[RESOLVED] RAM Question..

[NPassero]

I am probably going to upgrade my ram shortly and was wondering the best approaches for...
a) getting rid of my 2x 512mb sticks, ( no not free )
b) getting two new 1gb sticks ( Dell D810 Laptop DDR2 )

Going straight through dell is too expensive, I was not sure about using alternative brands with a dell laptop.

[TheBigB]

finding a new hard disk for a dell laptop is hard enough...
not to mention the overpricing...

I once took a look at the interior of my old laptop, but don't remember finding the memory modules...

[timeshifter]

What are you going on about with hard disk? He's talking about RAM...

The RAM slots are usually separated... one on the bottom (middle-ish), the other underneath the keyboard. Try newegg.com or tigerdirect.com. Both sites are competative on pricing and tend to have good stocks.

[NPassero]

Will they have RAM Compatible for the dell hardware ?

[TheBigB]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ryConfigurator

[NPassero]

Beautiful. thanks a lot.

Now to get rid of my old ram ? Any takers.

tiger directs memory configuratorathingamabob
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ory_config.asp

[mendhak]

Go to http://www.crucial.com/ and you can find out what RAM is compatible with your computer. Then go for the cheaper options.

[eranga262154]

Kingston have a range of RAMs for Desktop as well as for Laptops.

[NPassero]

would the upgrade from 1gb to 1.5gigs be that noticeable or should i just go with the max, 2gigs ?

[eranga262154]

Which OS you use. On XP maximum size support well.

[NPassero]

using XP, yea. 2 gigs is the max i can hold.

[eranga262154]

If you have enough money to go for a 2GB it's ok. My advice is, work on that.

[NPassero]

80 bucks. i think i can take that out of my summer work money. good expense i'd say. (trying to budget, not really good at it)

[eranga262154]

Fine, go for it and feel the difference. By the way how about your video card. Memory?

[NPassero]

ATI Radeon x600

[eranga262154]

Memory pal, sorry if I'm confusing. Is it 64 128 MB.

[NPassero]

oh, i believe its 128mb,
not at home right now. but im pretty sure.


tech specs:
it carried a 2GHz Pentium M Sonoma CPU; 1GB of 533MHz DDR 2 memory; a 15.4-inch display, with a very fine 1,680x1,050 native resolution; an 80GB, 5,400rpm hard drive; and an ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics chip with 128MB of dedicated video RAM. (cnet review)

[eranga262154]

Great system for gaming if you are...

But, since you have 1GB of ram, I believe that is enough to you for day to day work. Why did you really going to upgrade. Anyway what sort of works you are doing?

[NPassero]

programming, design, gaming, (java for school, vb, php, mysql, apache (wamp server)

i do a lot with my laptop at home, been on it for hours at a time (like 9 at most) haha.

[eranga262154]

For php and mysql it is better. But I think still you are working without any issues with php and sql. All others are used a lower memory. For Java 128MB is enough without an IDE, which I work on my old system.

[NPassero]

i do use an IDE. it doesn't run terribly slow but sometimes can use a boost.

would this memory increase boost startup speeds, or is that basically the cpu ?

[eranga262154]

It's because of the CPU. Don't worry upgrading to 2GB of ram will fix this up to certain level. I think that you are working on SP2. If not upgrade the service pack first.

[eranga262154]

sometimes can use a boost

Are you working on NetBeans or IntelliJ Idea.

[NPassero]

Actually using JCreator. Have had the demo, but havent used it since I've been out of school. Might switch to a different one.

[eranga262154]

Never work with JCreator. Normally IntelliJ Idea used around 512MB for minimum configuration. At least 1GB is must... I think.

[NPassero]

Never work with JCreator.

i feel like my whole java career has been a fraud now.. i guess ill be switching that soon.

[eranga262154]

Normal for anything. Touch them continuously. If not simply lost it.

[Lord Orwell]

i do use an IDE. it doesn't run terribly slow but sometimes can use a boost.

would this memory increase boost startup speeds, or is that basically the cpu ?

Memory can boost startup speeds considerably, in two situations:
you are loading too much stuff at start-up and the swap file is being used, or
you put faster memory in.
Also there is a lot of precaching of often-ran programs in memory and adding more will significantly speed this up.

I don't think ERANGA noticed it is a laptop you are asking about. I haven't seen the specs on your model, but 99% of laptops you can't upgrade the video and are stuck with what it came with. Some newer models have a mobility video card in them. I would go with 2 ram sticks also. I wouldn't worry too much about startup time. If it is an issue, keep the laptop in hibernate mode. Computers boot up faster in it. And do a general spyware scan before the install so you have a clean comparison to compare before and after with.

[NPassero]

Alright, I went with the 2 x 1gb sticks. I got one of them installed fine, but I can't find the second slot. I only opened part of the laptop up, but don't want to open the whole thing up unless I really have to. Any suggestions...

[Lord Orwell]

heh how sure are you it has two slots?

[Lord Orwell]

Never work with JCreator. Normally IntelliJ Idea used around 512MB for minimum configuration. At least 1GB is must... I think.

I have to clarify this. I have been reading Eranga's posts for a while and i can tell you Eranga is not telling you Don't work with Jcreater. Eranga is saying that eranga has never used jcreator.

[eranga262154]

Ya, most of the time people are not fully read the posts and get it in wrong way. Actually I don't like to work with Jcreater. May be, my first Java IDE is notepad and the command prompt. From that directly move to the IntelliJ Idea. I love it.

[NPassero]

heh how sure are you it has two slots?

Dell is not on my fan list right now, I decided to do some searching and look under the keyboard, and viola! the hidden ram slot is right there.

Then of course I install both of them and my PC wont boot up so im getting really nervous. so i take one of the sticks out, run my pc and it works fine, move that one over to a different slot, stick the other one back in it worked..

Ten minutes away from calling dell complete care.

[Lord Orwell]

hmm sounds like maybe the first one wasnt seated good.

[NPassero]

Yea... I guess so, but all in all I got it to work. Stripped a few screws on the way but it works.

[eranga262154]

Yea... I guess so, but all in all I got it to work.

Before stripped screws?

[NPassero]

yea, before i stripped some of the screws. they're still functional but gotta be careful next time.

[eranga262154]

but gotta be careful next time.

Definitely you have to do that.