Some Questions on RAM Upgrade

Hey guys,

My XPS m1530 has been very sluggish the past month and I plan to re-format it. Also, RAM usage of my applications/programs have been significantly higher for some reason (even in idle). Given this, I plan to upgrade my RAM. I'm quite new to upgrading RAM and going about this so I just have a few questions:

1. When upgrading RAM, how exactly do I go about it? Can I just take out the old RAM and insert a new one, and the next time I boot-up, the new RAM will be recognized? Should I re-format my notebook first, then insert the new RAM? Will it affect any of my files/documents?

2. My XPS m1530 currently has 3GB RAM. If I'm not wrong, it's maximum capacity can go up to 4GB right?

3. Are there any particular brands for RAM cards I should be aware of? Or will any type of RAM do? So I can just go for the cheaper RAM, and there is no difference between price and performance? I currently have a Kingston 2GB and a Hyundai 1GB both 333Mhz, DDR2.

Thanks for any help/suggestions...

 

1. Yes, no, no.

2. Yes

3. Your laptop requires DDR2 memory. Current cheapest is DDR2-800.

 

yes.

no.

yes just get the cheaper one, as long as it is still the same spec (333mhz DDR2 SODIMM).


Suggestion, I dont think that extra 1gb will do much for you. You probably have a slow HDD. you should defragment the HDD.

 

And if you're not running a 64-bit OS, the extra 1Gb will definitely do nothing for you.

 

Unless you have a defective memory card, 'better memory' will do nothing for the 'ram consumption' of your os and programs.

Memory is there to be used. Unused memory is wasted memory. Tweaking or otherwise bypassing most of the OS settings for memory utilization generally screws up a system. Badly.

As far as staying with 3 Gb ram, memory sticks are cheap, go with 4Gb of memory. While it is true that the unfortunate combination of microsoft and pc hardware architectures combined with the 32 bit 4Gb address limits means that you won't 'see' a full 4Gb of ram. You will, however, probably be able to use at least 3.25 Gb, possibly as much as 3.75 Gb depending on what kind of internal video chip your machine has. Go for it.

 

Thanks for the replies and suggestions guys...

Hey moral hazard. If I'm not wrong, I think Vista is scheduled to automatically defragment the HD once a week right? Should I download another disk defrag program that is more effective, or does the local Vista program do the job?

I was just wondering if the extra 1GB will allocate more space for my RAM consumption since in idle, sometimes usage peaks at 80-90% using over 2.5GB of the 3GB in total. Considering I haven't played any games lately, but intend to again; I was just worrying about my system's performance during gaming as it would take up more RAM than idle and there might not be enough left with the 3GB I have.

 

The maximum the M1530 can handle is 8GB with BIOS A15. The question is, you don't really need that much RAM unless you run say multiple OSes ie, VMWare.

 

Go for 4GB, and call Dell and ask them for a 64 bit Vista disk. All you need to buy is a single 2GB DDR2-667MHz (also called PC2-5300) 200-pin SO-DIMM, since you already have a 2GB and a 1GB. Just replace the 1GB stick with the one you buy.

You can get higher speeds as well, but they will only run at 667MHz due to the PM965 chipset.

 

1) Open notebook up, push RAM holding pins to the sides, and the RAM will pop up at a 45 degree angle. Slide RAM out, put new RAM in at same angle and orientation, and then push RAM down. The holders on the side will click into place. RAM will be detected on next boot, no need to reformat. And no, files/documents are stored on HDD not RAM, unless you're stupid enough to switch RAM when the computer is running.

2) Yes.

3) Samsung is good RAM. Seriously, I have never come across bad RAM. I just go on eBay and search for the RAM I need, make sure reviews are good, and the RAM rocks.

 

Vista should do the job fine.
I don't know why your notebook seems slow. Maybe it's because you're running vista.

Go for the 4gb, let us know the results.

 

Isn't Samsung basically a euphemism for generic RAM? Not that I have anything against generic RAM, but for obvious reasons, there's considerable variation.

 

I think samsung makes their own chips.

 

I would recommend matched pairs of RAM sticks (and sell the old ones).

Shut Down the computer, don't put it to Hibernate or Sleep.

Unplug the power cord from the wall. Take out the battery.

Switch the RAM chips with the new ones you bought.

Power up the computer (install the battery if you want/need to) and go into your BIOS and make sure the RAM is recognized. Reboot.

In Windows, run multiple instances of MEM TEST overnight.

If there are no errors, then your new RAM is fine (and should now be properly 'burned' in too).

Download PerfectDisk 10 and do an Online then an Offline Defrag (you may want to repeat this once or twice if the drive was really bad).

Now, do you think you need to do a reinstall?

Oh! Don't worry that 'all' your RAM is being used - that's good, as someone else noted before.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys...

However, I think I'm going to reformat my notebook first before resorting to upgrading my RAM. Maybe reformatting it will help recover the speedy performance it had before. Another thing I forgot to mention is that I am running Vista Home Premium, 32-bit; so an additional 1GB of RAM may not prove to significantly change the speed and performance of my system.

Thanks anyways.

 

Try getting windows 7 and do a clean install... i had 32bit vista and i upgraded to 64 bit windows 7.. the comp became much faster and even Internet explorer doesn't lagg now..that would be your best option...

 

I agree that Win 7 x64 would be the better option, but even Vista x64 is better (faster) than Vista 32 bit with at least 3GB+ of RAM.