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    anyone tested a 4Gb set for the new inspirons?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by urlwolf, Aug 6, 2007.

  1. urlwolf

    urlwolf Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm planning to buy 2 x 2gb and sell my 2 x 1Gb. BUT: I want to buy the right ram, as I know not all dimms will work. I don't want to spend time debugging.

    Did you buy your 4Gb from a 3rd party? Did it work on the new inspirons? I'd like to know. Also, please post links :)

    Thanks!
     
    urlwolf, Aug 6, 2007
    #1
  2. panteedropper

    panteedropper Notebook Deity

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    you'll be safe purchasing your ram from crucial or hynix
     
    panteedropper, Aug 6, 2007
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  3. pragun

    pragun Notebook Evangelist

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    get PC2-5300 or PC2-5400. look at the hot ram deals thread in the notebook/tech bargains forum. it'a sticky.
     
    pragun, Aug 6, 2007
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  4. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    Only about 3 gb or slightly more will actually be usable if you are using a 32-bit OS.
     
    swarmer, Aug 6, 2007
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  5. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    3.5 should be usable
     
    zfactor, Aug 6, 2007
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  6. Dukes

    Dukes Notebook Enthusiast

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    Dukes, Aug 6, 2007
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  7. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    astar is good stuff imo.. i have seen those with the micron chips most of the time.. grab em while you can
     
    zfactor, Aug 6, 2007
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  8. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    zfactor, Aug 6, 2007
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  9. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    Yeah something between 3 to 3.5 GB should be usable... Although a 32-bit OS can theoretically address upto 4 GB of RAM, some of the address space will be used for addressing the graphics memory and other reserved system resources and only the remaining can be used for the actual physical RAM and so only the reduction...

    But with a 64-bit OS that wont be a problem since there will be more address space available to address a theoretical maximum limit of 64 exabytes of RAM (one Exabyte = 10 to the power of 9 Gigabytes)
     
    TuxDude, Aug 7, 2007
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  10. Novartist

    Novartist Notebook Enthusiast

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    Wow, that is a lot of ram. I did not know that. ty for sharing lmao
     
    Novartist, Aug 7, 2007
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  11. RedDragonX

    RedDragonX Newbie

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    the exact number is 3.586 GB.
     
    RedDragonX, Aug 7, 2007
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  12. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    The number is not some constant but actually depends on the PCI devices present in the system and also the amount of graphics memory mapped....

    If you have more graphics memory like a 256 MB or 512 MB then you would probably only get around 3 GB of usable RAM.... The thing is all these devices in the system use up a plenty of the address space.... So the system is unable to address the entire 4 GB of RAM.... Whatever is left after being able to address all these devices can be used by the RAM eventually.... So if you ask me I doubt you can get upto 3.5 GB of usable RAM...
     
    TuxDude, Aug 7, 2007
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  13. gt.paladin

    gt.paladin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Add /PAE in boot.int, even 32-bit OS can use full 4G memory. Actually it supports 32G Mem.
    example:
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut /PAE
     
    gt.paladin, Aug 7, 2007
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  14. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    Yes /PAE switch will help in extending the address space width from 32-bits to 36-bits on Intel Architectures and to 37/40-bits on AMD ones....

    So sorry about my previous statement saying there is no possible way to get full 4GB

    But there are some downfalls by using the PAE switch as well....
     
    TuxDude, Aug 7, 2007
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  15. gt.paladin

    gt.paladin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well, I though it would have some downsides too but failed to find any useful information. can you share with me?
     
    gt.paladin, Aug 7, 2007
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  16. urlwolf

    urlwolf Notebook Enthusiast

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    What are the downfalls of /PAE?
     
    urlwolf, Aug 7, 2007
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  17. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    TuxDude, Aug 8, 2007
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  18. Thomas1989

    Thomas1989 Notebook Consultant

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    So if i've read everything right. Your OS uses 3.5GB of ram and the other excesive ram is used for the graphics card?
     
    Thomas1989, Aug 8, 2007
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  19. Datamonkey

    Datamonkey Notebook Consultant

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    Thomas,

    No the rest of the mem that isnt seen within the os itself is lost as it cannot be addressed.

    If your going to go for 4gb of ram there are no reasons not to run 64bit vista or even 64bit xp pro, I have been using 64bit xp pro for close on 2 years now.

    At first it was a mission due to lack of drivers. But now the situation has improved so much that there is no reason not to use it.
     
    Datamonkey, Aug 8, 2007
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  20. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    most of the tests i have read as well as in speaking with microsoft directly the os will use 3.5 directly and the rest will still be utilized by thing like graphics etc.. at least this is what microsoft tech dept explained to me
     
    zfactor, Aug 8, 2007
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  21. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    You can make use of the full 4GB ram by using the PAE switch.... The Windows Kernel can see the full 4gb when this switch is used..... The disadvantages of using the PAE switch are very minor IMO (and wont be noticeable either).....

    So I do not see why you should switch over to the 64-bit OS just due to this....
     
    TuxDude, Aug 8, 2007
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  22. Thomas1989

    Thomas1989 Notebook Consultant

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    How do i use this PAE switch? And whats IMO? Thanks for the replies!
     
    Thomas1989, Aug 8, 2007
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  23. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    You would have to edit the boot.ini file appropriately as gt.paladin had mentioned.... :)
     
    TuxDude, Aug 8, 2007
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  24. DoubleBlack

    DoubleBlack Notebook Deity

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    There is no boot.ini in Vista, but I've tried several times and all I still see is my 3.5GB...so I gave up <_<
     
    DoubleBlack, Aug 8, 2007
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  25. gt.paladin

    gt.paladin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Does the software need to be 64-bit if the OS is 64-bit?
     
    gt.paladin, Aug 8, 2007
    #25
  26. DoubleBlack

    DoubleBlack Notebook Deity

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    No, you can run 99.9% of all x86 applications on x64, however all DRIVERS must be x64 ;)
     
    DoubleBlack, Aug 8, 2007
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  27. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    The idea behind the PAE switch is to support RAM upto 64 GB with a 32-bit OS.... And besides for a 64-bit OS there is no PAE switch supported.... ;)

    EDIT: Just now saw here : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929580

    that you can add the PAE switch in Vista by typing this command at the command prompt :

    BCDEDIT /SET PAE ForceEnable
     
    TuxDude, Aug 9, 2007
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  28. DoubleBlack

    DoubleBlack Notebook Deity

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    Yes, I tried that several times and finally gave up <_<
     
    DoubleBlack, Aug 9, 2007
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  29. Thomas1989

    Thomas1989 Notebook Consultant

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    great! what are the downsides of PAE. whats IMO?
     
    Thomas1989, Aug 9, 2007
    #29
  30. b-random

    b-random Notebook Enthusiast

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    b-random, Aug 9, 2007
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  31. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    Actually PC5300 and PC5400 are one and the same actually but just that different vendors adopt different naming conventions...

    Typically a 667 Mhz DDR2 RAM's equivalent PC value is 667 x 8 = 5336

    So some vendors round up this value to say 5400 while some round down saying it as 5400

    Some also specify them as 5300/5400 :D
     
    TuxDude, Aug 10, 2007
    #31
  32. b-random

    b-random Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hmmm...It's a marketing ploy, those sneeky buggers!
     
    b-random, Aug 10, 2007
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  33. paladin732

    paladin732 Notebook Enthusiast

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    The PAE issues look all theoretical by that microsoft document. Basically what I understand it to say is there is not much buffer overflow protection (which windows is horrible at anyway, and I believe the core 2 duo chips have something in them internally for that anyway) and it might slow down the extra memory due to remapping issues. Did I read that right? How much would it slow down the memory (I have 2x2gb OCZ i wanna use the full 4 GB)
     
    paladin732, Aug 10, 2007
    #33