So will any 240 pin ddr2 work in my machine?

[eyezac]

Ok I have researched online, used CPU-Z and the crucial memory selector, but I am still unclear since I have heard that as long as the ram has the same number of pins and is the same type (eg DDR2 not DDR) then it will work (although possibly not at its full speed).... So heres what I have:

My machine:
dell precision 470

what the Crucial Memory selector says about my machine:
Crucial Memory Selector Recommends
Though it says that it does not support dual channel, but i'm pretty sure my machine does.... at least in the first 4 slots....

its a Dell precision 470
currently with 2x 512mb sticks and 2x 256mb sticks installed in the first 4 slots.
Here are the specs on these two sticks of ram:
256mb installed
and
512mb installed

Here is the ram I'd like to get:
4gb pc2 6400 dual channel
or even:
4gb pc2 6400 2.0v
though the voltage is different on this...

my plan is to completely replace my current 1.5gb or ram with 8gb so i don't mind if the they dont mix, but i'd like to know if i CAN mix them, then i'll put the two 512mb sticks into slots 5 and 6 and give myself and extra 1 gig....

Please, if someone could give me some pointers on what are the important things to know before buying ram (like mixing ECC and non-ECC is apparently a bad thing) and whether or not these ram selections would work for me.
And if the selections don't work, then please explain so I get the right stuff next time....

Thanks so much.

 

[sonoma1993]

I would check Dell website and see what kind of information about memory upgrade support they have.

 

[eyezac]

I have looked at what they recommend for my machine (its the "dell precision 470" link in my first post) and it is all pc2-3200, and really expensive. The crucial site recommends pc2-4200 so I wonder what the limit is? why not pc2-6400? If it runs at pc2-3200 speed I dont care...

 

[eyezac]

Is there any good places to find this out? I've read the memory guide here and at toms hardware, but they aren't too specific....

Does anyone know if having registered memory is a must?

 

[gingerstewart55]

Have you downloaded the owner's manual for your machine, by chance? If you plug in the reference number (?---forget what Dell calls it, but it's a unique number on the tag on the machine that identifies it) on the Dell website, the specs for the machine, esp. the motherboard, can be retrieved and quite possibly the user's manual. In there should be all the information you need about what specific memory you need.....be your best bet.

 

[eyezac]

Hmmm, ok i'll look for the mobo manual right now.....

Ok heres' some stuff:
Memory Type
400-MHz DDR2 SDRAM

NOTE: Your computer supports only registered memory.

Memory connectors
Dell Precision 470 computer: 6
Dell Precision 670 computer: 6

Memory capacities
256-MB, 512-MB, 1-GB, 2-GB, and 4-GB ECC

Minimum memory
512 MB

Maximum memory
16 GB

BIOS address
F0000h

And heres some more info:
http://support.dell.com/suppor...n/before.htm#wp1131665

From all this I gather that my machine supports registered memory only, but ECC is optional.... reading this info does anyone else get that impression?
Seems I can use Single or Dual Ranked memory.

However I also read somewhere that you should never mix ECC and non-ECC, so if i plan on using some of the original RAM, i'd better stick with ECC.

It does not mention a speed limit however.

Ok i'm looking around at some RAM now, i'll let you know what I come up with.. appreciate this help, thank!

 

[eyezac]

well after all this mucking around I have decided its probably best just to bite the bullet, spend a bit more and buy it direct from corsair. a good brand and i knoe itll work.