Can anyone advise me on upgrading RAM?

inlineadam

inlineadam

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Adam
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Hi everyone.

I have a desktop - HP a6020.uk

CHecking the system specs, it only has 1GB RAM.

I'm looking to add some more.


On the back of the computer there are 4 slots which are for RAM.
I have a few questions and if anyone could answer them that would be awesome!

1) Is the 1GB therefore located inside somewhere?

2) If I get 4 , 1GB RAM modules, does this mean i will have 5GB in total?

3) ANy good sites for buying RAM?


Much appreciated, Adam.
 
Ah I see thanks Paul.

It says I can have a maximum memory of 4GB. So i guess that would mean I could only utilise 3 slots?
 
Trouble is with those scanners they get muddled up if they are a variation of a motherboard like some other brand. For example dell use intel variants that have been modded.

Best to pop the side off and see how many slots you have and if the existing memory has an indication of speed on a label.
 
neil_g said:
Trouble is with those scanners they get muddled up if they are a variation of a motherboard like some other brand. For example dell use intel variants that have been modded.

Best to pop the side off and see how many slots you have and if the existing memory has an indication of speed on a label.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for the advice,

I'll have a look
 
Last edited:
Adam. I fear that the four little slots you see at the back of the computer are probably USB slots. The memory bank slots will be inside the computer. Take the cover off and have a look. Depending upon the age of your box, your 1 GB may be made up of 2 sticks - or even 4. You need to establish not just how much memory you have but how many slots and what occupies those slots at the moment.
 
Just checked.

There are indeed 4 slots.

2 are occupied by 512MB modules.


off to buy 4 1GB it is then!
 
2blue4u said:
Adam. I fear that the four little slots you see at the back of the computer are probably USB slots. The memory bank slots will be inside the computer. Take the cover off and have a look. Depending upon the age of your box, your 1 GB may be made up of 2 sticks - or even 4. You need to establish not just how much memory you have but how many slots and what occupies those slots at the moment.
Click to expand...


Hiya, I realised my stupidity soon after I said that :) Thanks anyway
 
inlineadam said:
Just checked.

There are indeed 4 slots.

2 are occupied by 512MB modules.

off to buy 4 1GB it is then!
Click to expand...

Check the price compared to 2 x 2gb sticks. Can be cheaper ...
 
What version of windows are you using, I seem to remember XP will only allow you to use 3 GB memory
 
It's 32-Bit Vista,

That's strange, as this laptop I'm on is Running 32-Bit Win 7 and shows up as 4GB
My bad, it actually only uses 3GB.

So i'd be better just buyn 2 , 1GB and keeping the remaining two 512's?
 
Last edited:
neil_g said:
Unless you have the 64 bit version, same as vista and 7
Click to expand...

Oh okay, I thought the 32bit allowed you to use 4 GB on win 7. I knew about the 64bit allowing a lot more memory.
 
neil_g said:
32 bit windows will see 3.2gb roughly
Click to expand...

Great, thanks for clarifying this, saved me some pennies.

Oh and Adam, sorry for slightly high jacking your thread.
 
andyred said:
Great, thanks for clarifying this, saved me some pennies.

Oh and Adam, sorry for slightly high jacking your thread.
Click to expand...

No Problem at all!


Still wondering though If I Should upgrade to 3GB instead of 4, ( due to 32-bit version of vista ).?
 
inlineadam said:
No Problem at all!

Still wondering though If I Should upgrade to 3GB instead of 4, ( due to 32-bit version of vista ).?
Click to expand...

From what I've read and learnt, yes I'd go for 3 GB. As you've 2 free slots for additional memory, would it be best to get an additional 2 x1 GB sticks and also use your current memory aswell to get you to the 3gb ??
 
inlineadam said:
do you think making it up to 3GB RAM will increase performance by much?
Click to expand...

Some, but probably not as much as you may be expecting.

A fast hard drive and/or fresh install will probably make it seem faster even with the existing RAM.

You'll need to be thinking about a new PC if you want a significant improvement.
 
and fitting RAM in pairs makes the system slightly faster as the hardware reads data from the ram banks alternately. If you have 3 sticks in, the 1G on it's own is read at half the speed.
 
He just needs to get 2 matched sticks of 1Gb as it's likely that the 2 sticks already there are matched.

That way he upgrades for half the price.
 
Also what is the graphics card? Is it one of those integrated one that grabs your system memory? If so definitely upgrade to 4Gb and allocate the maximum amount to your graphics....
 
I'm not entirely sure about the graphics card.

I guess i'll just go for the 4 1GB sticks. I suppose there's no harm in trying to punt the two 512's on ebay even if i only get back a fiver.

The main reason for upgrading is performance, ( i know it won't make a massive difference ). It's a few years old, 3GHZ processor and 1GB RAM was fast at the time but It's so slow in comparison to what you get now-adays. I've done a fresh install on it as well, so am hoping the extra RAM will have some effect at least.
 
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