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    upgrading ram on dell e1705/9400...need help

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by triggerhappy899, Jun 3, 2008.

  1. triggerhappy899

    triggerhappy899 Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah so i have a dell e1705/9400 and i am planning on upgrading the ram first on it. I am looking at 2gb or ram ddr2 800mhz pc2 6400. but i heard that this dell will only accept 4200/5300. will this ram work?
    the reason i want this ram is because i want to upgrade the chip on it to Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 running at 2.2ghz (800mhz) and i want the ram to match the speed of the new chip i get later. how can i make this work?
     
    triggerhappy899, Jun 3, 2008
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  2. goofball

    goofball Notebook Deity

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    No intel mobile chipset currently supports 800Mhz memory speed operation.
    That said, you should be able to use PC2-6400, it will just clock itself down to PC2-5300 speeds.
     
    goofball, Jun 3, 2008
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  3. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    Pc 6400 sodimm memory will work in your laptop, but it will automatically downclock to pc5300 speeds. No intel laptop at the moment can take advantage of the full speed of the pc6400 memory.
    Your laptop processor does have a 800Mhz fsb, but the chipset will only be able to support a maximum of 667 Mhz of data bandwidth, or 133 x 4.
    You are better off getting Pc5300 memory, because it will work in your system, and its cheaper than pc6400.

    Your laptop supports 4gb of memory, so you can buy any 2 x 2Gb memory set for your laptop, running pc5300 speed.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Jun 3, 2008
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  4. talin

    talin Notebook Prophet

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    To add to K-TRON's post, some E1705's shipped with the 945GM chipset, which does support 4gb RAM, while others shipped with the 945PM chipset, which only supports 2gb.
    It would be best to verify what chipset you have first.
    Also, some reported that Dell BIOS locked the RAM support, so the system may only see 3.2GB even though you have the GM chipset. (As seen in the BIOS, not a 32-bit OS). But I couldn't verify if that's true or not.
     
    talin, Jun 3, 2008
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  5. mas5acre

    mas5acre Notebook Evangelist

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    I have an e1705 installed with 4gb of ram, I think the problem lies not with a lock on the amount of ram u can use but rather a limitation of a 32bit os, my e1705 shows 3.2gb of ram not 4. It doesnt even bother me because I knew about this before I bought the ram, I just wanted the maximum amount of ram with matching sticks to keep the ram in dual channel for slightly (ever so slightly) access time, my ram was a bargain, like $70 for 2-2gb sticks. Dont try installing a 64bit os to address more ram either if u only have a core duo processor (NOT Core2Duo) cause a core duo processor does not support 64bit instruction sets...ie a 64bit os is a no go.
     
    mas5acre, Jun 3, 2008
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  6. johnnycodekiller

    johnnycodekiller Newbie

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    hi, i have a Dell inspiron e1705 as well. and i was looking at a set of memory.

    Memory

    Will this work in my dell?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 2, 2015
    johnnycodekiller, Feb 7, 2009
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  7. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    K-TRON, Feb 7, 2009
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  8. johnnycodekiller

    johnnycodekiller Newbie

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    i cant upgrade to 4gb because my chipset is i945pm. so i only want 2gb
     
    johnnycodekiller, Feb 8, 2009
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  9. Michel.K

    Michel.K 167WAISIQ

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    I have i945pm in my current notebook which holds 4GB just fine. But can only get use of 3GB. i945pm supports up to 4GB of ram.


    But yes, you can get those memory modules you listed and install them.
     
    Michel.K, Feb 8, 2009
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  10. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    I am 100% sure that any E1705 can support 4Gb. Their is no 2Gb bios limitation set by Dell.
    So buying a 4gb memory kit will work fine

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Feb 8, 2009
    #10