Will a dell xps M1330 see 8GB of memory?

I have a dell xps M1330. It’s running windows vista home premium 32 bit sp2. It’s performing slowly. It’s got 3 GB of memory. Will the computer see the memory if I added 8 GB of memory? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Computer would see the 8GB but your 32bit Windows can use only theoretical maximum of 4GB. In practice it'll be something between 3.8 to 2.5GB depending on your hardware config.

What CPU your laptop has? To actually use 8GB you would need to upgrade OS to 64bit version and I'd recommend upgrading to Win7 then.

 

I know the machine should see at least 6 in BIOS... I can't remember if there was a BIOS update that let it see 8. Either way, your 32bit Windows won't see more than 3.odd.

 

BIOS A13 has support for 8GB of memory. But like others have said, your 32 bit OS will not see anything more than 3GB.

 

Also, adding more ram isn't a good way of speeding general things up if you already have 3GB, for any version of Windows.

If you had 1GB of ram, upgrading to 2GB would be very worthwhile, perhaps going from 2GB to 3GB would cause slight improvements, but beyond that, not so much. Of course, if you're a hardcore photo/video editor, then you may greatly benefit from more ram.

 

Getting back to 8GB of memory: Assuming version A13 or greater for the BIOS, and assuming a 64-bit Windows 7 installed with appropriate drivers, will up to 8GB of RAM be accessible? Crucial.com says "Yes" by using (2) of its 4GB modules. Dell's Tech Support says that only a maximum of 4GB will be accessible. What is the truth, and has anyone here installed such a combination?

*TimDaniels*

 

As far as 8CB Memory the Dell XPS M1330 uses the Intel 965 Express chipset. That chipset will address up to 8 GB Memory.
See http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/313053.pdf
As far as Bios the Motherboard supporting it I don't know for sure. I do know you will need a 64 bit OS.
If

then I would order it from them and then if it doesn't you would think they would have to take them back.
Keep us posted. I would love to know how it works out.
Tom

 

I'll post the results, but it may take some time. I still have to buy the 8 gigs of RAM and a larger HD to archive the backups. Time is money, and money takes time. Thanks for the info.

*TimDaniels*

 

I hear that. Might want to try a single 4GB Module and make sure it works first.

I hate the fact that they keep coming up with new DRAM standards. When they do the older module get scarce and go up in price. From what I've read the DDR3 DRAMs aren't that much better than the DDR2. Oh well what can we do. We are slaves to the man.

Tom

 

I have 8GB in one of my M1330s (A15 BIOS). Windows 7 x64 sees all 8GB.
Tom

 

Thanks for that input. A reviewer at Newegg said the same thing, too.
I have a couple questions for you that are related to operating temperature -
1) Do you notice your M1330 running any warmer with the increase in RAM chips?
2) Does your M1330 run a graphics card or an integrated graphics chip?
3) Do you run a standard hard drive or an SSD?

*TimDaniels*

 

After 5 years since my first M1330 I still really like them. With a good SSD there still isn't much out there that is better for my daily chores. I've taken to a "cult following" of the M1330 so consequently I have probably a couple dozen of them at home and among friends and family.
To answer your questions...
1) I haven't noticed a difference in temperatures. On NVidia models, I use a copper shim on the GPU. I closely monitor temperatures on both Intel and NVidia models but I can't recall monitoring temps on the same machine with different amounts of RAM. So I guess I can't say for certain other that I've never had temperature problems on any of them.
2) Several of both.
3) Mostly SSDs on my own M1330s. Dino drives on M1330s I've built for others. I bought an OCZ Vertex when it just came out way back in the beginning of 2009 and the increase in performance was so astounding I've never looked back. Since then I've used Vertex 2, Vertex 3, Vertex 4, Intel, Kingston and Crucial on the M1330 with good results.
Tom

 

I have an M1330 from 2008 with Vista Home Premium 32 bit. I upgraded to 4 GB RAM (PNY Brand) early last year and noticed an immediate difference in speed, however that has consistently degraded and recently I started getting blue screens every 10- 30 minutes. I ran the Pre-boot diagnostics by hitting F12 at startup and turns out that both 2GB boards have a lot of bad addresses. I installed the original and now it work fine but very slow. After reading this thread, I checked and Windows 8 will apparently work on my system and is $39 for the downloaded version of Pro or $69 for the disc. Crucial has an 8GB RAM set for $139 and sure enough states the M1330 will recognize it with a 64bit OS.

I am leaning toward the Windows 8 Pro disc for $69 with 8 GB of RAM. I am assuming when you buy a downloaded OS, you get one download for that price but I can't verify that.

I read another thread that installing a new SSD really makes a difference.

 

I don't see any need to go to 8GB RAM, even with a 64-bit OS. I have one M1330 with 8GB, one with 6GB and several with 4GB and I can't notice any difference (all other variables aside).

This is good RAM for the M1330 (4GB for $45):
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model F2-5300CL5D-4GBSA

Windows 8 runs great on the M1330. I think the understatement of the day is "I read another thread that installing a new SSD really makes a difference." If you haven't tried one, an SSD will knock your socks off. WAY more performance increase than all the RAM in the world.
Tom