Ram Question.

According to the manufacturer, this crap box of mine maxes out at 512MB of RAM.

So what if i purchase a 1GB module and pop it in there?

i recall doing something similar with an old desktop, i remember it giving me a boot up error pertaining to memory size but none the less it still worked, was much faster and Windows saw it for every MB.

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alexcrist

Hello TheWatcher,

It depends. First of all, the total RAM size must not exceed the limit provided by the motherboard. However, 1GB should bring such problems on newer computers (but higher amounts might... for instance, my laptop can have at most 2GB, and I bought it less than a year ago).

Also, you have to be careful at memory frequencies. Consuls the motherboard manual to see if there are any restrictions, and what those restrictions are. Also, if you plan to add a module, besides the one that you already have, be sure that all modules have the same frequency. Installing memory modules at different frequencies might lead to extreme system instability (like just freezing, even when your not at your computer... this is what I experienced with my old PII).

Other restrictions I don't know, but if they exist, they sure are written in the motherboard manual. So, basically, that is where you have to start when you want to upgrade your hardware.

Cris.

TheWatcher

Hello TheWatcher,

It depends. First of all, the total RAM size must not exceed the limit provided by the motherboard. However, 1GB should bring such problems on newer computers (but higher amounts might... for instance, my laptop can have at most 2GB, and I bought it less than a year ago).

OK, so let's say that i purchased the exact RAM i needed (same frequency and so fourth) but it exceeds my 512 limit, would the comp still function or refuse to boot or what?

alexcrist

I have no idea about this one... I never tried to exceed the max RAM limit.

As I figure, the motherboard shouldn't "see" more than 512MB. But this is just a (very) wild guess.

Anyway, this looks like a very interesting question for tomorrow, for my Hardware teacher

If I don't forget about asking it, I'll be back tomorrow with an answer.

Cris.

AndreiASM

It depends on the motherboard manufacterer. It wouldn`t be incredible if the MB would work perfectly with 1 GB of RAM, that could happen.

Normally, a MB that is designed to work with a maximum quantity of x GB of RAM will just discard the RAM quantity that is exceeding that limit. Basically, it is all about the memory controller, which is not built-in the CPU. This way, having more memory than your MB supports, may lead to the behaviour described ealrier.

There are also MB that won`t work corectly with the new quantity of RAM, that may lead to PC freezez, but most of the times OS errors, regarding memory acces (corrupt memory, and so on), due to the fact that the BIOS knows that there is more RAM than it supports, OS will also know that thing, and it`ll try to use all the available RAM. This way, attempts to acces various memory addresses will cause errors.