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Upgrading memory - XPS 420
I recently purchased an XPS 420 with a Quad Core 2.4 Ghz chip and a 1066 FSB. It came with 2 gigs of 800 speed dual channel memory preinstalled. The 32-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium is installed. I'd like to upgrade to faster memory and add additional modules so the computer has 4 gigs of faster memory. Windows Vista 32-bit only supports 4 giugs so I'm not increasing it above that. Can I upgrade to 1066 speed dual channel memory? If so, what latency is best? Any particular brand or is Corsair still the best?
pdschweitzer
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Posted January 18th, 2008 14:00
Once you find the memory on Crucial.com, search for that Crucial part number on Newegg.com and save 30+% for the same Crucial product.Having more than 3 GB in the XPS 420 is useless as the video card will eat up memory space. I have 4 GB in my XPS 420, but I have a 8800GTX 768 MB video card. Vista only sees about 3 GB. The other 1 GB is wasted...
Message Edited by PDSchweitzer on 01-18-2008 08:17 AMfishywishy
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Posted January 18th, 2008 14:00
vista 32-bit only supports 3.25 gb, not 4gb. over 800mhz helps with ocing, not sure how it will help at stock speeds tho. it will support the 1066mhz"Having more than 3 GB in the XPS 420 is useless as the video card will eat up memory space"what does that mean?packerFan07
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Posted January 18th, 2008 16:00
"Having more than 3 GB in the XPS 420 is useless as the video card will eat up memory space"It means the video card will use 256/512/768 of that 4 gb of addressable memory. Other cards will do the same.Look here for a superb explanation....fishywishy
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Posted January 18th, 2008 17:00
thx for the link! i didnt know about that. actually i still dont quite understand it :smileytongue:so does that mean if you dont game u can just get integrated graphics and use 4gb? or in the 420s case the ati 128mb and get 3.875 (or something like that) gb ram?
Message Edited by fishywishy on 01-18-2008 01:20 PM
Message Edited by fishywishy on 01-18-2008 01:22 PMpackerFan07
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Posted January 18th, 2008 18:00
you have the right idea, but remember you might have other cards/things that affect that number as well. And even integrated takes up some space....- Thx for the information. I knew adding over three gigs was a waste...but I might upgrade to 64 bit OS in near future so will probably get the 4 gigs for now. Not sure if I got a clear answer on what memory speed the computer will support. One answer said it would only support up to 800 mhz but another answer said it would run with 1066 mhz memory.
packerFan07
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Posted January 18th, 2008 12:00