Dell 540 chat room

[mrsnelling]

I have 2gb memory on my Dell Studio 540 desktop. Two 1gb cards. Looks like slots 1 and 3. If I get two more 2GB cards (total of 4 more) to take it up to 6gb will that work? Do I need to move the cards, i.e. four cards, 2 1gb cards and 2 2gb cards? I don't know enought to fill out the sub-catagory so I defaulted to the first one. Please ignore until I am more educated.

 

[Shadow703793]

1. DO NOT DOUBLE/TRIPPLE post.

2. What do you plan to do with this system?

 

[scudst0rm]

in general here are a few things to check before upgrading memory:

1. how much will your motherboard support. look it up on the dell website, it should give you a maximum ram capacity per slot.

2. 32 or 64 bit OS. if you have a 32 bit version of windows you will only be able to use 4 GB of total memory (actually less than 4gb, depending on other hardware in your PC)

3. how are the memory channels configured on your motherboard. again consult the dell website. normally to run your memory in dual channel you need to install you matching pairs in slots 1 & 3 and slots 2 & 4. it sounds like your first pair or ram modules are installed in the right slots, so just install the new set in the empty ones ( 2 & 4).

 

[mrsnelling]

MB is 64 bit. 8GB Ram possible according to specs. I just wanted to know if I did not want to invest in a total of four 2GB cards that I could just buy two and wind up with 6GB total ram.
Another question.
My old hard drive from my old computer has the wide data cable and the 4 pin power cable. I want to get adapters for the new computer and install it. I just bought it last year and I don't want to scrap it.
Any advice.
Many adapter kits on ebay? Can't really determine which wiring adapter's I need.

 

[Shadow703793]

WHY do you need 6GB RAM? Spending money on DDR2 is pointless as DDR2 is dead now. Perhaps a total of 4GB will do.

 

[mrsnelling]

I am not a computer guy. I just thought from a performnce standpoint more would be better. 2GB does pretty well. I have no clue if more RAM will make the system perform detectabliy better. I could ask myself why I would need 4GB of RAM or 8GB of ram. I don't know the answer to either question.
Signed, uninformed