upgrading RAM memory on Latitude D800

Hello all,

I apologize if this is a redundant question. I tried the search here and at support.dell but couldn't find a specific answer.

I just did a clean install of XP on my aging D800 and realized that I only have 256 MB RAM installed. So, it's time to raise the roof. I have a number of questions:

- as far as I can tell, the system has PC2700 SO-DIMMs (200 pin) . DDR 200. NewEgg seems only to have DDR 333. Is that ok?

- What is the maximum RAM I can install, 1GB or 2GB?

- given that 1GB sticks are so much more expensive, do I really need to go all the way to 2GB? The laptop is used primarily for watching DVDs, Microsoft Office, and Internet usage, no gaming.

- since the memory is DDR, is it a bad idea to buy one 1GB stick now and use it either alone or with one of the original 128 MB sticks? Or does that not matter?


Also any suggestions on the relative merits of Kingston, A-DATA, Crucial, Patriot and Corsair manufacturers would be appreciated.

And, what is the difference between the "value" RAM sticks versus the "normal" ones that justify a 2x price difference on the latter?

I really appreciate the power of the distributed Brain here at NBR. Any answers you can furnish me would be immensely apppreciated.

regards

Aziz Poonawalla

 

1) You can use DDR 333 memory. It will downclock to the DDR 266 speeds.

2) The maximum memory you can install on a D800 is 2GB.

3) You probably won't need it, specially if you're using Windows XP. I had 1GB on my 500m (similar to D600) and it was fine and still would be fine for general office and multimedia work.

4) I don't think you have dual channel memory on the D600 or D800, so you shouldn't be taking even the very small performance hit of asymmetric dual channel. In short, it should not matter.

5) Any manufacturer that provides a lifetime warranty is generally acceptable. It is not worth the extra money to buy anything better than value RAM, especially in this non-overclocking laptop scenario.

 

That was fast I love this place.

CW may I follow up - if 1 GB is sufficient, and its not dual channel, then I assume it is wiser to buy a single 1GB stick and use it with one of my old 128s rather than buy a new pair of 512s. Woudl you concur?

 

I would concur. I'm guessing that in rare cases you may encounter some random problems with the memory simply not "playing well" together, but if that happens you've still got the full GB and aren't much worse off in the grand scheme of things.

 

If you have windows xp and you don't game a lot, you really don't need more than 1gb.

If you don't know which brand to get, try crucial ram, or corsair ram.

 

I did put a 1 gig stick on my old C640, I run XP and it's perfect like that. I had problems when both memory stick were in (1 gb and 128 meg) so I removed the 128 one and now it's running great. So yes, 1 gig is enough with XP and will get you a nice performance boost for your notebook.

 

Thanks guys. I just put in an order from newegg for a 1Gb stick (Kingston). Cost 52 bucks plus shipping. Thanks again!

 

The expensive RAM is for overclocking and high-performance purposes; for everyday use, the value stuff is well-suited.

 

I had a D800 Latitude, its a good machine. I also upgraded it to DDR333 2gb memory. Now, if you search around google, you will find out that if you flash the BIOS with the Precision M60 (its exactly the same computer but with diff graphics card), you can utilize DDR333. I'd try to install the DDR333 first though to see if your D800 recognizes it (go to your BIOS to see if it is recognized and running as 333mhz). Newer revisions of the mainboard might. I flashed mine to M60 bios and it ran at 333mhz perfectly. The D800 isn't dual channel though, but I don't think that's a significant disadvantage anyways.

Also you might consider upgrading the graphics card in your D800. I upgraded mine to a Geforce FX5650 128mb card. You can max it out to a Radeon 9600 Pro 128mb or a Quadro FX1000 128mb card, but the latter is extremely hard to find by itself, you may need to buy a whole laptop to get it, then swap cards. I really liked the D800/M60 a lot. It was great fun to tweak and upgrade.

Also, you can overclock the GPU AND CPU of that computer. Just use clockgen and pick the Cypress CY PLL ID/chipset. I overclocked mine which as a Dothan 1.8ghz to 2.0 and it ran flawlessly and still stayed cool due to speedstep mostly running it at low speed anyways. The D600 also overclocked the same way and with same PLL ID, I did this to a D600 I had as well. Unfortunately since then no luck overclocking newer latitudes like D610/810, D620/820 or D630/830. GOOD LUCK!!

 

thats a lot to think about! im not sure i will though - if the ram gives me a good boost then that will be sufficient as this laptop is only for workstuff anyway.

 

If you're ever bored or find yourself wanting to tweak around, try the things I mentioned above. If not anything else, it'll help with preventing your laptop from becoming obsolete quicker. I had fun tweaking around that laptop, it was easy to do yet satisfying. If you have any questions about it let me know, as I know that laptop pretty much inside and out and have done complete rebuilds of the D800/ Precision M60/Inspiron 8600.