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Can anyone help me with a RAM upgrade question? Seeing as new add-ons are starting to accept 256MB of RAM as bare minimum, (Die Hollentalbahn/Black Forest Routes), I thought it would be a good time to upgrade my RAM.I have a DELL Dimension 4400 with a 2.0GHz processor, and 40GB Hard Disc space. I am thinking of upgrading my RAM. My PC came with 128MB RAM. It runs DDR SDRAM.I am thinking of buying a 512MB RAM stick. The RAM I will be buying is made by the top-brand Kingston and it is their RAM especially designed to run in the DELL Dimension 4400 PC.What I wanted to ask you is, I do not know what company made the RAM that came with my PC as standard. I wanted to know can I add the Kingston 512MB RAM to the 128MB RAM stick already installed, to make up 640MB of RAM?Or do I have to remove the 128MB RAM stick totally, and just run the 512MB RAM stick?The main question comes down to the compatibility of the RAM that comes as standard with the DELL Dimension 4400 PC and Kingston’s top brand RAM.I was wondering if any of you here have the same type PC as me, or have updated RAM recently, or done something similar.Can you help, I’d be very grateful.Regards,
Jay

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RE: More RAM for train add-ons, bnsf1959, Apr-21-03, 01:20 PM, (1) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, yellowdog, Apr-21-03, 06:57 PM, (2) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, IcyFire, Apr-21-03, 09:12 PM, (3) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, yellowdog, Apr-21-03, 09:49 PM, (4) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, AJW, Apr-22-03, 10:49 AM, (6) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, yellowdog, Apr-22-03, 12:18 PM, (7) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, dadbill, Apr-22-03, 12:24 PM, (8) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, yellowdog, Apr-22-03, 12:45 PM, (9) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, AJW, Apr-22-03, 01:26 PM, (11) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, bnsf1959, Apr-22-03, 01:33 PM, (12) RE: More RAM for train add-ons, bnsf1959, Apr-22-03, 01:20 PM, (10) I like to roll my own too..., Robber Baron, Apr-22-03, 10:35 AM, (5)

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Jay,Hi, I ran to the same similar situation as you are doing now. I just recently upgrade my Dell Dim.4400 P-4; 1.6GHz, 40 GB HD, and I have to say I'm glad I did it. First of all, I'm not sure if you can use Kingston Ram sticks to work with your system. I bought mine from Dell. Why don't you give Dell a call and find out? Is you PC still under extended warranty with Dell?
I'll tell what I did, I had 256 mb of ram and I upgraded to 512 mb. At the same time, I got a better video card to help make my MSTS run better.
One other thing, there is only 2 slots for RAM sticks in my pc so if you were to upgrade to 256mb, you'll need another 128mb stick. Personally, I think 2 256 mb(total of 512mb) stick will do the job better than 256 mb of ram. Some people said 1 GHz of ram is even better but again, it gets costly. I don't know what's in your budget so if you can afford it, go for it. I hope this helps. My specs are in my profile. Good Luck!
Ken
Muschka Activity Works
(F-Units are courtesy of Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society)

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Probably the old stick will say who made it. Buying Kingston will probably save you cash, but it may void your warranty with Dell regardless of what Kingston says about compatability. This is one way the PC companies snooker you into buying overpriced upgrades from them rather than 3rd parties. Although it may not matter for your machine, some motherboards require that the largest RAM stick go in the primary (0) slot and the next highest go into the next (1) slot. Check your documentation (if Dell gave you any, that is- -you may also be able to find the info at Dell's site) to see if this is true for you and if your board is even capable of handling the amount of RAM you want to run. Theoretically, if you get it configured correctly with your board, you should be able to run the two together.

Clayton

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void the warranty huh? How's dell gonna know? all he needs to do is take the ram out and put back stock if the need ever arisesand ugh.. 128? are for real? with a 2.0 GHz CPU? that's dell quality, put a nice cpu in and skimp on ram, americas favorite underpowered PC ..Thats why I build my own Gotta love 1 gig of ram
Sincerely,
Shawn Kenselaar
ShawnSSK@Yahoo.com

Train-sim.com Lifer and Screen Shot Forum Mod
Repainter for YLW & TKW

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Some PCs have what I call a "rape alert" that pops up on the start up black screen which says something to the effect of "Case opened." Or some sort of tape/sticker on the case that gets broken when the case is opened. Or the service tech sees the scratches on the case to indicate somebody was in there fooling around. Then when the inevitable crap out happens, and they send the techie out to fix it, the techie says, "Hmm, watcha been doin in there?" and calls HQ to report that the PC ain't their baby anymore b/c Joe Schmoe was fooling around with the case off and probably dropped a cup full of coffee on the offending part.

Clayton

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>Some PCs have what I call a "rape alert" that pops up on the
>start up black screen which says something to the effect of
>"Case opened." Or some sort of tape/sticker on the case
>that gets broken when the case is opened. Or the service
>tech sees the scratches on the case to indicate somebody was
>in there fooling around. Then when the inevitable crap out
>happens, and they send the techie out to fix it, the techie
>says, "Hmm, watcha been doin in there?" and calls HQ to
>report that the PC ain't their baby anymore b/c Joe Schmoe
>was fooling around with the case off and probably dropped a
>cup full of coffee on the offending part. I've had two consecutive Dells and am about to spring for a new Dell Dimension 8300. The first thing I do when setting up any new PC is open the case and eyeball the innards. Over the years, I've had several occasions to contact Dell tech support because of blown hardware (MoBo and video card) or need for help reformatting and reinstalling, etc. I've never once run into any of the stuff you described above. Never once.Anthony
Clearwater, FL

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Good for you! I worked in an IT department for a university while attaining my master's degree. We had probably 30 Dell PCs that we maintained in multimedia classrooms and we ran into this problem all the time. The Dell service techs wouldn't let us mess with the PCs at all, even to do simple maintenence like blowing the dust out of components. If we opened a case up, we got the "rape alert" and the next time the techie came, we got busted. I've heard of something similar from Gateway, but can't confirm.

Clayton

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I'm with ya, Clayton! I worked on a Dell at work for two years, but if I ever had to reboot (once in blue moon since they ran 24/7) we always (whole dept had Dells) got the rape alert.

db
Ceeanoh Shops

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Could be that this is just a "service" they put on business PCs, but we had trouble with it on several models. It's good (and bad!) to know I haven't been the only one to see this nonsense. I guess it does make good sense for the PC maker, though- -good we're-gonna-squeeze-you-til-you-bleed sense.

Clayton

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Hmmmm! After reading the above, it seems that there is a connection between "business machines" and the so-called "rape alert." When, during the third year of the parts warranty, I had to replace a Dell video card, then a mother board, on my personal PC, I did it myself; no techie was required. Whenever it was necessary for me to phone tech support, I received full cooperation. However, a cooperative technician is not necessarily a competent technician. When making phone calls during 2002, my "Murphy" year, it seemed that only one out of five technicians was more knowlegeable than me and/or able to communicate in understandable English. More tech support is being farmed out to technicians in India, amny of whom are competent. Unfortunately, many of them have accents that make it impossible for them to be understood.Anthony

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LAST EDITED ON Apr-22-03 AT 01:33 PM (EDT)



>English. More tech support is being farmed out to
>technicians in India, amny of whom are competent.
>Unfortunately, many of them have accents that make it
>impossible for them to be understood. I have the same problem all the time due to some hearing loss and it's even harder for me to understand. I have to get my neighbor to come over and listen for me sometimes.
Ken
Muschka Activity Works
(F-Units are courtesy of Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society)

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I have my Dell for over a year now. When call to purchase the additonal parts like ram and video card, They said I had to put it in myself even it's under warranty. They told me if they were to come out and put it in for me that they have to charge me $49.95. I don't understand the In-home-Service crap. I think it's a bunch of Bull. I have opened my case a few times to see what's all in there and installed my addtional ram and new video card. I guess it wasn't all that hard as I thought it would be.
Ken
Muschka Activity Works
(F-Units are courtesy of Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society)

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LAST EDITED ON Apr-22-03 AT 10:39 AM (EDT)

Most pre-builts tend to skimp somewhere...too small a hard drive, too little RAM, etc. Besides RAM is cheap right now...I paid $188 Cdn for 2x512MB DDR 333 a month ago and it's probably even less now.What MJ should really be doing is going straight to the MB manufacturer and finding out from them what sort of RAM the board needs to have. I've never dealt with Dell, but surely they'll let you put a stick of memory in your PC without voiding your warranty?

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