DDR2 800 possible on a Dell Dimension 9100? (945P Chipset)

[AuDioFreaK39]

I have a friend who is desperately trying to get his Dimension 9100 ready for Crysis. In August, we installed Vista Ultimate 64-bit and an eVGA 8600GTS 256MB. Currently, he is in need of more RAM, as he's running 64-bit Vista on only 1GB (2 x 512MB) of DDR2 533MHz. The question is, however, will his system be able to support DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 since it runs on the Intel 945P chipset? Additionally, would it be more beneficial to use a higher RAM speed, say DDR2 800MHz, when his FSB is locked at 800MHz? He has four available slots for memory, two of which are already occupied by 2 x 512MB of DDR2 533MHz. I don't know if it would be better to buy 2GB of DDR2 533MHz (for a total of 3GB) or to take out his existing RAM for some higher speed modules. Finally, I'm assuming that Dell motherboards only accept JEDEC compliant memory modules. Would that mean he would have to buy new RAM that is rated for 1.8V? I just installed 2GB of DDR2 533 @ 1.8v on an eMachines with a 945P chipset and it runs Vista just fine. Thanks in advance.

Full specs:

Dell Dimension 9100
Intel Pentium 4 630 3.00GHz w/ EM64T (800MHz FSB)
Intel 945P chipset (officially supports DDR2 533/667/800 - but I don't know about on a Dell)
eVGA GeForce 8600GTS 256MB
19" Dell LCD flat panel @ 1280x1024
Vista Ultimate 64-bit

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: AuDioFreaK39
I have a friend who is desperately trying to get his Dimension 9100 ready for Crysis. In August, we installed Vista Ultimate 64-bit and an eVGA 8600GTS 256MB. Currently, he is in need of more RAM, as he's running 64-bit Vista on only 1GB (2 x 512MB) of DDR2 533MHz. The question is, however, will his system be able to support DDR2 667 or DDR2 800 since it runs on the Intel 945P chipset? Additionally, would it be more beneficial to use a higher RAM speed, say DDR2 800MHz, when his FSB is locked at 800MHz? He has four available slots for memory, two of which are already occupied by 2 x 512MB of DDR2 533MHz. I don't know if it would be better to buy 2GB of DDR2 533MHz (for a total of 3GB) or to take out his existing RAM for some higher speed modules. Finally, I'm assuming that Dell motherboards only accept JEDEC compliant memory modules. Would that mean he would have to buy new RAM that is rated for 1.8V? I just installed 2GB of DDR2 533 @ 1.8v on an eMachines with a 945P chipset and it runs Vista just fine. Thanks in advance.

Full specs:

Dell Dimension 9100
Intel Pentium 4 630 3.00GHz w/ EM64T (800MHz FSB)
Intel 945P chipset (officially supports DDR2 533/667/800 - but I don't know about on a Dell)
eVGA GeForce 8600GTS 256MB
19" Dell LCD flat panel @ 1280x1024
Vista Ultimate 64-bit

Makes no sense to install faster memory - your FSB is un-adjustable and it will continue running at 533MHz, no matter what kind of RAM you install.

Make sure the new RAM is rated at 1.8V.

Good luck!

 

[Yellowbeard]

Exactly right, 1.8v RAM is needed. I would suggest you look around and find a 2 x 2gb kit of memory.