Dell Inspiron 1720 Ram upgrade.

It just shipped today, and I only ordered it with 1GB of ram. Right now I only have enough for about 2GB. Will it take a single 2GB stick?

Any good deals going on?

 

It will take 2gb single sticks.

 

Yes, two 2GB sticks maximum. Check newegg.com for the specific kind you need. I belive its PC2-5300.

 

Since its so cheap nowadays, I go for PC6400.

Why? 2 reasons:

1. It's been binned to perform at 800mhz, so its 100% guaranteed to run at 667mhz at the default voltage. Since you can't adjust the voltage with these notebook BIOS, this is important to me.

2. It will usually have an SPD timing table that specifies slightly quicker timings at DDR667 than DDR800, which can work in your favor when your system clocks them down to 667mhz.

Every time I have done an upgrade...the PC6400 is within 2-5% of the price of the PC5300/5400.

 

My Inspiron 1720 also has a gig of ram, any guides on how to open the laptop and upgrade it?

 

the owner's manual that shipped with your laptop shows you how, or you can search on the Dell website for manual

 

Actually 6400 is cheaper by $1 if you look in newegg.com for transcend brand and same price for g.skill 5300/6400.

My service manual only says pc-ddr2 5300 so ill have to stick to that, as it is possible 6400 might be incompatible and youll have to return the RAM

 

All DDR2 is 1.8v so I am missing what you are talking about?

Of course it says that because that is the RAM it was designed for but all DDR2 is backward compatible it just clocks down to supported speed.

 

Not necessarily true. That may be right for the notebook memory we are buying, but for the desktop stuff it certainly isn't.

For example if you buy some DDR2 that is specified to run at 800mhz 4-4-4-12 at 2.0v, it will not work with only 1.8v. Since you can't adjust voltage in the BIOS, your computer likely won't boot or will crash loading Windows.

It's just one thing I take into consideration, with my years of experience in both laptops and desktops.

Memory is "binned". It is tested and sold according to what it can do. Some silicon coming down the line will naturally perform better than average, others worse. That is why you pay more for DDR800 than for DDR533 - it was tested to be stable at those speeds, whereas the DDR533 didn't make the cut. This means that if you buy the higher binned product, it is certain to be 100% stable at the lower speed. It's more reassuring given the prices are close.