Increasing RAM
Thread Starter

Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Various at the moment
Increasing RAM
I have a Packard Bell desktop PC which, if possible, I'd like to upgrade.
The processor is Intel Core i3 CPU, 540 @ 3.07ghz, installed memory (RAM) 3GB, 64bit operating system.
My question is can I upgrade the RAM to say 1 terabyte without having to upgrade anything else, and if so, how do I establish what will fit the PC ?
The processor is Intel Core i3 CPU, 540 @ 3.07ghz, installed memory (RAM) 3GB, 64bit operating system.
My question is can I upgrade the RAM to say 1 terabyte without having to upgrade anything else, and if so, how do I establish what will fit the PC ?
Hippopotomonstrosesquipidelian title
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: is everything
If you can come up with the exact model name, there are plenty of places (including here) that will tell you how much RAM you can put in. At a guess, you could go to 4GB which would speed things up a little simply because of the way most motherboards address memory, but you may be stuck at 3 GB. This sounds like an older system. In reality, you might get most benefit simply by checking out what unnecessary stuff starts when Windows starts, and stopping that if you can.

Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Bracknell, Berks, UK
Dell Precision Tower 7910 Video Editing Workstation | Dell UK
Yes, I'm bored.
Go here: Welcome to Crucial UK GBP Store Organization
and run their "scan your system" tool.
Yes, I'm bored.
I have a Packard Bell desktop PC which, if possible, I'd like to upgrade.
The processor is Intel Core i3 CPU, 540 @ 3.07ghz, installed memory (RAM) 3GB, 64bit operating system.
My question is can I upgrade the RAM to say 1 terabyte without having to upgrade anything else, and if so, how do I establish what will fit the PC ?
The processor is Intel Core i3 CPU, 540 @ 3.07ghz, installed memory (RAM) 3GB, 64bit operating system.
My question is can I upgrade the RAM to say 1 terabyte without having to upgrade anything else, and if so, how do I establish what will fit the PC ?
and run their "scan your system" tool.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,663
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From: Earth
Dell Precision Tower 7910 Video Editing Workstation | Dell UK
Although it seems even Dell themselves are confused, as the tech specs page says
Up to 512GB8 DDR4 at 2133Mhz - 16 DIMMS
Joined: May 2009
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From: YMML
RAM is the working memory - your system has 3GB installed so meets the 2GB requirement of the program you mention.
Hard drive space is for storage and you'll almost certainly have the 5GB free that the program requires.
In Windows Explorer find your C: drive, right click on it, then click on Properties - it'll tell you how much free space your hard drive has.
Hard drive space is for storage and you'll almost certainly have the 5GB free that the program requires.
In Windows Explorer find your C: drive, right click on it, then click on Properties - it'll tell you how much free space your hard drive has.
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,307
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From: South Africa
RAM is the working memory - your system has 3GB installed so meets the 2GB requirement of the program you mention.
2GB of FREE storage is required, that is what is left after his operating system is loaded and running.
It is most unusual for any motherboard to max out at an odd number. 3GB is an odd number. So this system can probably be increased.
It will take a knowledgeable person about 30 seconds to decide, once the covers are off.
Or, download and run Belarc Advisor, from:
Belarc Advisor
it will inform the user of how many memory slots are on the motherboard and which slots are populated with what size memory modules.
This is a cut and paste from running it my system
8156 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'ChannelA-DIMM0' is Empty
Slot 'ChannelA-DIMM1' has 4096 MB
Slot 'ChannelB-DIMM0' is Empty
Slot 'ChannelB-DIMM1' has 4096 MB
Slot 'ChannelA-DIMM0' is Empty
Slot 'ChannelA-DIMM1' has 4096 MB
Slot 'ChannelB-DIMM0' is Empty
Slot 'ChannelB-DIMM1' has 4096 MB

Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Another Planet.
Temporary solution is to plug in an otherwise unused memory stick of suitable capacity and ask the HAL to use it, works with Win7 I believe?
Means you don't have to open the case with earth lead strap on wrist and try fitting new modules.
Lots of info in whatever search engine you use regarding the use of memory sticks for short-term RAM increase.
Means you don't have to open the case with earth lead strap on wrist and try fitting new modules.
Lots of info in whatever search engine you use regarding the use of memory sticks for short-term RAM increase.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipidelian title
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: is everything
I think you're referring to ReadyBoost. That's a different thing: a cache for hard drives other than SSD. If you mean using USB for pagefile.sys (i.e. moving the virtual memory), that's also possible. My experience has been it's usually not worth the effort, but sometimes it is :-) But with USB 3, maybe it's worth a revisit and I may fart around with this on one of my slow machines.
But you can't stick a thumbdrive in and simply extend the addressable system RAM with some voodoo-like incantation.
But you can't stick a thumbdrive in and simply extend the addressable system RAM with some voodoo-like incantation.




