Installing more RAM

[RHaynes]

I recently upgraded from XP to Win7 and opted for the 64-Bit install.

I currently have 2GB of DDR2 PC3200 RAM installed. This is double what the machine started with. There are 4x512MB modules. They are all the same make.

I would like 4GB but PC3200 RAM doesn't seem very common any more. My question is, could I buy the newer DDR2 RAM, like 4300, 5300 or 6400 and use that instead? Assume that I remove all the old RAM entirely to put in 4x1GB or 2x2GB modules?

My PC is:

AthlonX2 4400+
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
8800GT 512MB
2GB GeIL DDR2 PC3200 Dual Channel RAM

[Vagrant]

Try the Crucial scanner - it will tell you what's possible.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/

[ChuckFickens]

makes a nice change to see a well formulated question in tech on here!

you can put any higher speed of DDR2 ram in and it will work at the lower speed fine. the one thing you should check is the maximum supported RAM for your motherboard though. crucials scanner as in the link above should tell you that though.

[garrylee05]

you need to check with your mobo for campatability, quick google of your mobo model should do it

[garrylee05]

4gb for that board takes 4 x 1gb modules if i remember correctly

[garrylee05]

240pin i used the corsair dominator they were awesome, big difference and was worth the extra pennies at the time.

[RHaynes]

Thanks for your answers guys. I used the scanner in the first link, but it lists the only memory on their website compatible as PC2700 and PC3200.

It also says that although nForce4 boards support up to 4GB of RAM that I may only be able to see 2.75 - 3.5GB in the system due to BIOS compatibility with that RAM amount. I looked on the ASUS site, but the latest BIOS is from 2007 and there are no download options for Win7, only as recent as Vista.

I am a little disappointed, but then I guess it's kind of old. It works very well, I just thought it would be nice to have the maximum RAM, since with a view apps open I tend to hover around using just over half of what I've got.

I do not understand the "240pin" answer though. What does that mean?

[garrylee05]

sorry is this the 939 skt or am2 board

[RHaynes]

It's a 939 socket board

[ChuckFickens]

which is somewhat unsurprising as it has an AthlonX2 plugged into it!

unless you are planning on upgrading the mother board in the near future just stick 3 or 4 GB of faster DDR2 ram in it.

I'd also suggest checking what the OS reports as available ram after you do it, those "your bios may not support it" are often not correct when it comes to RAM, the only way to really know is try it sometimes.

[RHaynes]

I'm just concerned because if I do try it out, having to buy completely new RAM (since the old modules are 512MBs) I'm going to feel a bit of a goose if I spend about £80 on 2 or 4 new memory modules to only see an increase of 0.75GB in system RAM.

If it shows the lower amount, is Windows 7 still able to address it and therefore make use of it? If it is, then I suppose it doesn't matter. If it's not, then it'll be a waste of money, surely?