RAM problems

[Lokius]

So I read the system requirements to War and realized that my RAM was to little. So I decided to replace the card. I went in for a look at the RAM and found that my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1520) only seemed to have one space ( the card was 1gb RAM while my comp showed 1.834..... So I removed the card to look for the second when and couldn't find anything. So I replaced my old RAM card and now it is not reading it. I made sure I fit it back into the same slot, there was no dust, and my DXdiag is reading half of the previous memory... Yet, My comp is running faster than normal??? Any suggestions becides taking it out and putting it back in?

[Pedro]

Well I searched some pages and your notebook actually comes with 2 sticks of 512 from the factory
Dell Inspiron 1520 Memory at Outlet Prices -- Buy Dell Inspiron 1520

And you need to have 2 of the same ram sticks to have it run them in Dual Channel, that's where the problem start, Dell decided to be stupid with it's new laptops and moved the 2nd ram slot under the keyboard

Documentation

Of course at any point, running 2.5gigs of ram in Single Channel is still better than 1gig in Dual Channel, so if you don't want to touch the keyboard area (you don't know how to do it or it's still under warranty), then simply replacing the one you touched should be enough, just make sure they are the same speed.

[Lokius]

Ok this is a stupid question but they HAVE to be the same speed? So I cant put the 2GB in the easy slot while leaving the factory inserted one in the keyboard?

[Teufelhund]

Originally Posted by Lokius

Ok this is a stupid question but they HAVE to be the same speed? So I cant put the 2GB in the easy slot while leaving the factory inserted one in the keyboard?

no they dont HAVE to be the same speed, but if the two sticks are mismatched in speed the faster will operate at the speed of the slower stick. if you have the option try to match the speed but if the faster stick somehow happens to be cheaper than the slower stick (unlikely) go ahead and buy it.

edit:

also note that some brands of ram do tend to have problems in certain dell motherboards so do a little research or if youre going to an actual retailer, ask the technician at the counter about it. they should be abe to help you out if you go to parts store.

[FluffyBunni]

Yeah, the trick with getting to the ram slot under the keyboard is...

Start by bending the screen ALL the way back. Get yourself a SMALL flat head screw driver and you'll see a little notch up by the power button/volume buttons, etc (either on the right or left depending on your model). Shove your screw driver in there and pry that plastic strip up. For the most part they are pretty durable, so don't worry TOO much about breaking it (however i have snapped the damn things in half before). Then you unscrew (generally there are 3) the keyboard, and pop that puppy out (push it forward (towards the screen) to get the little hooks out from under the frame where your palms would rest). Then just swap it like the back.

Dells rock *stabs self*

As for your ram not being seen, obviously first try reseating it and let us know.

[Lokius]

yeah it eventually worked I found that my locking prongs are kinda screwed up... but Im not really sure if I wanna fork up 100 $ for 4GB Ram while this will work fine (= barely working)... Thanks for the help though.

[salsa verde]

you can also run memtest if you think you have a bad ram module.