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1593168
Latitude D630 Laptop: Can it actually handle 8GB of RAM?
Hi,
Helping out a recent immigrant from China, who came over with her son. Before leaving from China, the father of the son gave him a Latitude D630 ( a pretty nice one, with the NVS135M graphics chip). The OS (XP) is in Chinese, so its a real adventure trying to set up/clean up the system. Anyway, I have a couple of questions about the D630.
1. Seems like the system is capable of running Vista 64 Bit, but I beleive that is only worth it if the system has 4GB or more of RAM installed. The current system has 2GB installed (2 X1GB), and the owner would like to get a new OS for this system (which will make my life a lot easier, as it will at least be in english). If she gets WIndows 7, should she get Windows 7 32 Bit, or 64 Bit? She is willing to spring for more RAM, so if WIndows 7 64Bit is the best way to go, I will advise her to get 1 X 4 GB Module, and leave the second slot open for more RAM later. THe Dell manual indicates 8GB RAM capable; does this mean it will take 8GB of RAM, or that it may be able to take 8GB at some point in the future if they get around to updating the BIOS?
2. If anybody has used 4GB modules in this system, please let me know which modules worked for you, and even more importantly, which didn't.
Kostas
minivini
2 Posts
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March 16th, 2011 10:00
I can tell you from personal experience that Win 7 64 bit on a D630 (with a T7500 CPU) can handle 6GB RAM quite well. It came with 2X2GB SODIMMs and I replaced the bottom one (the easy one) immediately with a 4GB SODIMM.
I recently opened up the top to see what would be involved in swapping the T7500 for a T9500 and access to the top SODIMM is easy enough that I'm going to put a 4GB in there, too. I can't hurt, so when I go back in for the CPU swap, I'm going to do it.
If you haven't already done it, you really need to update the bios to A17. I think it was back around A13 or so that enabled more than 4GB, so uf that isn't done adding mire RAM won't do anything, and some users reported boot failure. A17 will fix it.
kkritsilas
12 Posts
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March 16th, 2011 23:00
Minivini:
Thanks for the confirmation, this is what I was hoping to see: real world experience that backs up the information in the Dell manual, as well as the previously posted link to an actual Dell 4GB module. The lady's laptop is already at A17, so there should not be any issue there. Looks like it is ready to go, but she needs to decide what she wants to do with the machine in terms of the near and middle time frames.
Thanks so much for taking the time to post.
Kostas
minivini
2 Posts
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March 17th, 2011 09:00
Not a problem. I should point out that the 4GB module is confirmed both by Windows and CPU-z for a total of 6GB.
I stated I plan to install a second 4GB SODIMM, but I should also clarify that I don't really know if it'll be recognized. Some users have reported that 8GB is recognized, while some others have reported a 6GB max due to mobo limitations. I'm planning to give it a shot. My plans to build a desktop keep getting postponed, so I'm going to tweak this Latitude a little more and shoot for the build early next year.
Hope this helped!
Vince
ericv1984
15 Posts
1
May 1st, 2012 16:00
I know this thread is old but some d630's only have a max of 4GB and some (Like mine) have a max of 8GB. Socket A is located under the keyboard, while Socket B is located underneath the laptop. If the manual says it has a 8GB RAM capable then yes, it can handle 8GB.
An easy way to see how much your motherboard can handle is to download the Crucial System Scanner located here http://www.crucial.com/. Click on the tab that says System Scanner, then click Scan My Computer, then click Download The Scanner and make sure the checkbox is checked. Once it has downloaded, open it, and it will automatically scan your system and tell you your current RAM configuration, max RAM the mobo can handle, and it will also gives you options of different RAM you can purchase and tell you what speeds your mobo is capable of.
If it can handle 8GB, then each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 4GB per slot.
ejn63
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87.5K Posts
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February 23rd, 2011 03:00
2G/slot max. No, 8G is not supported.
If you run a single module you lose half your memory bandwidth, since the system will run in single-channel rather than dual-channel mode.
Enceladus
297 Posts
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February 23rd, 2011 06:00
Forget Vista of any flavour.
On the assumption that a Chinese version of Latitude D630 is the same spec as everywhere else, with 2gb ram it will run both 32 bit & 64 bit Windows 7 just fine. I have 64 bit Win7 running on two of them. For most purposes performance is better than some brand-new laptops. So leave it with XP or upgrade to 7.
In theory they can take 8gb of ram, but I have never tried as 4GB SODIMMs of the correct type are expensive.
Dell re-branded 4GB SODIMMS, for D630, are listed here. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&category_id=6436&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&mfgpid=190782&chassisid=8515
Also Crucial.com are usually reliable and if nothing else give you the benchmark price.
If the modules you have are original, the original 1GB SODIMMs will be DDR2 2Rx8 PC2-5300S-555-12.
The Dell website lists/sells PC2-6400 as the current upgrade.
PC2-6400 is marginally more available and might be slightly cheaper than PC2-5300s. 6400 is the next speed up from 5300 and is backwards compatible.
Be aware that one SODIMM slot is easy to upgrade, under the panel on the bottom of the laptop. To access the other one you need to remove the keyboard. Insructions are on the Dell site, it quite easy to do, not as big a deal as it sounds.
I would run it with Win 7 64 bit and only upgrade the total ram to 4GB if needed. 8GB is in theory possible but not economic.
To upgrade you need 2 of 2GB SODIMM, PC2, 5300s or 6400, low density. If you see 2GB or 4GB modules cheap then they will be Chinese fakes.
That is the good news.
The bad news is that you have the NVidia NVS135M graphics chip. If this laptop was made / purchased between February 2007 & September 30 2008 it will certainly fail and require a new motherboard. There is supposed to be a one year warranty extension for this issue. Geting Dell to honour though is a different matter.
kkritsilas
12 Posts
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February 23rd, 2011 22:00
I would think that if Dell itself has 4GB modules for the D630 would be sufficient evidence for anybody; it is evidence enough for me.
I wouldn't have any problem changing out the module under the keyboard, it seems pretty straightforward according to the procedure in the Dell documentation, and I have had to do similar things on other laptops.
I will need to ask the lady who owns the machine what she intends to do with it. If she wants to reinstall an OS, I would probably go with Win 7 32 bit, if she wants to stay with the current 2GB, or upgrade to 3GB. If she wants to go to 4GB or more, I will install Win 7 64 bit.
I will let her know about the potential for failure at some point, and give her the information on calling Dell. If she chooses to do so, she can fight it out with Dell.
I will use the Dell Express Service code to at least figure out if the system was built during the period covered by the warranty extension, and give her that to talk to Dell with.
Thanks to all for the feedback and information, and for taking the time.
Kostas
Enceladus
297 Posts
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February 24th, 2011 04:00
The memory is dual channel. So to maintain performance two identical SODIMMs are best. So upgrade to 4GB (2 x 2GB) if you wish.
Windows 7 64 bit Professional runs just fine on these, even with the base 2GB, as does the 32 bit flavour. So put 64 bit Windows 7 on even if you don't upgrade the ram. That why you won't have to re-install 64 bit if you decide to upgrade the ram at a later date.
rjm_sino
1 Message
0
May 16th, 2013 01:00
Just updated my D630 to BIOS A18 and replaced the original 2x 512Mb RAM with 2x 4Gb RAM. All the new memory is recognized and it's working great. I was so close to scrapping this laptop because it had gotten *insanely* slow and programs kept freezing. The RAM was under $150: so much cheaper (and less hassle) than a new device. Thanks all for your advice!
paradoox
17 Posts
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May 12th, 2014 08:00
FYI, I have seen advice that says not to upgrade the BIOS past A17 because of some issues.
Also, has anyone gotten the D630 to run with the memory at 800mhz? I thought I saw a thread that said that the Centrino based D630s would only clock to 667mhz but the Core2Duo based D630s would clock the memory at 800mhz? (I can no longer find that thread.)
zahidone23
1 Message
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May 16th, 2014 01:00
how may slots for placing rams in D630. is it possible to place three rams of one GB each.
ejn63
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87.5K Posts
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May 16th, 2014 04:00
There are two memory sockets in the system.
kc6yot
3 Posts
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November 21st, 2015 20:00
Someone is telling big lies, yep moving up to A18, for some reason everyone says not to go to a19, sure enough, it will show there is 8gb of ram, but it says only 3.5 GB is useable. I Want to thank all you wizards, Did the upgrade and it does not work. Oops, see below, found out what was wrong.
Make sure the OS is 64 bit.
paradoox
17 Posts
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November 23rd, 2015 00:00
XP and 32-bit Win7 only support 3.5 GB of memory. If you were running 64-bit Win7, it should use all 8GB of memory.
kc6yot
3 Posts
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November 23rd, 2015 15:00
Yep you are correct, turns out it was only running Win 10 at 32-bit, slicked it down and did a clean reload of the OS to Win 10 64 and wow this computer is running faster than it ever has. Thanks for the info, Note to all make sure the OS is a 64 bit system, thanks again.