2GB Ram Upgrade for Inspiron 8200

[Douglas_Morris]

I know from reading on this forum that the Inspiron 8200 will support two 1GB memory sticks since it uses the same motherboard as the M50. I think I found a good price for the memory on ebay, but would feel better if someone could confirm that this would indeed work. This is PC2700 as opposed to PC2100 which is the spec I believe but that should not be a problem from my understanding.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130072117469

Doug

[Yoob@NBF]

Should be no problem and using faster spec ram should not cause compatibility issue since the ram will clock down to what the board supports. Although I recommend you buy ram from an etailer or from the companies directly simply because you may have a hard time getting the companies to honor ebayed part warranty which could one day happen since ram can fail.

[johnarthur]

I have 2 x 1024 in my C840 (which is in essence the same base machine). Kingston Value RAM 2700DDR 333mhz. Runs flawlessly. I purchased mine from Best Buy since I had a gift card I needed to use.

[daycrawler]

I know from reading on this forum that the Inspiron 8200 will support two 1GB memory sticks since it uses the same motherboard as the M50. I think I found a good price for the memory on ebay, but would feel better if someone could confirm that this would indeed work. This is PC2700 as opposed to PC2100 which is the spec I believe but that should not be a problem from my understanding.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130072117469

Doug
I myself have just put 2gb of ram into my inspiron 8200, but it will also accept ddr pc3200 ram which if you use it you will see a noticable difference from the ddr pc2700.

[MartialTango]

I just tried to put 2GB of RAM into my Inspiron 8200, but it didn't work.

The computer doesn't start if any of them are inserted. Perhaps my motherboard really doesn't accept more than 512 MB? Perhaps I should have bought 266Mhz RAM instead of 333Mhz?

It'd be great if someone here on the forums can tell me where I stuffed up.

Mark

Purchased RAM:
1GBDDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • 333Mhz

Computer details:
Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop, Windows XP Home SP2.
Current RAM:
128MB PC2100 DDR 266Mhz CL2.5
+ 256MB PC2100 DDR 266Mhz CL2.5

[Douglas_Morris]

Not to ask a dumb question but this is actually an 8200 and not an 8100 which looks almost identical? Also not that I think it would make a difference, but do you have the latest BIOS?

Doug

[user4321]

in order to rule out once and for all some "no-it-can't be-done-posters" which didn't actually try a single thing but reading the Dell specs and trying out some memory finder tools on the internet:

YES, the Latitude C840 series (Inspiron 8200 equivalent) can be upgraded to 2GB. I have this running over here, flawlessly, and it took me a while before realizing this must have been once more another Dell marketing trick.

modules I purchased: Kingston KTD-INSP8200/1GB (what's in a name ... ;)

I have BIOS revision A13 in my C840

[pruez]

My I8200 data says it maxes out at 1GB. Do you have yours running on 2GB?

[MrEvil]

It's fairly easy to make your Inspiron 8200 run with a C840 or Precision M50 BIOS. First you'll want to update your Inspiron to the latest inspiron BIOS (this flashes your video card) then download the latest C840 Latitude or M50 BIOS. You'll need to boot your system using a DOS boot disk (cannot be done from a command prompt window) and when you run the flash .exe you'll want to add the /jabil switch. That's the switch I used to flash my i8200 to a C840.