Dell Desktop Ram Upgrade

[murdockman]

Looking to upgrade a Dell Inspiron 580 desktop ram, has 4x1gb at the moment says it can be increased to 16gb with 4 modules had a look at dell site and the price is £103 any cheaper alternatives I could use

 

[azaran]

Literately any other place that sells memory will have a better price than Dell. Unfortunately because Dell has different models of the 580, different sources are going to tell you different specs for what memory to upgrade with. If you know exactly what kind of memory you need, give us the specs and we can source you out a good set. If you don't know, you can either go to Dells site and put in your service code and get the specs or look on the physical memory and it may have a sticker listing out the specs. Once you know, let us know and we can sort out your options.

 

[TomGle]

Couldn't you just buy some RAM modules from newegg or something and swap them out yourself?

 

[azaran]

Couldn't you just buy some RAM modules from newegg or something and swap them out yourself?

I think that's their plan, they just want to know where to buy from. Dell will have the right part but they charge an arm and a leg.

 

[martinch]

Go to uk.crucial.com/gbr/en, enter your model number, and it'll suggest kits that are guaranteed compatible. Generally, Crucial memory is cheap and good quality, and other retailers tend not to be cheaper.

 

[azaran]

Go to uk.crucial.com/gbr/en, enter your model number, and it'll suggest kits that are guaranteed compatible. Generally, Crucial memory is cheap and good quality, and other retailers tend not to be cheaper.

The problem with the website configuration tools like Crucial is they aren't lining up with what the OP has listed as his max memory. Crucial lists his model as only having 8GB as max memory (4x2GB), where as if their board actually does support 16GB the RAM would be in a 4x4GB configuration. That's why I was recommending the OP checks Dells specs for memory so they can find the exact type of memory rather than rely on online configuration tools.

 

[murdockman]

Literately any other place that sells memory will have a better price than Dell. Unfortunately because Dell has different models of the 580, different sources are going to tell you different specs for what memory to upgrade with. If you know exactly what kind of memory you need, give us the specs and we can source you out a good set. If you don't know, you can either go to Dells site and put in your service code and get the specs or look on the physical memory and it may have a sticker listing out the specs. Once you know, let us know and we can sort out your options.

 

[azaran]

Literately any other place that sells memory will have a better price than Dell. Unfortunately because Dell has different models of the 580, different sources are going to tell you different specs for what memory to upgrade with. If you know exactly what kind of memory you need, give us the specs and we can source you out a good set. If you don't know, you can either go to Dells site and put in your service code and get the specs or look on the physical memory and it may have a sticker listing out the specs. Once you know, let us know and we can sort out your options.

Think you left out the message on your reply.

 

[martinch]

The problem with the website configuration tools like Crucial is they aren't lining up with what the OP has listed as his max memory.

Must admit I didn't work it through, but Crucial's tool's normally right. Could just buy 2 of the recommended 8GB kits (guaranteed to work by Crucial), if the manual says it'll take 4x 4GB sticks ...

 

[azaran]

The problem with the website configuration tools like Crucial is they aren't lining up with what the OP has listed as his max memory.

Must admit I didn't work it through, but Crucial's tool's normally right. Could just buy 2 of the recommended 8GB kits (guaranteed to work by Crucial), if the manual says it'll take 4x 4GB sticks ...

Yeah that'd likely work. I work in a Dell house and they're pretty forgiving with memory but no harm in double checking before throwing money at the kits. It should just be as simple as going in to the support part of Dells site and finding out for sure.

 

[william p]

Be careful with Dell memory. You can find Dell Certified RAM for normal prices. Some older Dells only recognize older low density RAM modules. That would be the ones with chips on both sides of the card in the larger size modules. The higher density didn't exist when the computer was built. Also look at the latency at crucial .com. It can't be changed in the Dell BIOS so get RAM that will run at the same settings. Be sure you have the latest BIOS from Dell, RAM support can change there too. Usually most memory works OK but there have been issues. A little caution could pay off. Crucial guarantees their kits, and the prices are the same as elsewhere.

 

[azaran]

Yep, always make sure you're matching the specs of your memory if you're mixing/matching kits. Thankfully the 580's don't look old enough that worrying about ram density should be an issue, but better safe than sorry.

 

[murdockman]

Literately any other place that sells memory will have a better price than Dell. Unfortunately because Dell has different models of the 580, different sources are going to tell you different specs for what memory to upgrade with. If you know exactly what kind of memory you need, give us the specs and we can source you out a good set. If you don't know, you can either go to Dells site and put in your service code and get the specs or look on the physical memory and it may have a sticker listing out the specs. Once you know, let us know and we can sort out your options.

Think you left out the message on your reply.

 

[murdockman]

Sorry got called away looks like it's a dell 580 desktop when purchased had a 1tb and a Intel R core TM i5 cpu 750 2.67ghz 64 bit processer looks like the ram installed are ddr3 pc3 8500-1066mhz 240 pin dimm 4x 1gb can't see any other numbers sorry

 

[william p]

That's a very common memory size (4GB) and spec. Newegg or Crucial.com should be able to provide those at a good price.
2X4 GB and 2X1GB would give you 10GB which should be enough, or even 2x4GB= 8GB is enough for most purposes. Be sure you pair them up in the correct slots. Usually the latches are color coded in the pairs needed to match. In other words 4GB+1GB would be one pair in one color of slot, and 4GB+1GB would be the second matching pair in the other colored pair of slots. 16GB would be mostly for virtual machines where multiple operating systems are running at once. You could save some money by running 8-12Gb instead of 16Gb

 

[murdockman]

Had a look at ram stickers today and they are DDR3 PC3 8500 1066MHZ 240 pin dimm did a check and model will accept 16gb max ram which I can get from Crucial but comes in at £103 tried Newegg and that's £97 with all shipping just thought it might be slightly cheaper than that, I considered going for 8gb 4x2 at £60 but would I regret not spending extra at a later date? or would the 8gb be enough to cover most requirements

 

[william p]

I would go 4GB x2 so you have 2 empty slots for later. I couldn't tell from your post if that's what you meant, or 4x2GB. As long as you pair them up correctly you should be able to also use 2 of your old 1GB to get to 10GB total. 8 GB is fine , I doubt if you would notice much difference.

 

[azaran]

Had a look at ram stickers today and they are DDR3 PC3 8500 1066MHZ 240 pin dimm did a check and model will accept 16gb max ram which I can get from Crucial but comes in at £103 tried Newegg and that's £97 with all shipping just thought it might be slightly cheaper than that, I considered going for 8gb 4x2 at £60 but would I regret not spending extra at a later date? or would the 8gb be enough to cover most requirements

While its always fun to max out RAM but most people don't need to. If you're just getting around to needing more than 4GB, then 8GB (2x4GB) will likely do you just fine. And if you really need that extra 8GB later you can pop in a second 2x4GB kit and max out the board. It will cost you more in the long run but if you want to keep it under £100 for now, then 8GB now will really be the best bet.

 

[murdockman]

Thanks to all replies very helpful I think I'll go for 2 x 4GB sticks and use the 2x 1GB sticks I already have to make a total of 10Gb which should be plenty for what I need, do the sticks have to be installed in any certain way eg: 1 x 4gb stick then 1x 1gb stick or the 2 x 4 gb sticks next to each then the 2 x 1gb sticks together (can just leave these as they are ) I know how to replace them but not sure of the configuration needed thanks again for all the help

 

[azaran]

Thanks to all replies very helpful I think I'll go for 2 x 4GB sticks and use the 2x 1GB sticks I already have to make a total of 10Gb which should be plenty for what I need, do the sticks have to be installed in any certain way eg: 1 x 4gb stick then 1x 1gb stick or the 2 x 4 gb sticks next to each then the 2 x 1gb sticks together (can just leave these as they are ) I know how to replace them but not sure of the configuration needed thanks again for all the help

You're motherboard will likely have them numbered/lettered. Typically its an every other slot kind of fashion, so 4GB, 1GB, 4GB, 1GB.

 

[william p]

You need the modules to be the same size on each channel. 2X4GB on one channel, then 2X1GB on the other. If they're all the same speed they should be fine together. There's a waiting time in memory called latency so they install in pairs and take turns sending data to fill in this void. That's why they need to be the same size per channel, they're sharing the same work load. This has nothing to do with the physical location of the sockets on the board. Being next to each other most often is not a "pair". You notice we keep saying "typicallY' and "most often". They aren't all arranged the same.

 

[murdockman]

Thanks will check the board when I fit the ram sticks and will put them in as required have just ordered a pair of 4gb ram which were £48 with delivery and will work in my PC