The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Definitive answer on the maximum RAM speed (667 MHz) and size (4GB) for Dell Inspiron E1505

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by exekx, May 6, 2011.

  1. exekx

    exekx Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So, I've been reading various threads on this site and elsewhere to determine what the most and fastest RAM I can install in my Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop is. Mine had 2x1GB of 533MHz DDR2 RAM prior to my upgrading it.

    Dell's website states that the maximum RAM is 2GB, however this is not accurate (at least, not in all cases, as I have exceeded it successfully!).

    I have installed 2x2GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, and have gotten 3.3GB of usable memory available for my 32-bit Windows XP operating system (and yes, it is running in dual channel mode still). This upgrade from 2GB total is well worth it!

    First, I downloaded the CPU-Z program from CPUID ( CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting), which provides a wealth of information about your hardware. On the Mainboard screen, I found that my Chipset is an Intel 945PM. (I recommend downloading this program and checking for yourself as there could be variations between E1505 configurations.)

    It took a lot of searching but I found the datasheet for this chipset on Intel's site ( http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/309219.pdf).

    Page 27 of this doc states that the 945PM has identical memory specs to the 945GM/GME. On Page 23, the specs for the 945GM/GME state (among other things):

    Code: 
    Processor Support:
- [B]533-MHz and 667-MHz front side bus (FSB) support[/B]
- Source synchronous double-pumped (2x) Address
- Source synchronous quad-pumped (4x) Data
- [B]32-bit interface to address up to 4 GB of memory[/B]

System Memory Support:
- [B]Supports single-/dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM[/B] 
- [B]Maximum Memory supported: up to 4 GB at 400, 533 and 667 MHz[/B]
- 64-bit wide per channel
- Three Memory Channel Configurations supported:
 - Single-Channel
 - Dual-Channel Symmetric 
 - Dual-Channel Asymmetric
- One SO-DIMM connector per channel
- [B]256-Mb, 512-Mb and 1-Gb memory technologies supported[/B] 
- Support for x8 and x16 devices
- Support for DDR2 On-Die Termination (ODT)
- Enhanced Addressing support (XOR and Swap)
- Intel® Rapid Memory Power Management (Intel® RMPM)
- Dynamic row power-down
- No support for Fast Chip Select mode
- Support for 2N timings only
- Supports Partial Writes to memory using Data Mask signals (DM)
    The only thing that worried me a bit was the note saying "256-Mb, 512-Mb and 1-Gb memory technologies supported." Everything else appeared to indicate that I could add 4GB (the most that would be useful for my 32-bit OS) without issue.

    So, today I bought and installed 2x2GB of PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

    Upon booting up, the BIOS gave a warning that "The amound of system memory has changed..." and hung for a long time. I tried various hotkeys but it didn't help. I was going to give up, but accidentally left the room, and after several minutes, the machine finally beeped and showed a message allowing me to continue or run diagnostics!

    I chose continue, booted into Windows just fine, and reran CPU-Z. It now shows that I have 4096 MBytes of DDR2 memory running Dual Channel at 332.5 MHz (this number is expected to show as half of the total speed because of the double pumping of DDR2 RAM). Of course, due the limitations of 32-bit Windows, my Task Manager correctly shows on the Performance tab under Physical Memory that 3406200K Total is available.

    Also, I should share that I am running the latest BIOS available for my system, MM061 A17. (CPU-Z will tell you this information also on the Mainboard screen.)

    In short, I now have 3.3GB of RAM and am very pleased!
    Hope this helps others contemplating an upgrade and answers some of the questions raised in other threads:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...grades/322927-what-ram-put-my-dell-e1505.html

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/239531-can-dell-e1505-support-3gb-ram.html

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...6-dell-inspiron-e1505-memory-ram-upgrade.html

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-ram-upgrade-dell-inspiron-e1505-speed-q.html

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/48316-e1505-ram-question.html

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/80629-need-help-upgrading-ram-dell-e1505.html
     
    exekx, May 6, 2011
    #1
  2. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    945GM/PM supports 4 GB, but at the time of launch 2 GB sticks weren't readily available. However even if the chipset supports the RAM, alot of BIOS will limit the amount of RAM. Lenovo did this with the Z6x/T60 series, capping RAM at 3 GB. Dell never had a restriction in BIOS so you could install 4 GB but you would only really see 3.25-3.5 GB in Windows. My E1405 based off the same chipset as your E1505 showed 3.25 GB of RAM in the BIOS though mine had the GMA 950 so that eats away RAM.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, May 6, 2011
    #2