I have an old Dell L700CX model in the house with 128MB of ram that I mainly use as a backup internet browser.
I decided to add some memory and read that the computer is 512MB max. So I tossed in a 256 MB SDRAM and I get nothing but a blank screen on the PC. I completely removed the original card and tried to run with only the 256MB and similarly the computer turns on but just gives a blank screen.
I removed the upgrade and the computer continues to run normally on the original 128MB memory card.
Are there any in and outs to adding memory that I may have missed?
Dell PCs require specific RAM. You don’t necessarily need to get it from Dell, but you do need the correct RAM; just slapping in any old RAM won’t, as you found out, always work. Go to www.crucial.com and use the memory finder to determine what RAM your Dell needs.
Usually on a sticker on the back or bottom of the PC. Also, if you use Windows, you can right-click on My Computer and select “Properties.” If neither of these pan out, the next best thing is to capture the BIOS ID string. This appears at the bottom of the screen immediately following POST, and before Windows starts. If you hit the Pause key, you can halt boot-up to write it down. There are also freeware utilities which can read the BIOS string, but you need to know which manufacturer’s BIOS you have (e.g., AMI, Phoenix (now merged with Award) or Award) to get the right utility.
One place you can look is on the support section of Dell’s own website. Take a note of the service tag of your PC (it will be printed on a label at the back of the computer) and enter the code into the Dell site.
This code should provide you with all the original specs of the PC as it was shipped from the factory, and the manuals will tell you motherboard type, maximum memory and so on.
Yes. XP will almost always run faster with more memory, though you may have other issues that are slowing you down. for $39 +s&h, more RAM is the cheapest, most effective upgrade you can perform to improve performance.
Yep, pretty easy. There are tabs on each on of the installed RAM stick. Push these down and the stick should pop out of the socket. The new RAM will go in the same way; push it down into the socket and the taps will swing up to lock it in place. It can only go in one way. If it doesn’t go in easily, turn it around the other way.
The difference between those two sticks is their latency. One has a latency of 3 nanoseconds, one has a latency of 2. You probably won’t notice the difference, but for a buck – and since it’s the last upgrade you’ll probably make to this machine – go ahead and splurge!
To make what Jurb said clearer. The CL=2 is better than the CL=3.
Sometimes the memory sticks have their size on a label on the stick. I’d choose the one with the least amount of chips if guessing witch is the smaller about of memory. You may want to install the new stick without the older ones to see that the new stick is the size you ordered and if it’s compatible with your system. Install the old one of the old sticks after a successful boot up with the new one.
You may have problems if the BIOS isn’t set for auto detect of the memory settings.
I won’t disagree with the suggestion to remove one and boot to see which one you got, but I’d be willing to bet that the 64 MB RAM only has black chips down one side of it while the 256 has them on both.
