Help with installing new RAM

[mancode20]

I just had a 1gb stick of ram go bad in my Dell XPS 410. I had only 2gb total before one of my sticks went bad. I am pretty sure that is the case, cause I've researched it online extensively. It would sometimes randomly crash, then make a beeping noise and show the numbers 3 and 4 on the front of my tower and it wouldn't boot at first, but if I kept trying it would eventually boot. It would even stay on for awhile sometimes, but then it would eventually crash. I'm just using one stick and all seems to be well for the time being. Of course I am thinking about buying ram, but the question is which type and how much? I looked at the old chip, and it says Samsung on it. I have read that Dell uses cheap ram. I believe it is the 533mhz PC5300 kind, but I have read that my motherboard supports the 800mhz PC6400. I'm thinking 4gb should be enough, but I want to know which type of ram I should buy? Also, is it better to go with two 2gb's, or 4 1gb sticks? I have 4 slots, and like I said my motherboard supposedly supports ram up to 800mhz PC6400. Is it worth it to go to the faster ram? I have never updated my BIOS. That's not going to be a problem, is it? I read online that my board can actually support 8gb of ram as long as it's under 64 bit Windows 7, which it is. I thought I read that I would need to update my BIOS for the 8gb of ram to show up. I have been hesitant to do so, cause I heard if things go wrong it can brick your motherboard. I'm pretty sure I don't need to update my BIOS if all I'm doing is using 4gb of ram, but I am not 100% sure. Does anyone know for sure? I am probably going to pick it up at Walmart or Staples, so can anyone point me in the direction of the ram I should buy from their sites? I don't play games, I just use it for surfing the net with Firefox and many tabs open, playing music, watching movies and TV shows. I'm assuming 4gb of ram, or maybe even 6gb should be enough for just standard Windows stuff like that. I got by on 2gb of ram pretty decently, but there are times Firefox would freeze for a couple of seconds here and there. I was thinking maybe Kingston. I will probably upgrade to Win8 in the near future, so will 4gb be enough? Let me know! Thanks!

I just had a 1gb stick of ram go bad in my Dell XPS 410. I had only 2gb total before one of my sticks went bad. I am pretty sure that is the case, cause I've researched it online extensively. It would sometimes randomly crash, then make a beeping noise and show the numbers 3 and 4 on the front of my tower and it wouldn't boot at first, but if I kept trying it would eventually boot. It would even stay on for awhile sometimes, but then it would eventually crash. I'm just using one stick and all seems to be well for the time being. Of course I am thinking about buying ram, but the question is which type and how much? I looked at the old chip, and it says Samsung on it. I have read that Dell uses cheap ram. I believe it is the 533mhz PC5300 kind, but I have read that my motherboard supports the 800mhz PC6400. I'm thinking 4gb should be enough, but I want to know which type of ram I should buy? Also, is it better to go with two 2gb's, or 4 1gb sticks? I have 4 slots, and like I said my motherboard supposedly supports ram up to 800mhz PC6400. Is it worth it to go to the faster ram? I have never updated my BIOS. That's not going to be a problem, is it? I read online that my board can actually support 8gb of ram as long as it's under 64 bit Windows 7, which it is. I thought I read that I would need to update my BIOS for the 8gb of ram to show up. I have been hesitant to do so, cause I heard if things go wrong it can brick your motherboard. I'm pretty sure I don't need to update my BIOS if all I'm doing is using 4gb of ram, but I am not 100% sure. Does anyone know for sure? I am probably going to pick it up at Walmart or Staples, so can anyone point me in the direction of the ram I should buy from their sites? I don't play games, I just use it for surfing the net with Firefox and many tabs open, playing music, watching movies and TV shows. I'm assuming 4gb of ram, or maybe even 6gb should be enough for just standard Windows stuff like that. I got by on 2gb of ram pretty decently, but there are times Firefox would freeze for a couple of seconds here and there. I was thinking maybe Kingston. I will probably upgrade to Win8 in the near future, so will 4gb be enough? Let me know! Thanks!

One of the problems is, there is a lot of conflicting information about how much ram my board supports total and how much per slot. The manual says 4gb total and 1gb per slot, but people online say it can support up to 8gb as long as it's under 64 bit Windows. I think you might have to update the BIOS in order for it to display properly. I figure 4gb of ram should be good enough. The main questions I need answered are: Which type of ram should I buy? 533mhz PC5300, or 800mhz PC6400? Also, two 2gb sticks, or 4 1gb sticks? Will I need to update my BIOS in order for the 4gb to show up, or is that just for the 8gb? Please someone let me know, so I can buy the correct RAM as soon as possible! Running Windows 7 with Firefox open and several tabs is not fun on only 1gb of RAM.

[farmeunit]

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps410/en/SM_EN/specs.htm

4GB

PC6400 is better, but you won't see much difference between that and PC5300. If price is about the same, get the faster RAM.

There might be a BIOS update for that, but I don't know if they ever upgrade the maximum memory with an update. I would get 2 sticks or 4, whichever is cheaper. They'll perform about the same. As long as you have pairs, you'll get dual-channel. 2 sticks is better if you plan on using in another system or adding more later.

[mancode20]

http://support.dell....SM_EN/specs.htm

4GB

PC6400 is better, but you won't see much difference between that and PC5300. If price is about the same, get the faster RAM.

There might be a BIOS update for that, but I don't know if they ever upgrade the maximum memory with an update. I would get 2 sticks or 4, whichever is cheaper. They'll perform about the same. As long as you have pairs, you'll get dual-channel. 2 sticks is better if you plan on using in another system or adding more later.

Thanks for replying. So I shouldn't need to do a BIOS update if I only upgrade to 4gb? What about 6gb or 8gb? As I said, there is conflicting information out there. I have to find the link, but there is a guy out there that showed pictures to prove that he upgraded to 8gb of RAM. They say the manual says 4gb, because at the time 64 bit operating systems weren't really widely used. I'm probably just going to go with 4gb of ram, though. Is Kingston a good brand? I've read that it is. I just hope I don't have to update my BIOS in order for Win7 to see the RAM. I don't think I will have to, but I'm not certain. Has anyone ever heard of that happening?

[neoadorable]

don't start messing with your BIOS, this is an older board so it's not worth it. stay with what the manual says in terms of max memory and memory speed. i'm sorry, maybe i missed it, but how many slots do you have there? anyway, if it keeps acting up you need to consider the fact that it might be the connectors going back - if indeed this is an older board.

[mancode20]

Thanks for your reply! 4 slots. Like I said, the manual says 4gb total and 1gb per slot, but there are many websites that claim you can get it all the way up to 8gb total by using 2gb per slot. I might just do 4gb total, but I'm really torn on whether I should go with two 2gb sticks, or 4 1gb sticks? I might just buy one 2gb and try it out in one slot. It won't destroy my board if it doesn't work, right? It should just beep and not allow me to boot, right? I'm pretty sure the one 2gb chip will work in one slot, but the question is if I need a new BIOS update in order for it to recognize it. I don't think I do, but who knows?

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

It won't destroy your board, it just will not simply work.

[Ambroos]

Just look at the Intel info page for your CPU to know how much RAM you can add. That's usually correct.

Also, try splitting your posts up by using enters :p Bit easier to read...

[farmeunit]

Kingston is fine. I buy Crucial mainly. I'd stick to 4GB. 8GB won't do much for you generally unless you do a lot with virtualization or video. Some MMORPGs like RAM also.