Inspiron 1501 memory limits

I wonder if anyone has tried 16GB yet...

maximum per slot in that machine is 2GB

besides I am pretty sure no one manufactured 8GB Modules for laptops in 533mhz ddr2

The chipset is reported to handle up to 8GB. I haven't tried it, and I know the max memory does depend on the motherboard as well. Even with 4GB, it'll only "see" 2.6 GB of RAM with a 32 bit OS. The rest of the RAM will test OK in BIOS. IMO, having the extra 620 MB available in dual channel mode is worth the price of two 2GB sticks.

I believe the board can support a bus speed of 800 MHz. I'm running 800 MHz DDR2 and a TL-68, which has an 800 MHz bus (well, 200 MHz x 4 read/writes per clock cycle) and if it's running the bus slower, I haven't noticed. I guess it's time to bench it and see. It's certainly given me no problems with the faster memory at all, so if you can't find 533 MHz, just go up to 800 MHz (PC6400) and you'll be fine.

BTW, I'm running Hynix RAM. The machine also likes Crucial and Kingston as well.

I know it's been forever since you posted this, but I was wondering if you've done any other upgrades; namely, have you moved to 7 yet? I ask because it's what I'm currently running (64-bit), and I want this to be the last series of upgrades I need to do, at least for a long while. I've read on Crucial's site that Win 7 64-bit will recognize up to 192GB of RAM.I know they don't yet have a way of fitting that amount into to DDRII slots, but I want to know what the ABSOLUTE MAX I can run is. Thanks!

Well, niel808, or whatever his name was, posted on another thread dealing with a similar topic that he's been running 8GB (2X4GB) in his machine, running Win 7 64, with no problems, so if that's the most definitive answer I can get, it's what I'll be doing. As I have her currently set up, I've got 2GB (2X1GB), and it's been fine, if a bit slow when running more than a couple applications. I'm mostly just wondering if anyone's ever done MORE (like 2X8GB, or some such config) with success. I'll definitely keep this updated, if for no other reason than it's been a massive headache trying to find out what the limits of possibility are in this situation.

If you believe my post, your maximum is 2x4GB.  If you don't believe it, show me an 8GB ddr2 sodimm.

The chipset by ATI does not support single memory module of 8GB DDR2, and for that generation of motherboard (DDR2 memory slots), no manufacturer produce 8GB DDR2 memory module, as none of the chipset supports it.

Few years ago, no more research on DDR2 memory module, so each module is only 4 GB. It will stay that forever.

In other word, this notebook only can has 8 GB max (2 x 4 GB), while Dell stated 2 x 1 GB, and never revised.

8 GB is the technical limitation of the chipset on this motherboard. Next generation DDR3 onward supported 8GB memory module and larger, but certainly not for DDR2 regardless it is for desktop or laptop.

Installing Windows 7 64-bit will allows it to use all the physical RAM, as many already known 32-bit limits to 3.4 GB. A fresh copy of Windows 7 install should run reasonably well, but once you install more software, the performance will slow down, which is normal cause for Windows (any version).

If you would like it to run faster, swap out the internal 2.5" hard disk with SSD (160 GB sells for about USD$150 or less) will make it runs 4x - 10x the speed as the disk performance jumps from 15 MB/s to 120 MB/s. However, the CPU and GPU are the next constraint for this low end laptop. Seagate Momentus XT hybrid 750 GB is another fast disk (burst rate of 100 MB/s), which gives you about 700 GB usable space with similar price as 160 GB SSD.

For regular users, 8 GB RAM with 160 GB SSD is faster than many tablet (iPad, Android) with tons of feature of a PC, or Seagate Momentus XT 750 GB (500 GB available for USD$70 too) will make the machine last longer

Yup if you have the 1501 with the AMD 64 bit you can run a 64 bit OS and put two 4gb ddr2. The only issue was installing the video drivers in XP64 where adobe premier won't install because of it (however it runs everything else). You may not have that issue in win7/64. Let me know how that goes. Note: I have 2 of these 1501 and both run 8gb of ram. One of them has the wont hold charge issue that happens to a lot of this model.

Effing outstanding! Thanks, stjohnchen, for the absolute answer! And neill808, I will be purchasing two 4GB dr2 sodimm chips shortly, I'll let you know how things go running win7/64. And, as I don't use anything adobe except Lightroom, there should (hopefully) be no problems.

And, stjohnchen, I've already upgraded the HDD in this machine, although a newer CPU and video card could be fun. But, really, I'm just looking to get another couple years' (at most) use out of this laptop before building my own PC down the road.

Thanks again guys for all the help!

do you know if he was able to use & access the 3rd GB of memory?   Thank You.

chuck ruzic

phone:      in Philippines     US phone via Magic Jack 

I am on China Std Time = UTC + 8

It all depends upon the operating system you're using. Winows 7 32 bit? You'll be able to use the full amount (up to 8GB) of RAM, but it won't show up in your BIOS or any system scan; if you're running 7 64 bit, on the other hand, it'll recognize up to 192 GB of RAM, though the laptop can only handle up to 8 GB.

Of course you can access access above 3 GB RAM if your OS is 64-bit, e.g. Windows XP 64-bit, Vista 64-bit, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8, Apple OS X, Fedora 64-bit, RedHat 64-bit, Ubuntu 64-bit, CenOS 64-bit.

If you use 32-bit OS (again a long list of OS), then none of them can access above 3.4 GB, but max RAM that this machine can support is 8 GB (2 x 4 GB RAM DDR2 module). Imagine your bank has $8 billion dollar (8 GB RAM max memory for this laptop), and the OS is your briefcase. if you have a small briefcase (32-bit OS) that can fit $3.4 billion dollar (max RAM for any 32-bit OS), then that's about it. If you have a briefcase that can fit $512 billion dollar (512 GB max RAM limitation of Windows 8 64-bit), then it can fit all the $8 billion dollar, and spare room to hold more if you bank have it (limit by number of memory slot in the laptop, chipset, and memory technology of DDR2/DDR3).

For education purpose, if you run DOS 32-bit with 24-bit addressing, then it can only access 16 MB RAM, and not the remaining RAM, regardless you install 2x256 MB, 2x512 MB, 2x1 GB, 2x2 GB, 2x4 GB.

In short, hardware has limit of 8 GB for this laptop, 32-bit OS software has limit of 3.4 GB, 64-bit Windows 8 OS software has limit of 512 GB RAM, 64-bit Win XP supports more than 128 GB

Refers to Microsoft homepage for their RAM limitation. This is software control, and hardware must be capable of handling so much RAM (e.g. each memory card size, num of memory slots)

msdn.microsoft.com/.../aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Hi,

       The most RAM your dell inspiron can handle is a 2 x1 GB RAM as i have one of these laptops myself and bought a 4GB RAM and it couldn't handle the RAM.

So don't buy anyhting bigger.