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    XPS 1530 - 3gb RAM upgrade problem

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Arca, Jan 3, 2008.

  1. Arca

    Arca Notebook Guru

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    Hi!

    If I would go for the 667$ 1530 deal, there is no way to downgrade from 3gb RAM.

    If I would replace the single 1 gb RAM, with 2 GB RAM bought on the internet, would they still have dual chanel, because obviously, there's one 2 GB dimm from dell, one from another manufacturer.
     
    Arca, Jan 3, 2008
    #1
  2. outkastland

    outkastland Notebook Evangelist

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    yeah it would be fine. Sell your 1gb on ebay after to recoupe some cost.
     
    outkastland, Jan 3, 2008
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  3. phish

    phish Notebook Consultant

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    No, you need 2 of the exact same types of RAM to use dual channel. But it doesn't really matter anymore, dual channel gives a maximum 5% increase in speed, which realistically you wouldn't be able to notice.
     
    phish, Jan 3, 2008
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  4. merlin_72032

    merlin_72032 Notebook Evangelist

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    Who tells you that? You still run dual channel eventhough you have unmatch pair of RAM. Do you have M1530with you? Go check you bios and see if you have dual channel running. I assume you have 3 GB of RAM on your XPS.
     
    merlin_72032, Jan 3, 2008
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  5. Arca

    Arca Notebook Guru

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    are u guys sure that I can use 2x2 gb from different manufactures ??
     
    Arca, Jan 3, 2008
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  6. sly

    sly m1530 owner!!!

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    yeah u can
     
    sly, Jan 3, 2008
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  7. nonamebowler

    nonamebowler Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, as long as they have the same specs, then the manufacturers have no standing on it working or not.
     
    nonamebowler, Jan 3, 2008
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  8. Kdawgca

    Kdawgca rotaredoM repudrepuS RBN

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    You usually want the same speed(mhz) and latency(CL) so it doesnt downclock and as mentioned, Brand does not matter.

    Read more about dual channel in the Dual channel ram guide.
     
    Kdawgca, Jan 3, 2008
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  9. sahaskatta

    sahaskatta Notebook Consultant

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    Ok I read the guide, I still had a question. I also have the 3GB configuration on my XPS since it was the only option I got with the ongoing deal. So would it actually be faster to remove the 1GB dimm leaving only the 2GB in there? Would it slow down to have a total of 3GB?

    I could always sell the 1GB dimm and purchase a 2GB so I have 4GB. (and yes I do know that my 32-bit vista will only be able to utilize 3.5GB of it)
     
    sahaskatta, Jan 3, 2008
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  10. phish

    phish Notebook Consultant

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    I did not say you need the same brand, I said you need the exact same type. From what I understood he didn't know that, just thought he could use any 2GB stick.
     
    phish, Jan 3, 2008
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  11. merlin_72032

    merlin_72032 Notebook Evangelist

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    First, if you take 1 GB dimm and leave 2 GB in there, you will run only single channel. Yes, it will be slower. Just leave everything in there, the chipset will run dual channel on 2 GB and single channel on the ramainning. Intel chipset has a technology called Intel Flex Memory. To explain it into the simple term is the chipset allows dual channel mode on different size of memory. Personally, I don’t see any points of running 4 GB of RAM right now. My laplop run SQL Server 2005, Server 2008, and Windows XP at the same time, and I still have a lot of fire power left.
     
    merlin_72032, Jan 3, 2008
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  12. sahaskatta

    sahaskatta Notebook Consultant

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    @merlin
    Thanks for the info, i'll just leave it as is for a year or so. When (or "IF") 64bit becomes more mainstream, i'll upgrade to 4GB of RAM as well.
     
    sahaskatta, Jan 4, 2008
    #12