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miami3170

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11 years ago

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miami3170

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August 8th, 2015 14:00

Adding RAM

I understand the the xps8300 with windows 7 home only supports 16gb of ram.  I will soon be downloading Windows 10.

If I install 32gbs of RAM in advance of the windows 10, will that work?

  • shesagordie

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    Posted August 8th, 2015 16:00

  • miami3170

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    Posted August 11th, 2015 14:00

    Yes, I have read the manual. I have also seen online that the only reason the RAM is limited to 16gbs is that is what Windows 7 supports.

    So it stands to reason that if Windows 10 supports more RAM then this should work. 

    No and a link to the manual isn't a wealth of information.  Thanks though.

  • Dan-H

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    Posted August 11th, 2015 22:00

    I would give it a try. 

    If this is a core i7, it is likely a 2600 and the processor will support 32 GB

    ark.intel.com/.../Intel-Core-i7-2600-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

    The 8300 Motherboard uses  H67 chipset, and some H67 motherboards support 32GB.

    So, if you can get the BIOS to recognize 32GB of memory you might be good to go.

    Or, you might find yourself in a Dellema, (oops, typo)  I mean Dilemma 

    Here are the upper RAM limits for the different editions of Windows 7:

    Version Limit on X86 Limit on X64
    Windows 7 Ultimate

    4 GB

    192 GB

    Windows 7 Enterprise

    4 GB

    192 GB

    Windows 7 Professional

    4 GB

    192 GB

    Windows 7 Home Premium

    4 GB

    16 GB

    Windows 7 Home Basic

    4 GB

    8 GB

    Windows 7 Starter

    2 GB

    N/A

    Edition

    Amount

    Windows 10 Home 32 bit 4 GBs
    Windows 10 Home 64 bit 128 GBs
    Windows 10 Pro 32 bit 4 GBs
    Windows 10 Pro 64 bit 512 GBs
    Windows 10 Enterprise/Education 32 bit 4 GBs
    Windows 10 Enterprise/Education 64 bit 512 GBs

    here is windows 8.

    Version Limit on X86 Limit on X64
    Windows 8 Enterprise

    4 GB

    512 GB

    Windows 8 Professional

    4 GB

    512 GB

    Windows 8

    4 GB

    128 GB

  • speedstep

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    Posted August 13th, 2015 12:00

    The ram limitation comes from the CPU and Chipset.

  • Dan-H

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    Posted August 13th, 2015 13:00

    The ram limitation comes from the CPU and Chipset.

    The newer processors have integrated memory controllers and the chipset is no longer involved.

    The limits are CPU, the motherboard and the operating system. 

  • miami3170

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    Posted August 13th, 2015 14:00

    Hey Dan, 

    Thanks for the reply. I have currently have Windows 7 Home Premium  Service Pack 1   x64 bit o.s.

    core I7 2600 cpu  as you describe.  Current RAM is 8 gbs

    Microsoft says I need 20GBs  for Windows 10

    Currently in only have 5 Gbs free.

    I read on somewhere on the net that the only reason I am restricted to the 16gbs is that windows 7 won't read any more than that..(pls note I am no expert at this and am probably using the wrong terminology) but that once a newer Windows operating system is installed it will in fact read the upgraded memory (above the 16gbs)  Do you agree?

    THANKS AGAIN

  • miami3170

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    Posted August 13th, 2015 15:00

    Dan....I found where I read the above...LOL  it was on this website:

    By Scrotos on  16 April 2013:

    "Dell's maximum supported RAM for this system is 16 GB. However, it works fine with 32 GB of RAM. I used this memory kit in mine:

    Corsair XMS3 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1333 MHz (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (CMX32GX3M4A1333C9)

    Probably other ones will work fine, too. The only caveat is that most Dells would have come with Windows 7 Home Premium installed and that will only allow access to 16 GB of RAM. You need to have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate to access the full 32 GB of RAM. You can do the Windows Anytime Upgrade to buy Win7 Pro if you want to go that route, basically it magically makes your existing install into Win7 Pro so you don't have to reinstall anything.

    If you put more than 16 GB in a Home Premium system, when you right-click on Computer and go to Properties, you'll see the memory listed as something like 32 GB (16 GB usable). So the OS will see it all, it just won't let you USE it all. Harsh, ya?

    I had looked this question up and not gotten anything solid for an answer so I tried it myself and am posting about my success."