Dell E521 Memory upgrade

[brawleyman]

I have a Dell E521 (see specs below). I used CPU-Z on the computer and found out that the computer has Samsung PC2 533 ram (2x512 sticks) running @ 4-4-4-12? (I can't remember what the last number was). On the SPD tab, it shows that the ram can run at 200 and 266mhz. When I check the individual sticks, it shows that they are only running at 200mhz. Is there something that I can do to make it run at the rated 266mhz?

I have been thinking about upgrading my ram to PC2 800, but if the motherboard will only allow the ram to run at 200mhz, then I might as well get some really good PC2 400 with low latencies. The HT runs at 200mhz, so is it just downgrading the ram to match the HT bus? I thought that the motherboard is supposed to adjust the multiplier so that even though the HT bus is 200mhz the ram can run at 266mhz.

Any suggestions?

 

[cozumel]

According to the Dimenesion E521 owner manual (page 107) the motherboard is compatable PC2-6400 (800MHz) modules. Not sure if you would need an updated BIOS though.

Dell Dimension E521 Owner's Manual

 

[brawleyman]

So, I wonder why, though, the ram installed now is rated at 266mhz but only runs at 200mhz like the HT bus speed? I just need to know what to do to make my memory run at the rated 266mhz and see where I am at. If that is not enough for me, should I upgrade to a better 1gb of PC2 533 with cl 4, 1gb of PC2 800 cl 5, or bump it up to 2gb? Or should I get pc2 400 with cl 3? What would be the best for my system? Does lower latencies or higher ram speeds work better for AM2?

***EDIT***
I forgot to mention that I will NOT be overclocking my system, so value ram will be fine for me. I just need to know if it would be worth it to upgrade to faster ram speed or lower latencies. If anybody else has had problems in Dell E521's with their ram being rated higher but running at 200mhz matching the HT speed, please let me know what you did and why it does that.

 

[brawleyman]

Okay, so after lots of research for the past few hours, it seems that ram with a higher frequency would be better than lower latencies for AM2. Somebody correct me if I am wrong. These are the 2 memory sticks I have been considering, both are 2 sticks of 512 for total of 1gb:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820144166 Runs @ 3-3-3-8, $31 shippped, but is DDR2 400

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820211064 Runs @ 5-5-5-18, $34 shipped, and is DDR2 800

Suggestions? The PC2 400 would run at 200mhz matching the HT bus speed, the PC2 800 would run at 400mhz...shouldn't the motherboard make the multiplier have a ratio of 2:1 to make the ram run at its rated speed?

 

[cozumel]

Okay. You are using Xp and this OS will function better and respond quicker with 2GB DDR2. This upgrade will definitely give you a noticable improvement in system performance. Have a think about whether you want to do this.

Now I've checked at Newegg and they don't stock PC2-3200 (400) in dual 2x1GB kits. However there are thirteen PC2-6400 2x1GB dual kits listed as requiring 1.8v. Take a look at this page. The prices vary from $47 to $79 including shipping and offer very good value. The $47 kit is obviously about 50% more than you were going to spend but really would boost your PCs peformance.

As far as setting ratios on an HT board I haven't got a clue as I've never built an AMD based rig. (I'm an Intel fanboy lol)

 

[Arcanedeath]

I would suggest these PQI 2x 1 gb DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 they are 54.98 shiped but they have a $10 rebate making them only 10.98 more than your more expensive selection but Have better timings and twice the amount of memory, for such a small cost increase your getting a much better deal. It just doesn't make sense to buy anything smaller than 1GB dimms at this point. If you have an interest in 2x 2gb ewiz.com has 2gb DDR2 800 dimms for only 38 each + shipping.

 

[cozumel]

Those PQI are good value. But the reason I linked only to 1.8v kits was due to the fact it's an OEM mobo. The OEM I'm typing this on now has nothing in the BIOS to set DDR2 voltages, timings etc. If the Dell only puts out 1.8v it might not be enough to power the PQI

 

[Arcanedeath]

There's some coments in the newegg reviews indicating it works fine in Dells and its 1.8v-3.3v per those notes as well but generally it should still work at 1.8v even if he has to relax the timings to be safe.

 

[magreen]

When your cpu is idle it turns down the speed to save electricity, inc. the mem speed and cpu multi. Do something with your computer (type dir /s at a command prompt in the c:\ directory, for example) and you'll see in cpu-z that suddenly your mem really is running at 533. It's called speedstep and cool'nquiet for amd and intel procs (forgot which is which).

 

[brawleyman]

Thanks magreen and everyone! Yeah, I noticed that last night while in my account on my computer. My wife has the Cool N' Quiet enabled on her account, so the processor drops to 1ghz and the ram drops to 200mhz. Otherwise, while in my account, I have it disabled so the ram runs at 266mhz, the rated speed for the PC2 533.

I would prefer to stay with 1.8v for the ram, since it seems that is the norm for the Dells and there are lots of PC2 800's that can run at 1.8v without a hitch. Now, personally, I am a Corsair fan (I had 2x256=512 with heatspreader in my old Athlon XP2800+ machine and were awsome!), however, it seems that they don't make any 1.8v of the PC2 800. I have found others like the A-Data which seem to be pretty good and has lots of reviews, all positive. Now, as stated before, I will not be overclocking these things, and there are 2 different versions of the A-Data, one with heatspreaders and one without...does it matter which I get since I am not overclocking? I do not plan on reusing this ram in another computer, I just want to make this one super efficient and at some point down the road, I am going to build a mac-daddy of a PC.

My current RAM is running at CL 4-4-4-12, the 2gb A-Data runs at CL 5-5-5-18...Will I see a difference in how quickly programs open up or how fast programs will run while open when compared to my existing ram? Also, since I have the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, will there be any additional performance gains dealing with media? I have over 12,000 songs, 500 music videos, loads of games, and several full seasons of shows loaded. Will they run faster or look better with 2gb?

***EDIT***
I have been looking up some of the different PC2 800 rams sticks. There are some that run at 5-5-5-18 and some at 5-5-5-15. Is there any difference between the 2? Would there be anything noticeable to the naked eye? The ram that has the 5-5-5-15 is actually a little cheaper, but doesn't have as many reviews or "eggs" on it as the other I am looking at. Here are the links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820313018 5-5-5-15 $32 shipped

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820211064 5-5-5-18 $34 shipped

I decided that 1gb will be enough for me. I always only have 1, maybe 2, programs open at a time. I am not connected to the interenet so there are not those services running in the background, and when I play games, I don't have other programs or windows open at the same time.

 

[PremiumG]

hey brawleyman,

just an FYI, i bought some OCZ RAM PC800 for my Dell E521 and it doesn't take the ram because probalby of the high voltage (2.0 v). I would definitely stick with 1.8v RAM.

 

[brawleyman]

Yeah, that is what I figured. It seems that from everything I have checked out, 1.8v is the standard for the Dell's...I am glad that there are lots of choices for 1.8v PC2 800 RAM!!! I think that I am going to get 1gb of PC2 800, just don't know if I will get the A-Data or Team Elite. One is a tad cheaper with a tad better tRAS timing, but the other has a lot more ratings. Ratings for both are very positive. Would the better tRAS be better?

 

[brawleyman]

I just found this awsome article that helps explain the different timings of ram and how important they are. Here is the link:

http://evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=45260

This is for anyone that is wondering what those numbers mean and how it affects your system when looking at upgrading RAM. It certainly helped me. Should I post this outside somewhere or make a seperate topic for others to view easily?