Quick Question about RAM

[draeth]

I have read the stickied post at the top of the page and have done some research of my own, but I'm still not 100% sure of some things. No better way then to ask!

CPU-Z and Crucial both say i have DDR PC-3200 Memory. Belarc, which is a little cryptic to the unknowing has this information.

1016 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 512 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM2' has 512 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' is Empty

I currently have 2x 512mb memory sticks installed as you can see and am looking to upgrade. My main question is, can I install 2x 1gb sticks to have a total of ~3 gigs of ram or will that be incompatible?

 

[evongugg]

Yes you can fill the empty slots with memory up to what your motherboard supports. Check the manual to see what sticks are supported.
Check for the maximum memory supported by your motherboard.
I think you are fine with extra 2x1GB sticks.
Buy DDR-400 or also called PC-3200.

 

[draeth]

Thank you for the speedy reply!

 

[Zenthar]

Yes it should work, only computer of venerable age didn't support asymetric RAM (DIMMs of different sizes). As evongugg said, make sure your MB supports 1GB modules (if maximum RAM for the MB is 4GB, it does; 2GB, it might not). When you install the RAM, check the MB's manual to know what DIMM to put where to make sure it still runs in dual-channel mode (could be 512 - 1024 - 512 - 1024 or 1024-1024-512-512 or ...).

 

[draeth]

I do not have a motherboard manual, this computer is quite old. Once again Belarc's info is -

Board: NEC COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL MS-7069 00A
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. V1.4 02/16/2005

Googling that brings up virtually nothing. Perhaps I'm not looking in the correct place?

 

[draeth]

I was able to find an old article reguarding my computer.
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/76237/nec-powermate-ml7.html

I can't seem to find any information on that motherboard however.

 

[nussrods]

SPECIFICATIONS:
3GHz Intel Pentium 4 630; 1GB Samsung PC3200 RAM; MSI MS-7069 915G motherboard; 128MB ATi Radeon X300 graphics; 160GB Seagate Barracuda hard disk; NEC Display Systems 1770NX 17in TFT; LG GWA-4161B DVD writer; floppy drive; Gigabit Ethernet; Windows XP Professional SP 2; 3yr on-site NBD warranty.


I found this at the bottom of the article you listed. It appears to have an MSI motherboard. Try googling that info for more details.

Cheers..

Hope this helps as well.....
http://www.upgradecomputermemory.com/ram.cfm/Memory/M/MSI/MSI-Others-Series

 

[draeth]

Yes I also found that. I'm sorry I was unclear. I couldn't find any information about that particular motherboard.

 

[draeth]

I found some information, located here.
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/emea/eng/support/lcs/FAQ/242787.htm

However I'm unsure what the computer jargon means.

From the above link.
Rules to Enable Dual Channel Mode
To achieve Dual Channel mode, the following conditions must be met:

* Matched DIMM configuration in each channel
* Same Density (128MB, 256MB, 512MB, etc.)
* Same DRAM technology (128Mb, 256Mb, or 512Mb)
* Same DRAM bus width (x8 or x16)
* All either single-sided or dual-sided
* Matched in both Channel A and Channel B memory channels
* Populate symmetrical memory slots (Slot 0 or Slot 1)

Going on what I have previously stated, would 2 of these, set in the spare 2 RAM slots, work correctly?
http://www.shoppingsquare.com.au/p_651_RamBo_1GB_PC3200_400MHz_Destop_Ram

 

[evongugg]

I think so.
Not sure about that brand. I prefer Kingston, OCZ, Crucial or Patriot.

 

[Zenthar]

I'm sure it will work, but, worst case scenario, it will work in single-channel mode.