I've had a good trawl through all the search results with no joy on this subject. Probably because no-one asks PC type questions as basic as these.

I want to upgrade the RAM on my PC. Standard its only got 1GB, running Vista and doing a goodly bit of Solidworks stuff. It is veeeeery slow and when I look at the performance graph in the task manager its using around 750Mo pretty well all the time.

My first question is how much RAM to install. On the HP site they give this as "Memory Upgrade Info"

• Dual channel memory architecture
• Two 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
• Supports PC-4200 (533 MHz) and PC2-5300 (667 MHz) DDR2 DIMMs
• Single-sided or double-sided DIMMs
• Non-ECC memory only
• Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 2 GB

Elsewhere on the site they state that all 32 bit Vista machines can take up to 4GB?

Second question is where to buy RAM?

Any other advice would be much appreciated too, bearing in mind that I'm pretty computer illiterate when it comes to the inside of these things.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers,

Mike

First thing you need to check is how many RAM chips are currently installed, you only have two sockets so if you have 2 half gig chips at the moment, you will need to remove the old stuff, to install new. How much memory, well, Vista can register and support 4Gb, but it looks like your motherboard can only support 2

OK. Thanks. I'll break out the screwdriver and have a look. Wish me luck

Back later,

Mike

32-bit versions of Windows Vista limit the total available memory to 3.12 GB. If you want to take advantage of any more RAM you really need to install the 64-bit version, however you will have to make sure that your motherboard is compatible with x64.

Win 7 x64 is far better than Vista IMO so it might be worth considering upgrading your OS as well as the RAM

[Edited on 13-1-11 by RazMan]

http://www.crucial.com/uk/

They have a computer model selector that will tell you how many slots there are, how much RAM is there as standard and how much is supported. It will also give you prices for suitable upgrades.

the 4GB 32bit limit refers to the maximum amount of addressable memory in a 32bit system, it doesn't necessarily mean your motherboard will be able to support that.

Your hardware needs to be 64bit for you to be able to install a 64bit operating system. Even if it is and you do, it still won't support more than 2GB of memory if your motherboard doesn't support it.

[Edited on 13/1/11 by ironside]

Try the Crucial memory scanner tool
It should scan your PC then recommend memory, you don't need to buy the memory from crucial though

Crucial supply a utility to tell what is in your computer and what you can upgrade to. Here is a link. Same as unc's link. I was running a scan instead of posting

[Edited on 13/1/11 by Peteff]

just check my old machines for spares - but I've only got 512Mb DDR2 chips as my old boards all have 4 slots each
(got any number of dimm's or simm's if anyone ever wants any.....)

someones bound to have some old ones spare as alot of the new systems have moved on to DDR3's these days

Hi guys, I'm back. The PC still works!! There are two 512Mb thingies of RAM in the two slots available.

The Crucial Scan recommends upgrading to 2 X 1Gb. I can't imagine they would recommend that if you could get 2 X 2Gb to work so I'll go for the 2 X 1Gb option.

Couple of questions.

Do the different makes have a bearing on performance and reliability? Over here I can get Kingston, Samsung, Patriot or unbranded stuff at reasonable money?

Does the speed have a bearing? 533 or 667Hz??

Thanks in advance,

Mike

It is usually a good idea to go with brands like Samsung, Kingston, Crucial etc. The speed is indeed relavent but your motherboard needs to be compatible - go for the same or higher speed than your existing stuff and you will be ok.

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeCapon
Hi guys, I'm back. The PC still works!! There are two 512Mb thingies of RAM in the two slots available.

The Crucial Scan recommends upgrading to 2 X 1Gb. I can't imagine they would recommend that if you could get 2 X 2Gb to work so I'll go for the 2 X 1Gb option.

Couple of questions.

Do the different makes have a bearing on performance and reliability? Over here I can get Kingston, Samsung, Patriot or unbranded stuff at reasonable money?

Does the speed have a bearing? 533 or 667Hz??

Thanks in advance,

Mike

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Thank you all for your kind help. Will be going for the Crucial deal as they do free delivery to France (!) which makes it the most reasonable deal.

Looking forward to seeing the results.

Cheers,

Mike