Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > Dell > Best ram for Dell XPS 420
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masterson001   01-09-2008 at 02:08:26 PM

Hi,

I was wondering if someone can advise me on the best ram to purchase. I have just recently bought the Dell XPS 420 as there was a special promotion. The current system specs are:

Intel® Core 2 Quad-Core Processor Q6600 (2.40GHz, 8MB, 1066MHz)
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024/2x512]
SINGLE 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT card
640GB Dual Hard Drive Raid 0 Stripe (2x320GB - 7200rpm)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium - English

Now I am looking to unisntall Vista Home and replace it with Vista Ultimate 64bit and also replace the 3gb ram for 8gb of ram. Now on the Dell site the fastest ram they offer is 800MHz. Does this mean the fastest ram I can purchase is 8gb at 800MHz? Can I purchase ones that are at a faster clock speed one that matches the cpu (1066MHz) or something that runs at the fastest speed for optimal performance?

Apologies if the questions don't make sense as I don't really know much about PC hardware.

Thank you in advance,
Masterson :)

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g-paw   01-10-2008 at 12:43:00 AM
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Without knowing the mobo specs, ideally mfg/model, it's tough to say definitively. In all likelihood you could run 1066 because most of the boards that will run the Q6600 will support 1066. From reading reviews a lot of people are questioning if you'll realize a significant performance increase over the 800. To be absolutely sure, I'd contact Dell and hope get someone that knows what they're talking about

Reply to g-paw
masterson001   01-10-2008 at 11:49:30 AM
- 0 +

Thanks g-paw for your reply.

I also got similar advice from other people on the board. Also been looking at rams and I can't seem to find any 2gb dimms that run at 1066MHz, so it's starting to look more and more like PC2-6400/800Mhz.

Thanks again,
Masterson :)

Reply to masterson001
Delluser1   01-11-2008 at 03:46:49 AM
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I run an XPS 410 with 2 gig of PC4200 Dell oem ram, swapping it out for 2 gigs of Crucial Ballistix PC6400 gives about a 10 % improvement in memory benchmarks, not that you would see that in everday use.
The difference going from PC5300 to PC6400 would be even less, save your money.

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 & 2x1 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

 

Reply to Delluser1

masterson001   01-11-2008 at 11:19:55 AM
- 0 +

Hi DellUser1,

Thanks for your reply. Interesting that it only gave a 10% improvement, but now at least I know I can stick in a PC2-6400/800MHz. I was getting worried that I will not be about to even get 800MHz as Dell might of lock the speed at 667MHz.

Also just wondering, what options can you change in the bios? FSB, RAM voltage? anything?

Thanks again
Masterson :)

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to masterson001
Delluser1   01-11-2008 at 01:09:11 PM
- 0 +

masterson001 wrote :

Hi DellUser1,

Thanks for your reply. Interesting that it only gave a 10% improvement, but now at least I know I can stick in a PC2-6400/800MHz. I was getting worried that I will not be about to even get 800MHz as Dell might of lock the speed at 667MHz.

Also just wondering, what options can you change in the bios? FSB, RAM voltage? anything?

Thanks again
Masterson :)


You can't make any real change's that would help to improve performance drastically, only basic things like turning off on board sound or video, or changing the boot order.
You can change the hard drive accoustics from quiet to performance, but the little bit of gain there is not worth the extra noise in my opinion.

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 & 2x1 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

 

Reply to Delluser1

masterson001   01-11-2008 at 03:45:41 PM
- 0 +

It's a shame you can't change anything, I guess it helps Dell with their support.

But just wondering, have you tried putting RAM that runs at 1066MHz? Just curious what's the fastest speed RAM the XPS 420 will accept.

Thanx
Masterson

Reply to masterson001
ktheripper   01-23-2008 at 06:08:42 PM
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go to somewhere like crucial.com. They a memory finder you can use to find out what memory will work in the dell. Now they give you your brand but you can take the specs of the memory and go shopping at other places that sell memory

Reply to ktheripper
George Knighton   02-03-2009 at 02:53:45 AM
- 0 +

The Curcial tool isn't going to be a lot of help because they still think the XPS 420 will only hold 4 gigs. It'll hold 8, if you bought one recently.

800 MHz is the fastest memory the XPS 420 will handle.

Reply to George Knighton
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