I am upgrading my laptop, dell inspiron 1521 from 1GB to 2GBwith a view to finishing up with 4 GB. at the moment there are two memory modules, A and B, of 512 MB. I understand that I should fit the new 2GB module in slot B. Do I have to renmove the 512 in slot A or can I leave it in? Also, if I only have one 2GB module fitted, does this affect the dual channel operation or is it ok to have 2.5 GB memory
Thanks guys

Hmm....I guess in a perfect world two sticks of 1GB would have been better for the dual channel purposes....but.... I think if you put the 2GB in slot A and the 512 in slot B you should be fine. The boost you'll recieve from the extra gig of RAM will negate any loss from it not really being 'dual channel' (as I'm sure your aware they are supposed to be the same size sticks for dual channel).

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AMD X2 BLACK EDITION 3.2GHz SAMURAI COOLER::GA-MA790X-DS4 MOBO WITH NOCTUA NC-U6 HEATPIPE COOLING::3GB XMS2 PC6400 RAM:: POWERCOLOR 4870 512MB GDDR5 RAM::160GB BARRACUDA RAID 0::SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY::SAMSUNG WRITEMASTER DVD-RW/PIONEER DVD::HIPER MODULAR 530W PSU::THERMALTAKE ARMOUR Jr CASE::RAZER COPPERHEAD MOUSE::VISTA HOME PREMIUM SP1

Thanks Kemical, I'll give that a try when the memory arrives, bit like waiting for xmas up here, L shouldn't think there is any harm in trying, but if it's no good then should I just use the 2GB in slot B until I scrape up another 2GB module?

It should be ok.... The largest spec stick usually should always go in the 'first' slot so in your case that would be A. This is true for desktops and I should imagine the same for laptops. Remember though that unless your running a 64bit os 4GB will not be seen by the machine.

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AMD X2 BLACK EDITION 3.2GHz SAMURAI COOLER::GA-MA790X-DS4 MOBO WITH NOCTUA NC-U6 HEATPIPE COOLING::3GB XMS2 PC6400 RAM:: POWERCOLOR 4870 512MB GDDR5 RAM::160GB BARRACUDA RAID 0::SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY::SAMSUNG WRITEMASTER DVD-RW/PIONEER DVD::HIPER MODULAR 530W PSU::THERMALTAKE ARMOUR Jr CASE::RAZER COPPERHEAD MOUSE::VISTA HOME PREMIUM SP1

I see, I have checked the system and it says, (This is current spec
Inspiron 1521 Turion 64X2 TL56(1.8Ghz,512K)
Memory Dual Channel 1024MB (2x512 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
OS 32 Bit.
Now the tech advisor at Dell told me that I could upgrade to 4GB ok, thats why I ordered the 2GB for now and will get another one later, now I am beginning to wonder about that. Appreciate your thoughts on that please

What he probably means is that the slots will take 2GB sticks no problem which means a total of 4GB. As mentioned above though, to use 4GB of RAM you must be running a 64bit version of vista/XP. I use 3GB of RAM as I have only a 32bit version of windows...

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AMD X2 BLACK EDITION 3.2GHz SAMURAI COOLER::GA-MA790X-DS4 MOBO WITH NOCTUA NC-U6 HEATPIPE COOLING::3GB XMS2 PC6400 RAM:: POWERCOLOR 4870 512MB GDDR5 RAM::160GB BARRACUDA RAID 0::SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY::SAMSUNG WRITEMASTER DVD-RW/PIONEER DVD::HIPER MODULAR 530W PSU::THERMALTAKE ARMOUR Jr CASE::RAZER COPPERHEAD MOUSE::VISTA HOME PREMIUM SP1

Kemical, can I forward the log of my discussion with Dell tech advisor to you?

cut and paste in the forum of course

Sure, no problem.

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AMD X2 BLACK EDITION 3.2GHz SAMURAI COOLER::GA-MA790X-DS4 MOBO WITH NOCTUA NC-U6 HEATPIPE COOLING::3GB XMS2 PC6400 RAM:: POWERCOLOR 4870 512MB GDDR5 RAM::160GB BARRACUDA RAID 0::SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY::SAMSUNG WRITEMASTER DVD-RW/PIONEER DVD::HIPER MODULAR 530W PSU::THERMALTAKE ARMOUR Jr CASE::RAZER COPPERHEAD MOUSE::VISTA HOME PREMIUM SP1

Maybe we should try to get that entry removed