Adding memory to newer Dell computers

[techwanabe]

I've got a new Dell computer coming with 1 Gb of memory (533 mhz DDR2).

I added standard PC133 memory to my moms older 450 Mhz Dell and it worked fine - is that true of the newer Dell computers - like the Dimension 8400 series and others? I'm not planning on adding any for a while since I expect 1 Gb should last me for a year or so, but I'd like to find out for the future.

 

[XBoxLPU]

http://www.crucial.com/index.asp

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: XBoxLPU
http://www.crucial.com/index.asp

Well, that is one answer!

I've pretty much been installing "standard" PC133 or the DDR equivelents, depending on the computer, for 4 years now without regard to any special guides like that Crucial memory finder. Things have been fine so far. Usually I had locally built PC clones at my office and as long as I got SDRAM that was compatable with the FSB for the motherboard, things were great. I'd usually buy PC133 memory for the SDR motherboards and wouldn't have to worry if they were 66, 100 or 133 FSB. Same with the computers I built from scratch (about 30 of 'em) based on similar platforms with Tualatin processor and socket 370 motherboards (ASUS and Biostar). I've built a few systems based on the Pentium 4 platform and DDR memory, and purchased a few batches of Gateway computers running P4's too (ASUS motherbaords). I was able to use Kingston DDR memory (purchased PC2700 in that case) and it has worked flawlessly too.

So anyway, my experience has been limited to mostly the above, plus a few other "branded" computers including a few Dells, some older Gateway's and some Emachines. In every case, at our office, my boss and I were able to simply buy something like Kingston SDR or DDR memory and pop it in.

I noticed that the memory on listed on the Crucial site for the Dell Dimension 8400 was extremely expensive. Is this just a case of overcharging people because they think they have to have this memory and pay through the nose, or is there some way that DELL has "crippled" their computers to make them only work with memory spec'd a certain way?

We had a bunch of Servers and memory was always WAY more expensive for them and we usually bought it from Compaq or HP depending on the server. I can understand that "mission critical" servers may have special memory needs, but home computers? What IS the deal here?

Oh... that Crucial website stated that the memory for the Dell Dimension 8400 has to be installed in pairs. I thought that went out with 72 pin SIMMs with the exception of the RAMBUS RIMM debacle? I thought SDR and DDR SDRAM could go in singley and work fine. That is how I have it isntalled in my Epox 8RDA+. I am aware of the dual channel thing which gains you a small fraction of performance when you have matched pairs, but it isn't necessary and from what I have read, only gains much advantage for systems with onboard video sharing the system memory. Is this the case with the Dell Dimension line and DDR2 memory? They are just saying it should be installed in pairs (because of optimal performance) but it really isn't absolutely necessary like the old SIMM and RAMBUS days?

 

[ponyo]

It's the price you pay to have bleeding edge stuff. The Dell you got uses the newest Intel chipset along with all new technologies like DDR2, PCI-X, etc. That Dell uses Infineon DDR2 PC2-4200 memory. That's expensive memory right now no matter where you buy it. It's about $130 for 512mb stick at Newegg. Your Dell came with a gig of this stuff. You won't have to upgrade for a long time. By the time you upgrade, that memory should be lot cheaper as DDR2 technology matures and prices fall. It was the same when DDR1 first came out. It has always been like this.

Memory should be installed in pairs because you want to use Dual channel on an Intel PIV platform. This is not AMD. On Intel platform, dual channel is a must for performance and you gain huge performance boost for using it. Never use single channel with PIV platform unless you like crippling your system.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: Naustica
It's the price you pay to have bleeding edge stuff. The Dell you got uses the newest Intel chipset along with all new technologies like DDR2, PCI-X, etc. That Dell uses Infineon DDR2 PC2-4200 memory. That's expensive memory right now no matter where you buy it. It's about $130 for 512mb stick at Newegg. Your Dell came with a gig of this stuff. You won't have to upgrade for a long time. By the time you upgrade, that memory should be lot cheaper as DDR2 technology matures and prices fall. It was the same when DDR1 first came out. It has always been like this.

Well hopefully it's a good news bad news scenario since I will hopefully have significantly faster performing memory vs my current box, but of course the price is higher. But it also means I probably got a better deal than I realized because the $1047 I spent includes better memory, along with the other goodies like SATA 160 Gb hard drive, DVD burner and 19" LCD!

I haven't been reading up on latest technology memory lately, so it looks like I need to start reading up. I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a case of Dell requiring memory which was expensive, even though more modestly priced memory will do just as well. In this case, it is newer technology memory so I can deal with that. Like you said, I could probably be in good shape with 1 Gig for at least a year or more - and by then, the price will have come down as it becomes more "mainstream".

Anyway, I purposefully configured my new Dell with 1 gig so I could be good for a while.

Memory should be installed in pairs because you want to use Dual channel on an Intel PIV platform. This is not AMD. On Intel platform, dual channel is a must for performance and you gain huge performance boost for using it. Never use single channel with PIV platform unless you like crippling your system.

So it will run in single channel - as opposed to SIMMs and RAMBUS which won't run at all without a match pair or a "dummy" pair in the othe slot. Since I studied up on AMD platforms to build my XP2500+ box last year, I wasn't aware that the Intel platform suffered so much from running in single channel. I'll definitely run it in duel channel then.

BTW, do you know of any articles discussing the DDR2 type of memory?