PC gurus, please explain this memory price difference
 

I've got a Dell Inspiron 530 desktop w/2GB ram and I want go to at least 4.
So I look up on the Dell site what their price is and also will now gives me specs on it so I can price the same somewhere else.

Dell wants $49 per GB but I can get 1GB elsewhere for $12-15.
Heres the Dell page:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/c...5&chassisid=-1

And pcmemorystore:
http://www.pcmemorystore.com/Dell-Inspiron-530-ram.htm

Is it worth paying the extra from Dell?
Is it a bad idea to mix Dell and something else?

No its not worth it. You can often check the manufacturer site and check that they are 100% compatible with your model.

If its certified, then no problem. If it isn't, it will void your warranty

I recommend you stick to Kingston (part nr KTD-DM8400C6/1G)
Its a 1g stick, and you got space for 4

cost you $19 at their own webshop (Promo Price Now: $13.00 )
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...TD-DM8400C6/1G

4gb is useless unless you have a 64bit OS. The Dell ram is more expensive because companies like Dell mark up upgrades like ram.

Just look for Desktop 800mhz DDR2 Ram

Yeah true - I believe the max is 3gb

The limit is 4gb on a XP

Some systems might display it as 3gb because its poorly designed (most common reason)

........

that is referring to the setups on those system running shared Video mem, and with a 3,5gb hard cap..

Please -- if you don't know what you are talking about, feel free to shut the fuck up

His system can handle 4gig of ram if he buys those Kingston blocks, or any other certified dell block

Ok, if you say so.

For $13 its worth going to 4.
I went ahead and and ordered the Kingston ebus_dk suggested.
Thanks guys.

Dell has the best prices on printer cables also!

let's set it straight...

Windows 32bit systems are supposed to use 4GB.

In actuality, its 2gb.

You can squeeze it out to 3GB if you utilize the 3GB switch in the startup INI file. You cannot use more than 2GB or 3GB unless you ditch the 32bit OS.

Is that RAM all the same on those links? Just because something is a 1GB, doesn't mean its the same speed as the others. I was confused by the links, and wasn't sure which parts you were referring to specifically.

Go to 64bit. I've been using Vista64 for a almost a year with 12GB of Ram and loving it.

nope - not true

Here are a few MS links if you dont belive me.
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/arc...ement-101.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms810616.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/a...age_thumb2.png

So, translate that link please. I'm not a rocket scientist, I'm just a guy that has built MANY pC's, and I have never been able to get Windows to use more than 3GB of RAM. After much research, I've never seen anyone say that you can ACTUALLY use 4GB, and I don't think those pages you linked say it also.

people should just move on to 64 and not complain about how much RAM they have or don't have. Sky (or your motherboard) is the limit with 64.

To sum it up (its 04:47 at night here, and im going to bed)

winXP sp2+ can handle 4gb of ram (as most other updated 32 bit version OS)
The reason many people run in to problems using that amount of ram, is because they let the pagefile grow above 2gb, wich is the limit for a 32bit system for files to be handeled at once. You can have larger files, but they arent being loaded/read all at once.
This will result in a system-lock

The way Windows use the 4gb is devide it up (in 4 x 1 gb blocks to roughly simply it)
the first 2gb is set for userprocesses (and pagefile should be limited to 2gb)
another 2gb is set for kernel,cache,boot ect

This is the rough simplified version i would tell a customer..
It's not 100% accurate, but it descripes the way its handeled fairly well

Well, you've learned something: don't ask technical questions on a porn board.

With PAE, your system can support all 4GB, but unless you obtained it installed that way, you may have less memory available. With PAE and a 64 bit capable CPU, it can map memory around, which is basically a more technical rehash of EMS page frames.

3GB is almost always safe. It's cheap enough, so populate that bitch. Microsoft explains this better.

nevertheless dell has always horror prices