Dell Vostro 200 Memory Upgrade

According to Crucial memory (what we recommend for non-Dell memory as it is guaranteed to work in Dell's) max is 4GB. 

HERE is the Crucial listing.

The Dell manual confirms 4GB.   This is what is listed in the Dell manual for the Vostro 200.   It does not list the motherboard part number and as we are users helping users we do not have access to Dell motherboard part number listings.

Wait, I thought you said you had an Inspirion... then it would have been the same motherboard...

Yeah, but there was a BIOS update, and I changed out the motherboard with one that is supposed to support 8GB (in fact, it's the same motherboard you have in your computer).  Crucial only rates the first BIOS version of the motherboard, so if the BIOS update made it support 8GB, Crucial won't tell you.

Besides, my question was would the latency or voltage affect anything, or would the motherboard correct the latency/voltage?

Oh, so you don't have the stock Vostro 200 motherboard?  Your post subject is Vostro 200 but if you have a different motherboard installed that changes the game.

As I noted we (users) do not have access to a Dell motherboard listing so I can't say what is or isn't in that board.  BIOS updates (that I've seen) do not change the amount of memory supported - that is strictly a hardware function on the board.

I did say, "I'm fairly certain that my motherboard (G33M03) is able to handle 8GB." but I now realize that I did not make it clear that it was upgraded.  It is still a Dell motherboard, and was used in the Vostro desktops.  However, the same motherboard was used in the Inspirion 530 with quad core processors, which I think supported 8GB of RAM.

By the way, BIOS can raise the memory limitation.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090104165823AAJIjMK

It may be able to support more memory, but I've never seen one (and I'm a retired computer techie that still does PC work).

I tested it out with some Kingston RAM and was able to install 5GB of RAM in the DG33M03 motherboard.  This leads me to assume that since the max was supposed to be either 4GB or 8GB that the max of the DG33M03 (more commonly known as just the G33M03) motherboard is 8GB.

As far as BIOS updates raising MAX memory, I believe that it would raise max memory if the board was designed to use a certain amount, but Dell (or some other computer company) didn't want you to upgrade above a lower amount made the older version not support as much memory as the board could.

One last thing, I'm a techie too.  I don't have as much experience, but I am a techie.

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I don't quite see how I'm making this too complicated.  All I've done is confirm that the G33M03 motherboard CAN utilize up to 8GB of RAM.  That motherboard was used in both the Vostro 400 (the one with quad core processors) and the Inspirion 530.  So, if you open your case and you see "G33M03" (or in my case "DG33M03"), then you can use up to 8GB of RAM.

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Well, the Vostro 200 was also available with the G33M03 motherboard because there was a version that supported quad core processors.

This is a two-year-old thread!

try this site for info on that foxcon mobo

http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/motherboard-dg33m03-specs/

tells you most everything about that board , and yes it shows 8 GB max supported memory

I have 15 years exp working on computers and I am a licenced A+ certified repair tech

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