Memory JEDEC Profile, Voltage, Accuracy, and Flexibility

WhoIsThat

Senior member
Dec 27, 2002
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I have been thinking about adding more memory to my Dell Inspiron 530, but I have a more general questions.

I have been looking to get Corsair 4GB Kit, which says it is 1.9v, but I know that my PC supports only 1.8v.

On NewEgg, plenty of people say it works for them at 1.8v (as well as Dell Inspiron) and they talk about JEDEC profiles.

Now, does that mean there are other RAM sticks that will work fine at 1.8v even if the specs say 2.1v? How do I know that my luck will be as good as others to have 1.9v RAM working on my 1.8v board?

Thanks! :) Always interested in learning something new everyday.
 

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
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For an OEM system like your Dell where you cannot alter the RAM speed or timings or voltage manually, i'd suggest sticking with as close as you can get to what's in your Dell already.

So from what i can find, that;'s DDR2-800 1.8v.
What timings you can check via CPU-Z.

There's definitely a good chance that 1.9v rated RAM could work at 1.8v, but it's not really worth the risk IMO.

That said, most higher end RAM can run at lower than rated voltage, particularly if you loosen timings, etc.
As an example, my Mushkin is rated for DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 2.0-2.1v. It can do DDR2-1050 5-5-5 1.8-1.9v though...

I'd pretty much look for the cheapest stuff you can get along those lines; stuff like this as an example.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231207