Deciding on RAM...Please help.

I am going to get an m1330 with the 32 bit Vista. Dell offers a 3 gig RAM option and they are not matching sticks.
1) Is it worth getting 3?
2) Is there a big difference having matching sticks?

Thanks again crazy notebook people.

 

If you use heavy programs then yes it's worth it to get 3.

And no there isn't a big difference to using mismatched sticks and losing dual channel.

 

honestly - check out newegg - for the price it costs to upgrade to 3 gigs - you can probably get 4 gigs of 800mhz ram from newegg and install it yourself...

thats a mistake i made with my order - which, unfortunately, has already shipped...

im not sure which processor youre going with - but if you go with the 7250 or the 7500, then youll actually be able to use the 800mhz dimms:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144084

or, if you only need the 667mhz ram:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144066

either way, youre getting 4 gigs for the same price dell offers 3 gigs, or LESS...

 

Thanks all. In spite of my overwhelming incompetence with computers, I can probably do the RAM installation myself.
How much of 4 gigs would 32 bit Vista recognize?

 

I think it's somehwere around 3.4 gigs it will recognize if you install 4 GB of ram.

 

oop - i think 32-bit operating systems only recognize up to 3 gigs (at least - thats what ive read) - if you get the 64 bit version of vista - then itll recognize all 4 (and youre probably better off with 4 if youre going the 64-bit route)

but regardless of how much you get - its probably cheaper to go the newegg route - im kicking myself for not thinking of that before i clicked "complete order" - i actually called in today to change it but my computer already completed the production stage and now shows as "shipped"...

 

I thought Santa rosa chipsets doesn't even support 800mhz, then again, I may be wrong.

 

The most cost efficient/best performance is to buy 2 667mhz 2gb ram modules from newegg.com and install them yourself. I am using dual booting 64bit xp professional and 32 bit windows vista. In 32 bit operating systems 4gb shows up as 3582 MB of ram (if you have dedicated video card). In 64 bit operating systems it shows up as 4094mb. I think its worth it. Its only like a $150 upgrade if you do it yourself.

 

I am right in believing that installing the RAM involves nothing more than snapping it into its slots (or whatever I snap it into)?

 

^ yep - thats pretty much it

and whats nice about dell (which i didnt even know about until i just ordered my first one) - they put the service manuals right there online - with step by step instructions on how to do everything

here are the instructions for removing/inserting memory into an m1330:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1330/en/SM/html/memory.htm#wp1180190

if you want to look at more - go to dells site, select support, and then manuals - from there you can choose the service manual

 

you know - maybe youre right - i always thought that ram kind of went along with the bus speed

with the t7250 and t7500, fsb is rated at 800mhz (whereas on the t5250 and t5450 its still at 667)

again, im kind of trying to learn about this stuff as i go along - so please correct me if im wrong

 

I'm pretty sure that Santa Rosa chipsets will accept 800mhz, but it will still downclock to 667mhz, making it an unnecessary upgrade.

 

Good stuff. Thanks to everyone who helped.