How do I check my memory type?

[Buzz 0]

Hi all. I'm currently running on a Dell P4 1.7GHz with 512MB and XP Home. Got a 64 MB Video card (geo??) I think. I'm playing GR and doing other stuff as well. I'd like to upgrade my RAM to about double.

a) How do I know the maximum I can update my RAM to for my motherboard?

b) How do I know if the current RAM is running at 100 or 133 mhz?

c) How can I tell what kind of RAM it is? ie. DRAM, SDRAM, etc.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Buz

[CR6 0]

Your best bet is to download the SiSoft Sandra utility and run the "Mainboard Information" module. Here's a good site to download it from:

http://download.guru3d.com/sandra/

Post the info you get here if you have trouble interpreting it.

512MB is pretty adequate for most things with WinXP. Doubling it may not give you a huge increase in performance with games, but would be good if you are doing things like video editing.

c) How can I tell what kind of RAM it is? ie. DRAM, SDRAM, etc.

Dell usually uses Intel chipsets, and unless you paid lots of $$ for RDRAM, it's most likely you have PC2100 DDR(266) SDRAM or PC133 SDR SDRAM.

a) How do I know the maximum I can update my RAM to for my motherboard?

I'm guessing you have a i845 based chipset which supports up to 2GB memory, but confirm what chipset you have that with SiSoft Sandra.

b) How do I know if the current RAM is running at 100 or 133 mhz?

Adding RAM is always a good way to boost performance, but if your system is using older (SDR) SDRAM, you might not notice a big difference since a 133MHz Front Side Bus is a major bottleneck. Hopefully you have DDR SDRAM at 266MHz which is VERY cheap these days (even cheaper than PC133!).

Edited March 3, 2004 by CR6