RAM for my motherboard
polycounter lvl 15
I'm trying to get a bit more speed out of my computer without too much investment and thought I would get more then my 2 GB ram.
My problem is that I can't quite figure out what they mean about the max ram for the motherboard. Its either that it can only have 2 gb ram or 2gb ram in each of the two slots.
Wlso what kind of ram can I actually use, because there is many types (PC2 8500, PC2 9600, ect). Its the two lines in italic that kind confuses me.
This is the description for my motherboard (cut'n'paste from a shopping site):
[FONT=arial, helvetica]CPU:
- Supports Socket 775 for Intel Core 2 Duo, P4 5XX, 6XX, Pentium D 8XX, 9XX and Celeron D processors.
- Supports FSB 1333*/1066/800/533MHz.
- Supports EIST technology.
- Supports Intel Hyper-Threading technology.
- Supports Intel Dual Core Technology to 1066MHz and up. Chipset:
Intel 945GC Chipset:
- Supports FSB 533/800/1066/1333*MHz (FSB1333 supported by manually BIOS adjustment).
- Support Dual channel DDR2 533/667 memory interface upto 2GB.
- Support PCI Express 16X & 1X interface.
Intel ICH7 Chipset:
- Integrated Hi-Speed USB 2.0 controller, 480Mb/sec, 8 ports.
- 4 Serial ATAII ports w/ transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.
- 1 channel Ultra ATA 100 bus Master IDE controller.
- PCI Master v 2.3, I/O ACPI 2.0 Compliant.
- Integrated AHCI controller. FSB: Support FSB 533/800/1066/1333*MHz.
Main Memory:
- Supports 2 unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM.
- Supports up to 2GB memory size.
- Support Dual Channel DDR2 533/667 MHz and up (DDR2 Memory Modules are not the same as DDR Memory Module, please check your memory vendor for more information). Slots:
- One PCI Express 16X slot for PCI Express x16 graphic card.
- One PCI Express 1X slot.
- Three PCI 2.2 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots. (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface). On-Board IDE:
- One Ultra DMA 66/100 IDE controller integrated in ICH7:
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Can connect up to 2 Ultra ATA drives.
- Serial ATAII controller integrated in ICH7:
- Up to 300MB/s transfer speed.
- Can connect up to 4 SATA2 drives.
- Supports ACHI controller.
- Supports SATA hot plug. On-Board Peripherals:
- 1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes.
- 1 Serial port.
- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode.
- 8 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4/** Front x 4).
- 1 6-in-1 audio jack.
- 2 PS/2 connectors.
- RJ45 connector. Audio:
- High Definition link controller integrated in Intel ICH7 chip.
- 8 channels audio codec Realtek ALC888:
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec. LAN: Realtek RTL8111B:
- Supports 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
- Compliane with PCI 2.2.
- Supports ACPI Power Management. BIOS:
- The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically.
- The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
EDIT: A bit more information, I just used PC Wizard 2010 and it said this about my motherboard/ram:
Memory Controller Information :
Memory Controller : DIMM, SDRAM
Number of connectors : 2
Max. Module Size : 3072 MB
Max. Memory Size : 6144 MB
Supported Speed : Unspecified
Supported Voltages : 3.3v
Error Detection Method : 64-bit ECC
Error Correction Capability : None
Current/Supported Interleave : 1-way/1-way
So here it says I can have two 3 gb ram ....confuuused.
[/FONT]
My problem is that I can't quite figure out what they mean about the max ram for the motherboard. Its either that it can only have 2 gb ram or 2gb ram in each of the two slots.
Wlso what kind of ram can I actually use, because there is many types (PC2 8500, PC2 9600, ect). Its the two lines in italic that kind confuses me.
This is the description for my motherboard (cut'n'paste from a shopping site):
[FONT=arial, helvetica]CPU:
- Supports Socket 775 for Intel Core 2 Duo, P4 5XX, 6XX, Pentium D 8XX, 9XX and Celeron D processors.
- Supports FSB 1333*/1066/800/533MHz.
- Supports EIST technology.
- Supports Intel Hyper-Threading technology.
- Supports Intel Dual Core Technology to 1066MHz and up. Chipset:
Intel 945GC Chipset:
- Supports FSB 533/800/1066/1333*MHz (FSB1333 supported by manually BIOS adjustment).
- Support Dual channel DDR2 533/667 memory interface upto 2GB.
- Support PCI Express 16X & 1X interface.
Intel ICH7 Chipset:
- Integrated Hi-Speed USB 2.0 controller, 480Mb/sec, 8 ports.
- 4 Serial ATAII ports w/ transfer rate up to 3Gb/s.
- 1 channel Ultra ATA 100 bus Master IDE controller.
- PCI Master v 2.3, I/O ACPI 2.0 Compliant.
- Integrated AHCI controller. FSB: Support FSB 533/800/1066/1333*MHz.
Main Memory:
- Supports 2 unbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM.
- Supports up to 2GB memory size.
- Support Dual Channel DDR2 533/667 MHz and up (DDR2 Memory Modules are not the same as DDR Memory Module, please check your memory vendor for more information). Slots:
- One PCI Express 16X slot for PCI Express x16 graphic card.
- One PCI Express 1X slot.
- Three PCI 2.2 32-bit Master PCI Bus slots. (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface). On-Board IDE:
- One Ultra DMA 66/100 IDE controller integrated in ICH7:
- Supports PIO, Bus Master operation modes.
- Can connect up to 2 Ultra ATA drives.
- Serial ATAII controller integrated in ICH7:
- Up to 300MB/s transfer speed.
- Can connect up to 4 SATA2 drives.
- Supports ACHI controller.
- Supports SATA hot plug. On-Board Peripherals:
- 1 floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes.
- 1 Serial port.
- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode.
- 8 USB 2.0 ports (Rear x 4/** Front x 4).
- 1 6-in-1 audio jack.
- 2 PS/2 connectors.
- RJ45 connector. Audio:
- High Definition link controller integrated in Intel ICH7 chip.
- 8 channels audio codec Realtek ALC888:
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec. LAN: Realtek RTL8111B:
- Supports 10/100/1000 Mb/s.
- Compliane with PCI 2.2.
- Supports ACPI Power Management. BIOS:
- The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically.
- The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
EDIT: A bit more information, I just used PC Wizard 2010 and it said this about my motherboard/ram:
Memory Controller Information :
Memory Controller : DIMM, SDRAM
Number of connectors : 2
Max. Module Size : 3072 MB
Max. Memory Size : 6144 MB
Supported Speed : Unspecified
Supported Voltages : 3.3v
Error Detection Method : 64-bit ECC
Error Correction Capability : None
Current/Supported Interleave : 1-way/1-way
So here it says I can have two 3 gb ram ....confuuused.
[/FONT]
Replies
http://ark.intel.com/chipset.aspx?familyID=28994
The crucial.com memory adviser for a motherboard with the same chipset confirms it. So you can only do 2 1GB sticks.
Since can get a new i3 core setup for around $350-400 (New CPU/Mobo/Ram) it's abit of a coin toss.
(also helps if you know the motherboard manufacture and model number, usually stamped in bold letters like ASUS does)
Well that sucks, I actually never thought that there was actually a limit to ram on the motherboard, apart from the physical limit, thought all the limits was the OS.
which leads me to @Rwolf
Yeah, I know but since I'm unemployed I kinda don't have that much money to spend, I just thought I might find some cheap ram and boost my computer just a bit more so I don't kill it with highpoly models (which is kinda lowpoly to some here...I want your computers!). Ah well, guess it can wait then.