Memory upgrade for Inspiron 6000 notebook

HI,

I am new to this forum and would appreciate any help with my question.

I have an inspiron 6000 which came with two 256mb of ram totalling 512mb...
I think the RAM config is as : DDR2 256MB, PC2-3200 (200Mhzs) (this I am getting from the CPU-Z software)

Now I just bought one 1 GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667Mhzs ram... (the CPU-Z software shows as pc2-5300 - 333Mhzs)

My question is what is the best combination that I should use for my notebook to give the better performance (it seems that the speed are different and so am confused)....
1) Should I just keep 1GB and leave other stick empty?
2) One stick of 1 Gb and another for 256Mb?
3) or go back to two 256mb (as would be dual)?


Also, at present I have kept 1gb + 256mb and the software CPU-Z is showing the memory speed (DRAM frequency) as 99.8 Mhzs in the memory tab under timings section... Is that correct? why is it showing so less?

Would appreciate any help...

Thanks!

 

Because the new memory that you bought will downclock to match the old one.

If you want to run the memory at its max, take out the old pc2 3200 ram.

 

the 6000 bus is limited to 533. it won't run at 677.

oh, i'd say 1+256 is the best bet. having more ram is better than a small bump in busspeed.

to get accurate reading, you have to x2 everyting because it's double density... hence, 200 mhz is 400 mhz which is default ram speed for factory ram from dell on that model.

the fastest you will see is 533 which should show up at 266mhz (x2)

 

You are correct it will not run at 667Mhz. But it is what Dell is selling and far better than clocking down to 200Mhz. Unless OP can find PC4300 at a substantial savings vs PC5300 don't worry. Oh yea, they already bought so no issue.

 

So should I keep 1 GB + 256Mb with 400 mhzs or just 1 gb with 533mhzs?
Also then why is it showing DRAM frequency as 99.8 Mhzs in the CPU-Z software? Is that correct? am I missing anything?

 

I think you should only use the 1GB stick. The 256 will slow down and lower speed.

 

like i previously said 1.256 @ 400 is better than 1 @ 533 especially if you have an integrated card (?)

 

no its not, it shows up halved because it is (well was) dual channel.

 

XP should be fine with 1GB shared, and the extra memory bandwidth would be more beneficial than the quantity if the system has integrated video.

 

I have a question similar to the OP's...

I'm thinking of buying a new laptop and simultaneously wondering how to make my old Inspiron 6000 (2 x 256MB @ 533 MHz) run faster/better.

If I buy a new laptop with, say, 1 or 2 GB of RAM @ 667 MHz (and decide to upgrade it to 3 or 4 MB myself) - so I can safely use these sticks on the old Inspiron 6000?

And I'm still confused as to whether 1GB @ 667 is better or not than 1.25GB @ 533?

 

If the 6000 is DDR2 which it looks like then yes you can use the sticks will just downclock.

Final question, since the FSB is 533Mhz the 667Mhz will downclock to 533Mhz anyway so 1.25GB running at 533Mhz would be better than 1GB at 533Mhz