Adding Ram to Overclocked Ram?

[tedcankat]

I just ordered a Dell XPS 720 and it came with 2GB Corsair DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz overclocked to 1600MHz.My question is I'd like to add another GB of ram can I just get a gig and put it in or does it have to be OC'ed too? Also should the gig be Corsair or can I use another brand? Dell had a 3GB or a 4GB and everyone knows 4GB doesn't show on 32bit Vista so....?

 

[Mondoman]

I don't think any DDR2-800 RAM can be OC'd to DDR2-1600 -- perhaps you misinterpreted some reading. Why do you think the RAM is OC'd to 1600MHz?

 

[tedcankat]

Sorry for the confusion yes it's 1066MHz. I asked Dell about a compatable Ram and they told me I would have to get 2x 1 gig of 1066MHz ram from them that's how it's sold for $260. I'll leave it at 2GB's and be happy for now I have no intention of paying $260 for ram that half of it won't even show up on my 32bit Vista! unless you've got suggestions? You can find the computer on Dell's website for stats http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/cto_xpsdt_720?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs XPS 720 Epic Power

 

[Mondoman]

The 1066MHz CPU FSB on your system bottlenecks the RAM throughput, so you don't get much of a performance boost going from DDR2-533 RAM to DDR2-1066 RAM. While DDR2-1066 RAM is pretty expensive, DDR2-800 or slower RAM is *much* cheaper. For example, 2x512MB of Corsair DDR2-800 CL4 RAM is $70 at newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145040) and 2x1GB of the same stuff is only $65 after rebate (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034). Even the high-end Dominator stuff is $115 for 2x1GB after rebate (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145168).
The caveat to all this is that depending on the details of your system, the RAM may not be "plug and play"; rather, you may have to manually set up the speed, latencies, and memory voltage. It's not super complicated, but may be tricky on a Dell, since Dells usually are missing many of the changeable BIOS settings that are standard in aftermarket motherboards. Here's a post on the different memory speeds/timings/voltages: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/200599-30-memory-nooob-aarrggghh-timings#t1249881

 

[tedcankat]

Again, thanks for the reply! I'll stick with what I got the dream of having 3GB of ram will have to wait until it's absolutely needed to run my games/ computer properly. I really don't want to go outside Dell to get the ram because with this thing being over clocked I'm sure they're already jumpy about repairs if anything happens. 2GB should be fine for a few years anyway?