Computer Hope
Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: jrobinson3002 on September 15, 2011, 07:27:50 PM
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Just purchased an Acer Aspire x1900 with Windows 7 64 bit which I have not received yet. ;D It comes with 3 GB of RAM but I want to upgrade. I was looking on one website and it recommends a 8GB (two 4GB sticks) upgrade. However when checking on the Acer website under system memory it had a bullet point which says max 2 GB per slot with a total of 4GB. It then had another bullet point that said "Upgrade option with two unbuffered DIMM slots." Can someone explain what "Upgrade option with two unbuffered DIMM slots" means. Will it indeed support 8GB? Is this some factory option that my computer may or may not come with? ??? Thanks in advance for your response.
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Travel to crucial.com and run the online scanner...
Let's see what it has to say...
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Travel to crucial.com and run the online scanner...
Let's see what it has to say...
Thanks for the advice patio, but as I mentioned I haven't received the computer yet. I just ordered it today so I should have it in about a week. I'm trying to figure out what RAM to get now so that I can order it and have it here when the computer arrives. However crucial.com is the site that said I could use 8GB when I looked up the model. But that still leaves my original question...and maybe a couple more.
Anybody ever heard of "upgrade option with two unbuffered DIMM slots?"
Or anybody heard of being able to successfully use more RAM than the recommended specs?
Or anybody heard of a program that allows you to utilize more RAM than the normal specs?
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http://www.ehow.com/facts_6893990_difference-buffered-non_buffered-computer-ram_.html
Unbuffered RAM is what is used in normal computers, buffered is used in servers.
Putting more RAM in than the motherboard's limit will cause the motherboard to fail to post...
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Unbuffered RAM is what is used in normal computers, buffered is used in servers.
the proper term for "buffered" RAM is ECC. ECC memory is of course used in servers and for other applications where data integrity is of the utmost importance. The downside is that ECC RAM will be about 30% slower than non-ECC RAM.
Putting more RAM in than the motherboard's limit will cause the motherboard to fail to post...
Not necessarily. Sometimes it just won't recognize the memory beyond it's limit. It depends on the motherboard design, though.
The Aspite x1900 according to the information I found maxes out at 8GB of Memory. Crucial sells kits (http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/compatible-memory-for/Acer/Aspire+X1900/list.html) for that particular upgrade.
Or anybody heard of being able to successfully use more RAM than the recommended specs?
No. They aren't "recommended specs" they are a inherent limitation of the design of the motherboard.
Or anybody heard of a program that allows you to utilize more RAM than the normal specs?
Yes. Early on (say mid 80's) you could upgrade the 1MB of a IBM PC to higher amounts of memory by installing Expanded memory, which was managed by an EMS driver and programs aware of Expanded memory could access it. However, today, No. No such programs exist.
More to the point, however- no such programs are necessary, because the way all modern operating systems work involves using a page file and "virtual" memory, which oversimplified basically means that when the computer needs to use more RAM and there isn't any physical memory available it swaps some used physical memory to the swap file and uses the now free memory.