Still with my HP XT860,P3, 512 max ram memory. Just upgraded it to max memory. I've noticed that the memory "sticks" are pretty much just slots when I swapped out the old and in with the new. My question, why couldn't I put say, 2 X 512M sticks in there to make it 1G? Is 512K the limit that this type of board can handle or something? I mean, I upgraded the hard drive from like 100M to 80G and it works fine. This system uses SDRAM and has two slots.
educate me...512MB max ram, why not go higher?
- Thread starter Schmoe
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I've 1.5 gig of ram in my dell desktop.
It depends on what the motherboard can support. I called Dell about my computer and they said it only can handle 1GB of ram. It may depend on how old the computer is. Mine is 5 years old.
Head to newegg.com and look up your computer. That will give you the exact specs for the ram. Then look on ebay for the ram. If it doesn't support the full gig, then sell it.
Head to newegg.com and look up your computer. That will give you the exact specs for the ram. Then look on ebay for the ram. If it doesn't support the full gig, then sell it.
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It doesn't matter, sooner or later no matter how much you have, Uncle Bill's OS will choke it down to slow. It's just a matter of time. The state is indifferent to the ram you have and/or the speed of your processor. Those merely alter the time it takes to accumulate enough garbage to choke it.
Chipsets like the Intel 810 did not support more than say 512MB RAM. Go to http://www.kingston.com and use their memory configurator - it will tell you what your PC's motherboard is capable of.
Wayne
Wayne
Yup, that's why it's a good idea to run CCleaner, defrag your hard drive, and defrag your registry with Auslogics. Also, turn off stuff like system restore, which is a total joke (get some imaging software and an external hard drive - best thing you could ever do with a computer) and/or use a memory virtualization software like Returnil to keep your system exactly how you want it. You will never again have to do the tedious and painful process of reinstalling the O/S from scratch.
Those things make my system way faster than when I upgraded fro 512 to 1024 megs of ram.
Those things make my system way faster than when I upgraded fro 512 to 1024 megs of ram.
our Compaq Presario desktop bought in 2002, got a huge speed boost when I added 512MB to the 256 MB it had out of the box...it was so sluggish before.
Last edited:
schmoe;
Here's the product info for HP Pavilion xt860 Desktop PC (US/CAN): http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=57715&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
And specifically:
Code:
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum...t=57715&lang=en
Interesting only 256mb recommendation? As Wayne said, it's a chipset limitation. The intel website will tell you more detailed specs of the i815 chipset.
Here's the product info for HP Pavilion xt860 Desktop PC (US/CAN): http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=57715&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
And specifically:
Code:
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum...t=57715&lang=en
Interesting only 256mb recommendation? As Wayne said, it's a chipset limitation. The intel website will tell you more detailed specs of the i815 chipset.
Manufacture Name CUSL-L
HP/Compaq name Cozumel
Motherboard supplier ASUS
System BIOS supplier PhoenixBIOS
Processor brand Intel
Processor socket type Socket 370
Processor family Pentium III
Processor Speed up to 1 GH
Processor front side bus frequency 100 MHz or 133 MHz FSB, depending on the specific processor
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
IDE modes PIO Modes 3 & 4
Expansion slots 1 AGP
3 PCI
Supports PCI Extender board.
Integrated audio AC'97
Ports 1 PS/2 keyboard
1 PS/2 mouse
2 USB 1.0
1 LAN (RJ45)
1 serial
1 parallel
1 VGA
Audio: Line in, Line out, and Microphone.
1 game
Motherboard layout and photos
Figure 1: Layout
Experts? Will this thing take 1G of RAM??
HP/Compaq name Cozumel
Motherboard supplier ASUS
System BIOS supplier PhoenixBIOS
Processor brand Intel
Processor socket type Socket 370
Processor family Pentium III
Processor Speed up to 1 GH
Processor front side bus frequency 100 MHz or 133 MHz FSB, depending on the specific processor
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
IDE modes PIO Modes 3 & 4
Expansion slots 1 AGP
3 PCI
Supports PCI Extender board.
Integrated audio AC'97
Ports 1 PS/2 keyboard
1 PS/2 mouse
2 USB 1.0
1 LAN (RJ45)
1 serial
1 parallel
1 VGA
Audio: Line in, Line out, and Microphone.
1 game
Motherboard layout and photos
Figure 1: Layout
Experts? Will this thing take 1G of RAM??
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
It doesn't matter, sooner or later no matter how much you have, Uncle Bill's OS will choke it down to slow. It's just a matter of time. The state is indifferent to the ram you have and/or the speed of your processor. Those merely alter the time it takes to accumulate enough garbage to choke it.
That's why you remove the garbage with CCleaner as others have already stated. You can also try restarting the thing every now and then to let the RAM clear itself.
I'm on my 3rd year with Windows XP on my gaming PC without a reinstall or any registry corruption. Fast processor, tons of RAM, big hard disk, things are good.
It doesn't matter, sooner or later no matter how much you have, Uncle Bill's OS will choke it down to slow. It's just a matter of time. The state is indifferent to the ram you have and/or the speed of your processor. Those merely alter the time it takes to accumulate enough garbage to choke it.
That's why you remove the garbage with CCleaner as others have already stated. You can also try restarting the thing every now and then to let the RAM clear itself.
I'm on my 3rd year with Windows XP on my gaming PC without a reinstall or any registry corruption. Fast processor, tons of RAM, big hard disk, things are good.
Go online to Crucial. They have a memory tool that will specify the type and capacity of RAM for any given system or MB.
Generally speaking, there are several factors that dictate RAM capacity and speeds, among them the northbridge side of the chipset, and the memory controller and/or the CPU family.
One needs to be more careful with servicing OEM solutions, as they are often more customized architectures with greater limitations (i.e. cheaper) than the retail/enthusiast versions of the same product family.
100mhz DIMMS should be dirt cheap nowadays, as it is pretty obsolete stuff. You should be able to use PC133 in it. I used to have a drawer of PC100/133 pulls, but think it now gone.
More memory becomes a diminishing curve with older systems, as there are other bottlenecks that severely limit performance. In an old Socket 370 system running XP, a faster HDD is probably going to do as much or more as additional memory over 512mb will. Unloading the onboard video to an aftermarket card will also free up shared ram and improve performance significantly.
But one should also be wary of dumping too much money into equipment that is past its prime. There's nothing wrong with buying used parts.
Generally speaking, there are several factors that dictate RAM capacity and speeds, among them the northbridge side of the chipset, and the memory controller and/or the CPU family.
One needs to be more careful with servicing OEM solutions, as they are often more customized architectures with greater limitations (i.e. cheaper) than the retail/enthusiast versions of the same product family.
100mhz DIMMS should be dirt cheap nowadays, as it is pretty obsolete stuff. You should be able to use PC133 in it. I used to have a drawer of PC100/133 pulls, but think it now gone.
More memory becomes a diminishing curve with older systems, as there are other bottlenecks that severely limit performance. In an old Socket 370 system running XP, a faster HDD is probably going to do as much or more as additional memory over 512mb will. Unloading the onboard video to an aftermarket card will also free up shared ram and improve performance significantly.
But one should also be wary of dumping too much money into equipment that is past its prime. There's nothing wrong with buying used parts.
I believe you are looking for desktop DIMMs here, and I haven't owned a desktop for over six years, but to throw a pitch in here...
I have four 128Mb SODIMMs (laptop profile) PC100 SDRAM, top tier (2 Kingston, 1 Micron, 1 I forgot) available. If anyone can make good use of them you can have any or all for peanuts.
On the subject of how much RAM is necessary, it depends a lot on the OS, as well as your applications. I found that typically Windows 2000 ran great in 256Mb, Windows XP in 512Mb, and I don't use the latest Windows incantation myself but it was a dog on a 1Gb modern laptop. Those figures assume you've cleaned up the garbage that comes preloaded on a new computer and cut out many of the unnecessary autorun programs that slow down the logon process.
Like Volvohead mentions, old hard drives are slower too but how much do you want to spend upgrading? Might be better to spend $400 to get a new computer instead of $150+ on a few upgrades. If the budget is tight at the moment perhaps you can put off the entire purchase for a while.
I have four 128Mb SODIMMs (laptop profile) PC100 SDRAM, top tier (2 Kingston, 1 Micron, 1 I forgot) available. If anyone can make good use of them you can have any or all for peanuts.
On the subject of how much RAM is necessary, it depends a lot on the OS, as well as your applications. I found that typically Windows 2000 ran great in 256Mb, Windows XP in 512Mb, and I don't use the latest Windows incantation myself but it was a dog on a 1Gb modern laptop. Those figures assume you've cleaned up the garbage that comes preloaded on a new computer and cut out many of the unnecessary autorun programs that slow down the logon process.
Like Volvohead mentions, old hard drives are slower too but how much do you want to spend upgrading? Might be better to spend $400 to get a new computer instead of $150+ on a few upgrades. If the budget is tight at the moment perhaps you can put off the entire purchase for a while.
Most likely, the system won't recognize anything more than 512MB in your case. If you try to put in a single 512MB stick in there it may only recognize half of it or nothing at all.
What operating system are you running? Do you really need more than 512MB?
What operating system are you running? Do you really need more than 512MB?
As an aside, the best $100 in computer money I recently spent was upgrading a 4.2k for a 7.2k HDD in a 3yo Thinkpad running XP. Completely supercharged the system and app load speeds, more than added RAM would have done for the same price. In that system, the HDD was the bigger bottleneck.
Best part of a hard drive upgrade is that you can typically migrate it a generation or two, as the standards are less volatile than for other components.
Best part of a hard drive upgrade is that you can typically migrate it a generation or two, as the standards are less volatile than for other components.
As per my above post, the 512mb limitation is from the chipset:
Quote:
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
As per this link (now fixed)
Quote:
Chipset i815
Memory type SDRAM
Memory speed 66 MHz SDRAM or 100 MHz SDRAM depending on system
Memory sockets Two DIMM (168-pin)
Maximum memory 512 GB (2 x 256 MB)
HP recommends a maximum of 128 MB per DIMM (256 maximum).
As per this link (now fixed)
Originally Posted By: eljefino
^Agree. Built my dad a new machine with, IIRC, a 10k rpm SATA hard drive. Silly fast, especially booting.
Sounds like a raptor, which can be wicked fast for non-SCSI drives.
Got a pair running raid 0 in our main rig. Crunches huge video files like they were mp3s.
^Agree. Built my dad a new machine with, IIRC, a 10k rpm SATA hard drive. Silly fast, especially booting.
Sounds like a raptor, which can be wicked fast for non-SCSI drives.
Got a pair running raid 0 in our main rig. Crunches huge video files like they were mp3s.
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