Dell 531s 0RY206 Motherboard

[ckozler]

Hi Everyone,

Currently I have this motherboard

http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB64DELINSRY206

As of now I have:

4 sticks of DIMM DDR2 667 MHz (1.5 ns) @ 1GB each

I am a little newer to computer hardware specifics but I want to maximize my memory as much as possible. So, my question is, is this the max my motherboard can currently handle (4GB) or can I go higher?

Also, as a side question, what would I look for if I wanted to upgrade my processor?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

- Chuck

 

[festerovic]

What OS are you using? Is it the 32 bit or 64 bit? 32 bit can only see 4 gigs max, no matter how much you put in.

Toms did an article a while back on the difference in performance between memory sizes, IIRC 6 gigs was the sweet spot. That's assuming you have a 64 bit OS, if not, 4 gigs.

 

[ckozler]

Currently I am using 64-bit Ubuntu. It recognizes my current 4 gigs of RAM and I
am looking to go as high as motherboard can go. I know that 32-bit can only read up to 3 gigs and 64 bit can read higher.

Which brings me back to my original question of what is the maximum amount of RAM my motherboard support?

Thank you for your help

 

[festerovic]

from the dell support forums I found a spec saying 4 gigs was max.

If you wanted to upgrade the processor, I would suggest looking into a new mobo and processor together. But if you are looking at chips, you have an athlon x2 4400, on the socket AM2. You MIGHT be able to run AM3 chips in there, but I doubt Dell's bios will support it.