need More Ram

[slimcan]

Just got a dell inspiron 531 S

Runs great however it has 1 gig of ram And I need more. I would like another gig of ram. Not sure of how to shop for RAM because of the different types.


Can you recomend ram for this computor

[nomaxim]

The Crucial website has a nice little tool. Just plug in make and model etc.

In your case it gives DDR2 PC2-6400 as the type.

Even though you have 1gig, how many slots a you using and do you have some slots free?
You should have dual channel, so you should have two modules installed and two free.

[michaels39]

You can go to memory manufacturer sites like www.corsair.com They have memory selectors that will tell you what ram you need based on make and model,and give a list of vendors that have it available.You could also get it directly from Dell,but it usually costs more.

[slimcan]

I opened it up and I see 2 slots are used up by dell . Seems they used two 500 mb. I saw 2 more slots are free. Why dell did not use 1 slot with 1 gig. Is it because 500 mb is max per slot?

[slimcan]

just checked your site and it has a great ram finder. Thanks

It also shows a slot can be 1 gig.

Thanks again

[nomaxim]

Originally Posted by slimcan

I opened it up and I see 2 slots are used up by dell . Seems they used two 500 mb. I saw 2 more slots are free. Why dell did not use 1 slot with 1 gig. Is it because 500 mb is max per slot?

No, it is because you have dual channel RAM. This requires two modules to function, hence the DDR2. You should be able to handle at least a max of 4gigs.

I'm not sure though if DDR2 requires the same timings in all the slots or not, But, it is usually a good idea to use the same manufacture for all your RAM.

EDIT:
Yep, just checked the Dell site, 4gigs seem to be the max for that system.

[RobRich]

By running two 512MB modules, the system is currently running in dual-channel memory mode for increased memory bandwidth.

Unless there is a compatibility issue with your motherboard (do your research), it would be a good idea to install another two 512MB modules for a total of 2GB memory operating in dual-channel mode.

[RobRich]

Thread moved to the tech support forum.

[Habbakuk]

Only get 4Gb of RAM if you are running 64-bit windows, otherwise it's a waste, and 2Gb is fine.