Im hoping this is an easy question. I have dell optiflex gx620 it came with 2gig ram. I have 2 additionl mem card each 1 gb. After I installed the additional cards, I would have expected when I go to mycomputer system that it would show 4 gb ram but it still show only 2. So am I running 4 gigs and if so how can i tell?
What specific memory type did you add? The Optiflex GX620 takes DDR2-533, PC2-4200 1GB RAM sticks. If you installed something different, the computer won't recognize it.
okay first i have 2 that are ddr2-533 so if i put one in (i have 2 identical computers) each i should get 3 gig ram or if i put both in one i get 4gig in that one?
ok... i put one in a computer to see if i get a reading of 3gb... NOPE... and win... ur links arent complete with dell... anyway... i put in a 1gb card on on computer.. now how do i see 3 gig of ram on that computer??
and it is a ddpr3-533/pc4200
If you fitted a valid stick (and there's no such thing as DDRP3 and a DR3 stick wouldn't have fitted) your Dell would have paused during POST and invited you to press a Funciton key, therefore the stick you put in has done nothing. Post back that Service Tag key as requested and someone wlil find exactly what you can upgrade to and precisely what to fit to achieve that.
According to Microsoft, XP (32-bit) can use up to 4GB. Read their article here. Not all of it will show in system properties (right click My Computer), but the system WILL use all 4GB.
Here is a quote from Morpheous416 on the Guru3D.com site: "4 Gigs total between physical and virtual memory. If you max out your board, the BIOS will assign memory addresses to use which Windows will indicate as "missing" memory! In other words, you will not see the full 4G's in your system properties in Windows, only the BIOS and boot screens. However, the system will use all 4 gigs...it just won't all be available for Windows."
I was going by these "computer specifications" that jferdig has listed and was assuming his Dell OptiPlex GX620 has an Intel 845 chipset.
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.1
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 3, 32 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.80GHz, x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 4
Processor Count: 1
RAM: 509 Mb
Graphics Card: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller, 64 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 114470 MB, Free - 81238 MB;
Motherboard: Dell Computer Corp., , , .. .
Antivirus: None
I should've checked a little further and realize it has an Intel 945 chipset.
okay.... all i was hoping for was an easy answer (cuz I'm not a computer whiz) i typed wrong the correct is ddr2-533/ pc4200 so i am still confused... am i running 3gb ram after install and the computer wont tell me or can i find a way for me to see how much ram i have. is there a program i can run that tests my ram? i read dktabes post but dont quite understand it...
btw... when i bought the computer the vendor said he cud upgrade to 3gig but didnt... so he just handed me the card for me to install... good service...
About the best way to solve your problem is to buy and install 4 matching 1 GB modules so you don't run into a problem with mismatched modules conflicting with each other.
The BIOS should show how much RAM is installed. To open the BIOS, you have to reboot and before the BIOS logo disappears, you have to have pressed the appropriate key (my recollection is that Dell uses F2). Best to reboot and immediately keep hitting that key until the BIOS opens.
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