XPS420 Memory Upgrade Question

You're not going to see or feel any difference with using 800MHz RAM. In my opinion, just stick with the 667MHz.

 

I would suggest you visit Crucial.com for your 800MHz RAM, if you decide to go that route. Click Here for your XPS 420 RAM options. Crucial is what many forum members have used. I went with Crucial after I bought some Corsair Value Select RAM from Newegg.com and it wouldn't work. I had many memory issues and corruption issues with the Corsair. With Crucial, I haven't had any issues.

I would say that the biggest upgrade you could make would be to switch to a 64-bit OS, and that would allow you to max out at 8GB of RAM on your XPS 420. This is my plan (now if only Dell changed their policy already so they could send me a 64-bit disc!).

Excellent information, I ordered 4 x 1GB sticks of the Crucial RAM this morning. The only disappointment was not being able to order 2GB sticks for a total of 8GB. I may have missed it on their site but I'll keep an eye out. As for the 64-bit OS, my plan was to dual boot that and the 32-bit versions while all the games were on the 64-bit install. Really looking forward to it - thanks for the information! EDIT: I see on the Crucial site that my system is limited to 1GB per slot "Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300,DDR2 PC2-6400 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.* *Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory." Is an 8GB upgrade impossible?

Hmm, wow, I could have sworn I saw somewhere that the 420 supported up to 8GB. Perhaps I was wrong. If this is in fact the case, it looks like I might put my rig on the market sooner than expected, so that I can upgrade to a 630.

The XPS 420 can handle up to 8GB of RAM.  Take a look at the Owner's Manual. 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

 

HTH

Grey Ferret

Yes, Vista 32bit will still boot even with more than 4GB of Ram, but it will only recognize 4GB of RAM (minus any RAM for the graphics card) since the OS has a hard limitation of 4GB of memory addressing.

 

I recently purchased a refurbished XPS 420 that came with 4GB of RAM and I've spend some time looking into how I can get it to 8GB by buying 4 sticks of 2GB memory.  The Dell Support site offers a 2GB stick for the XPS 420 (SNPYG410C/2G | Dell Part# :  A1370435) for around $65.  I also searched on that manfacturer# and found the same stick offered as an upgrade for the Inspiron 513 for $10 less with part# A1763798 :)  Looks like the same stick to me, can anybody confirm?  That would save me around $40.

 

Then I went online to NewEgg.com and other sites and found some Kingston RAM with apparently the same specs (2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400))  and costs only $37.  That would save me around $100.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134636 

 

Can anybody tell me if this Kingston RAM would work?  I would love to save $100 on this.

Most RAM with similar specs should work. If they are faster than what the mobo can handle, then they would just default to the maximum specs of the mobo. I plan to get my 8GB through a 3rd party site (meaning not Dell), also to save on the final costs.

Yes, that's where I saw that information before. :smileyvery-happy:

 

Quick question to anyone that knows.... If you're currently running a 32-bit OS on the 420 but you want to put more than 4GB of RAM in it, is that possible? I know it won't register unless you have the 64-bit OS installed, but can I use more than 4GB and just have the 4GB showing up? The reason I ask is I want to buy 2GB sticks (to eventually get to 8GB for the 64-bit OS), but I want to install them when I buy them instead of waiting until I install a 64-bit OS. Is this possible, or would the machine not boot?