I currently have a Dell Inspiron 530 (Win XP x86, Q6600, 2GB DDR2 800MHz, ATI HD 4850, 500GB HD), which I've had for going on 3 years now. Since 2GB of RAM is no longer sufficient for a few of the newer games out now, I've had to upgrade which is no big deal. The motherboard supports up to 8GB of RAM, 4 slots total with up to 2GB per slot. Currently it has 2x1GB sticks in place. The ram that's currently in place is the ram as per shipped by DELL: 2x Hynix 1GB 1Rx8 PC2-6400U-666-1​2
I've ordered the following upgrade which should arrive in a few days:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227248
Along with this upgrade, I've installed Windows 7 64bit to support the additional RAM being added and to simply bring this computer completely up to date.
What I'm wondering is, would I be able to run all 6GB of the ram or will I be forced to only use the 2x2GB sticks that I've just purchased? They both run at 800MHz, but I'm not sure if the timings of the different RAM would make them incapable of working with each other. It'd be nice if I could use all 6GB, I wouldn't need to upgrade again for quite some time.
Additionally I've come across more interesting information regarding this system:
I've seen that there is some speculation that this motherboard, while supporting 8GB, will only use 4gb total. In some versions (or Bios versions should I say) it allows for the full 8gb to be used. There's 5 total versions of the motherboards shipped with Inspiron 530's known as: The 530, 530a (known to allow 8gb), 530b (known to allow 8gb), 530c (typically supports only 4), and 530b (typically supports only 4); In which I have the 530 version that has mixed reviews some can't, some can. Information about it all is pretty scattered but what I'm most concerned about is if I will even be able to use the 2GB sticks at all.
Dell apparently has purposely gimped their Inspiron 530/530s line (although the 530a/530b that were exclusively sold in China did not have these restrictions) to not allow operating systems installed on it to see or use more than 4gb of RAM. To further explain, even though the motherboards fully supported up to 8GB (4x2GB) of RAM, if you were to install 8GB of RAM into one of these systems, it would show 8GB in the bios yet when booted into the OS (No matter if you're using linux, windows, x64, x86, etc) it will only see as much as 4GB and only allow the use of 4GB. The only explaination behind this is to push people to buy their more expensive "XPS" systems, which can use more than 4GB. It keeps people (like me) from buying a respectable system for cheap, then upgrading it to similar specs of their XPS lineup.
That said I'm curious if anyone here has had a 530 (or had a family member/knows someone, etc with one) and saw this happen upon installing more than 4gb?
I've ordered the following upgrade which should arrive in a few days:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227248
Along with this upgrade, I've installed Windows 7 64bit to support the additional RAM being added and to simply bring this computer completely up to date.
What I'm wondering is, would I be able to run all 6GB of the ram or will I be forced to only use the 2x2GB sticks that I've just purchased? They both run at 800MHz, but I'm not sure if the timings of the different RAM would make them incapable of working with each other. It'd be nice if I could use all 6GB, I wouldn't need to upgrade again for quite some time.
Additionally I've come across more interesting information regarding this system:
I've seen that there is some speculation that this motherboard, while supporting 8GB, will only use 4gb total. In some versions (or Bios versions should I say) it allows for the full 8gb to be used. There's 5 total versions of the motherboards shipped with Inspiron 530's known as: The 530, 530a (known to allow 8gb), 530b (known to allow 8gb), 530c (typically supports only 4), and 530b (typically supports only 4); In which I have the 530 version that has mixed reviews some can't, some can. Information about it all is pretty scattered but what I'm most concerned about is if I will even be able to use the 2GB sticks at all.
Dell apparently has purposely gimped their Inspiron 530/530s line (although the 530a/530b that were exclusively sold in China did not have these restrictions) to not allow operating systems installed on it to see or use more than 4gb of RAM. To further explain, even though the motherboards fully supported up to 8GB (4x2GB) of RAM, if you were to install 8GB of RAM into one of these systems, it would show 8GB in the bios yet when booted into the OS (No matter if you're using linux, windows, x64, x86, etc) it will only see as much as 4GB and only allow the use of 4GB. The only explaination behind this is to push people to buy their more expensive "XPS" systems, which can use more than 4GB. It keeps people (like me) from buying a respectable system for cheap, then upgrading it to similar specs of their XPS lineup.
That said I'm curious if anyone here has had a 530 (or had a family member/knows someone, etc with one) and saw this happen upon installing more than 4gb?
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