XPS 420 RAM UPGRADE

[Guest]

Hello, I have a DELL XPS 420 with 4GB ram, have recently upgraded OS to Windows 7 64bit as the 32bit was running sluggish, I am thinking of upgrading to 8GB but am totally confused after reading many blogs. Anyone know the best RAM to purchase that will suffice my problem and roughly how much this will cost? Thanks Paul Williamson

 

[Henry Chinaski]

Your mobo supports up to 8GB 667/800 MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps420/en/OM/HTML/appendix.htm#wp1057811

The best thing that you can do is open the case and buy the same modules (to avoid any incompatibility problem).

Anyway, here you have some options.

G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 F2-6400CL4D-4GBHK 4-4-4-12 1.9V

Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800Mhz CAS 5-5-5-15 (1.9V)

 

[Aneesh@4GHz]

+1^

 

[delluser1]

Best thing to do is go to Crucial.com and use thier memory configurator.
They gaurantee compatibility.

 

[Henry Chinaski]

Best thing to do is go to Crucial.com and use thier memory configurator.
They gaurantee compatibility.

Crucial dixit: http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=XPS%20420
Guaranteed-compatible memory: 1,8V and 2,0V memory modules ?????????
If you install 1,8v modules is not possible to install 2,0V. If you have installed 2,0v modules and you install 1,8V, the first ones won't work if you set 1,8V in bios, and you can damage the second ones if you set 2,0V. So, firstly, He must see the voltage of his modules before buy anything.

 

[delluser1]

Dell uses 1.8 v ram.
No, you can't make voltage changes in the XPS420 bios.
And yes, it is possible to install 2.0v ram with Dell's 1.8 v modules.

 

[Henry Chinaski]

Dell uses 1.8 v ram.
No, you can't make voltage changes in the XPS420 bios.
And yes, it is possible to install 2.0v ram with Dell's 1.8 v modules.

Those 2.0v modules won't run if you give them only 1,8v. That is not possible. the only option is to decrease the fequency.

 

[delluser1]

Those 2.0v modules won't run if you give them only 1,8v. That is not possible. the only option is to decrease the fequency.

Well then, I have no idea how I was able to run 2.1v Ballistix in mine, must have been magic.

 

[Henry Chinaski]

If the frecuency didn't decrease, the mobo increased the voltage to the 1,8V modules to be able to run the 2,1V ones, which is no good.
Could you tell me which is the actual voltage for the RAM in your computer?

 

[delluser1]

No the frequency didn't increase, I didn't say that it did. The voltage didn't increase either.
Get CPU-Z , open up the SPD tab,take a look at Jedec specs for the ram, at lower voltage it will run slower.

 

[webpro2k02]

The 2GB 800MHz 1.8v RAM does work for the Dell XPS 420 Computer without any issues.

http://www.memorystock.com/memory/DellXPS420.html