New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

2 gigs to 4 gigs of memory

post #1 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
hi all,

i just ordered a m1710 from a guy named tech in the for sale forums
(4) $2680 + Free Shipping & Tax included, 1Yr Warranty

Dell XPS M1710
Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2600 (2.16GHz/667Mhz)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Service Pack 2, English
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA with Black LCD Cover
2 GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMM
Internal English Keyboard
512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX
100GB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8XDVD+/-RW w/Sonic Digital Media™/CyberLink PowerDVD™, No Media
Soundblaster Advanced Audio for XPS
Dell Wireless® 350 Bluetooth Module
Intel 3945 (802.11a/b/g) Dual-band Mini-Card,
1yr Warranty

i want to upgrade from 2 gigs of ram to 4 gigs but is dell going to be gay and ship my laptop with 4 -512 mb of ram? or 2 -1 gigs of ram? What brand is the ram from?

if im lucky and get 2 -1 gigs of ram then what ram is the best price wise and performance wise?

thanks for helping out
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:03pm
Look at your description it says 2 dimm
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:14pm
i think 2GB sodimm's exist, their just outrageously expensive.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:22pm
that upgrade will cost you more then the notebook it self.

on the dell site to upgrade from 2 gig to 4 gig it over 3000$
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:40pm
which is completely ridiculous
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 27
5/31/06 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
*jaw drops* oh wait heres a smiley

ok im a noob when it comes to ram so could someone please explain to me what dimm is? and why is it so expensive?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:07pm
You don't need to know what dimm is and dont need why is it so expensive. All you need to know is the price and how many slots it will take.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haze
i want to upgrade from 2 gigs of ram to 4 gigs

Uhmm, I am sorry, but I have to ask: Why? Are you sure you know and understand what you are trying to do?

At least current versions of Windows XP have a hard time to even make good use of 4Gigs of memory. Unless you have very specific requirements, chances are that you are wasting money, and tons of it, too...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Haze
but is dell going to be gay and ship my laptop with 4 -512 mb of ram?

The M1710 only has two slots available; if you want 4Gigs, you need to buy the outrageously expensive 2Gig DIMMs. See above.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haze
ok im a noob when it comes to ram so could someone please explain to me what dimm is? and why is it so expensive?

That answers my question above. In that case, forget about upgrading to 4Gigs; you wouldn't know what to do with it anyway.

A DIMM is a "dual in-line memory module", essentially a little printed circuit board holding your memory modules (plus some auxiliary circuitry). Typically, on modern machines you use DIMMs holding 256, 512, or 1024MB of memory. The 2GB variety of these is extremely expensive simply because very, very few OEMs and/or customers need/want those, and because they currently represent bleeding edge technology.

P.S.: See also here for more info on this.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
thanks !!
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pirx
That answers my question above. In that case, forget about upgrading to 4Gigs; you wouldn't know what to do with it anyway.

A DIMM is a "dual in-line memory module", essentially a little printed circuit board holding your memory modules (plus some auxiliary circuitry). Typically, on modern machines you use DIMMs holding 256, 512, or 1024MB of memory. The 2GB variety of these is extremely expensive simply because very, very few OEMs and/or customers need/want those, and because they currently represent bleeding edge technology.

P.S.: See also here for more info on this.

lol O_o u are cool....what i meant is thanks for the help and yes i dont know what im doing kthanks
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haze
what i meant is thanks for the help

Hey, anytime!
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 27
5/31/06 at 8:45pm
There are only 2 spots for ram on the m1710 so it will ship with 2 - 1 gig dimms if you ordered 2 gigs. To upgrade to 4 gigs need 2 - 2 gig dimms and they are royally expensive from dell and it seems everywhere else as well. Just have to wait for the price drop.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 27
5/31/06 at 9:04pm
ANy windows can only use 2.5 of the gigs anyway, so you are wasting your time ona windows machine....

Gotta ask, WTF do you need 4 gigs for?

UK
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 27
5/31/06 at 9:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanKnight
ANy windows can only use 2.5 of the gigs anyway, so you are wasting your time ona windows machine....

Gotta ask, WTF do you need 4 gigs for?

UK

Right now i don't really think we need it buy when vista comes around it couldn't hurt. Especially since you can drop merom in.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 27
5/31/06 at 9:26pm
Seriously, if you don't know what RAM is, why would you need 4 GB?
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 27
5/31/06 at 9:45pm
Thread Starter 
because u have money to burn?
sure it was a noob question but it was answered already by helpful people i come to these forums for, no need to flame and contribute nothing to the world with that remark, i used to like u ronin
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 27
6/1/06 at 12:11am
Don't buy 4 gigs of ram. If you're really set on getting 4 GB's of ram, then just buy one 2 gb's Stick (Dimm) and the other dimm with what dell gives you. If you think about it, Memron is going to be about the same price as one of those dimm's lol! So just have 2 Gb's or 2.5 or 3 gbs of ram.

I promise you that for the most part you wouldn't see any performance loss with 2+ Gb's.

But I can definately see buying one 2 GB stick now being better then buying two 2gb sticks at the same time in the near future.

And Vista is probably going to use more then 2 gb's of ram, like you'll see a difference, but then against DX 10 videocards are going to be pretty important as well.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 27
6/1/06 at 12:33am
4gb in this system today is most definitely a waste as the system will only use ~3gb. When Merom and Vistas get here 4gb will be a different story as Merom gets us past the problems with using 4gb of memory in a 32bit system and Vistas will surely see a performance with 3-4gb's of memory.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 27
6/1/06 at 3:49am
2G is plenty. 1G is still pretty good, but for a few games and other applications, going with 2G is a nice upgrade.

~$200 for 2G is a nice deal
~$3k + for 4G is not worth it. Put the cash in some kind of safe investment and buy more memory later--and cheaper--when the hardware/software will benefit from it.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home