Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
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Dix Hills,NY
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|  RAM question on Dell Studio 15
I'm helping my brother buy a new laptop. He's looking at the Dell Studio 15. Specifically, I have a question about the RAM.
According to Dell's website for the Studio 15, the laptop specs says it can handle up to 8GB of RAM.
It didn't say how many RAM modules it has, or if it did, I couldn't find it. So, I went on Crucial.com and their site told me that the laptop could do a maximum of 4GB and that it had 2 slots.
I went into a chat with a Dell sales Rep and this person said it could do 4GB, but 8GB under a 64-bit OS.
So, I guess my question is, how many banks does this laptop have? 2 or 4? I'm thinking it has to be 4 if it could fit 8GB in there, and assuming you had a 64-bit OS that could actually utilize the portion greater than 4GB.
What am I missing?
--
"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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craig70130
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join:2004-04-27
New Orleans, LA | Kingstons website says it has 2 slots and supports up to 8GB RAM using 4GB modules.
I would trust what the manufacturer says. |
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Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
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| said by craig70130  :Kingstons website says it has 2 slots and supports up to 8GB RAM using 4GB modules. I would trust what the manufacturer says. Thanks. Yeah, I was leaning toward trusting Dell's site, but I didn't even think of 4GB modules, for whatever reason.
Thanks!
--
"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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chandom
join:2001-05-23
Tallahassee, FL
| reply to Jeffrey
Finding a replacement system board on a web site it clearly shows 2 memory slots.
»www.parts-people.com/index.php?a···&id=5764
Don't forget they do make 4 GB DDR2 laptop memory modules.
Plus, what Dell wants to charge as an 8 GB upgrade ($315) is about right.
$276 for this kit from Newegg: »www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···20148275 |
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Jeffrey
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join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs: | Yeah, I didn't even take into account 4GB modules. I forgot they existed. My bad. |
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chandom
join:2001-05-23
Tallahassee, FL
1 edit | Looking at what Newegg has listed for the DDR2@800 stuff. Dell might have a better offer when you but the system with the memory.
Best I'm finding for the DDR2@800 (4GB x2) is running in the $350+ range. |
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Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
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join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs: | Yeah that's a little expensive for now. I think we'll do 2x2 (4GB) for now, and in a year or whatever see what 2x4GB chips would be. He doesn't need anything too crazy, and he's coming off a 5 year old laptop, so any new change is good for him. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
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join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
|  said by Jeffrey :Yeah that's a little expensive for now. I think we'll do 2x2 (4GB) for now, and in a year or whatever see what 2x4GB chips would be. He doesn't need anything too crazy, and he's coming off a 5 year old laptop, so any new change is good for him. I'm a power user and I recently picked up a Studio XPS 13 laptop with 4GB of RAM. I'm running Vista x64 and it runs great so I think your brother will be happy with 4GB. If he needs to upgrade in a year or two, 4GB modules should be significantly cheaper. I would recommend he go with the fastest processor available. While you can upgrade the processor in most new laptops, it's never cost effective nor easy.
And one final tip specific to Dell. Usually, if you call them, they'll give you a cheaper price than the website. Just say that you're really interested in a specific laptop with these specs and ask if they can knock anything off that price for you. I got my Studio XPS 13 for a little under $1200 and pretty much the only upgrade it didn't have was an SSD drive. (P9600, WLED, Hybrid SLI, 4GB, 320GB 7200 RPM, additional 9-cell) Retail was a touch over $1500 at the time. |
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Jeffrey
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| said by Matt :said by Jeffrey :Yeah that's a little expensive for now. I think we'll do 2x2 (4GB) for now, and in a year or whatever see what 2x4GB chips would be. He doesn't need anything too crazy, and he's coming off a 5 year old laptop, so any new change is good for him. I'm a power user and I recently picked up a Studio XPS 13 laptop with 4GB of RAM. I'm running Vista x64 and it runs great so I think your brother will be happy with 4GB. If he needs to upgrade in a year or two, 4GB modules should be significantly cheaper. I would recommend he go with the fastest processor available. While you can upgrade the processor in most new laptops, it's never cost effective nor easy. Thanks for the info. Yeah, I basically told him to hit up the best CPU he could, don't by extra RAM from Dell and get a good LCD choice. He's starting his residency up in Rhode Island, and while he's getting paid now (since he's out of school), he can afford something pretty good, but now he has to start paying back some monstrous loans, so he can't go too overboard. 
said by Matt :And one final tip specific to Dell. Usually, if you call them, they'll give you a cheaper price than the website. Just say that you're really interested in a specific laptop with these specs and ask if they can knock anything off that price for you. I got my Studio XPS 13 for a little under $1200 and pretty much the only upgrade it didn't have was an SSD drive. (P9600, WLED, Hybrid SLI, 4GB, 320GB 7200 RPM, additional 9-cell) Retail was a touch over $1500 at the time. Wow, that's pretty good. I didn't know that. I'll have to check with him to see what he wound up with in the end.
--
"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] |
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