newegg does not sell fake or bogus products, if you want fake non-working products try eBay.

Now for what reason are you trying to get 8gb of memory for your ddr2 aged laptop?
Any single application that will use 8gb of memory is going to be horribly bottlenecked by whatever CPU is in that laptop.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

boosted1g :

Well for some reason my graphics card has 2 GB of memory and I overclocked my CPU to 3GHz (works perfectly fine.)
So I thought I would upgrade my memory cuz that's holding it back. I will never be able to afford a gaming PC so spending $100 to make this last a few more years will be worth it.

Unolocogringo · Jul 28, 2016

Yes it is real.
But your laptop only supports a maximum of 4gig of ram.
So upgrading to 8 is a waste of money.
With 8 installed it will only recognize 4 gig of ram , because of chipset limitations.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

Unolocogringo :

Where are you getting this information from?
On another website it says it supports 8GB of ram and i've seen reviews where people successfully upgraded to 8GB and made it work.

boosted1g · Jul 28, 2016

DeadVCR :

And MANY laptops have supported bigger capacity chips then the factory specified max memory. Often that "max" number was not a real limit of the hardware, just quoting the biggest chip that was on the market at the time.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

boosted1g :

DeadVCR :

And MANY laptops have supported bigger capacity chips then the factory specified max memory. Often that "max" number was not a real limit of the hardware, just quoting the biggest chip that was on the market at the time.

Really? Interesting.

Unolocogringo · Jul 28, 2016

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-M1730-Gaming-Notebook.7188.0.html
http://ark.intel.com/products/29822/Intel-82PM965-Memory-Controller

boosted1g · Jul 28, 2016

DeadVCR :

Is your graphics card an integrated or dedicated card (integrated meaning a part of the CPU chip, dedicated meaning it will say ATI/AMD...... or Nvidia .....)? If it is dedicated then your video memory and system memory have nothing to do with one another.

How do you know that the memory is holding it back??? Is the memory usage pegged at max when your are in task manager?

I am just asking because that $100 for old memory might be much better spent on saving for a newer computer.
It is not nearly as hard to save up money as people think it is with a little discipline (not spending the money) and doing whatever extra work you can find.

Unolocogringo · Jul 28, 2016

There is also a operating system limit.
All 32bit operating systems support a maximum of 4 gig of ram.
If you have a 64bit operating system it will depend on what version you have.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

Unolocogringo :

I have 64 bit Windows 7 SP 1

ss202sl · Jul 28, 2016

Unolocogringo :

Why not ask dell?
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19454096

Unolocogringo · Jul 28, 2016

First you will need to see if the BIOS has PAE (physical address extensions) enabled. This allows the chipset to set Virtual memory addresses above 4 gig.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension
Your operating system supports one of the following, depending on version.
Starter: 8GB
Home Basic: 8GB
Home Premium: 16GB
Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB
So first check the BIOS for PAE.
Second ,if PAE is enabled in the bios it might work, depending on how it is implemented.

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

Unolocogringo :

Ok cool! Where do I find that information? And I have Windows 7 Ultimate

DeadVCR · Jul 28, 2016

Unolocogringo :

Oh, when I search up "check the BIOS for PAE" I see results about if your computer can run Windows 8.

If it helps, my computer can run Windows 8 and 10 with no problems.

Unolocogringo · Jul 28, 2016

According to Dell support it will take 8Ggig of ram.
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19454096
This is the same link ss202sl posted above.

But as posted above it only supports 4 gig from Dell, Notebook check .
The Intel link says it supports 4 gig with above 4 gig support with PAE.
I have to admit I was wrong.
My first three reliable sources stated support for 4 gig.
But then we have Dell support, who says it supports 8 gig in a 2x4 kit.

Sorry for the miss information.
Rick

8GB of DDR2 Laptop memory "doesn't exist?"

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