# Upgrading RAM Dell Inspiron 560



## Pr0GameFreak (Aug 23, 2011)

Sup guys, my brother has this pc... It comes with 4GB DDR 531 MHZ... He wants to know if it is worth upgrading the RAM... It can be expanded to 8GB but the research we have been doing is saying that nothing really uses 8GB of ram... He plans on playing SC2/D3 once he gets his HD 6850... Besides those 2 games he just surfs the web... So would you guys recommend upgrading the RAM...


----------



## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

Hi,

My opinion is, probably will not be worth it since most games will not use over 3gb anyways.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

4GB is more than sufficient for any game and most all apps. No increase in performance will be achieved by adding more RAM.


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

No. 4GB of RAM and the 1GB (assumption) of memory that will come with HD 6850 will be more than sufficient.


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

ReviverSoft said:


> No. *4GB of RAM* and the *1GB* (assumption) of *memory that will come with HD 6850* will be more than sufficient.


Just to be clear, I'm referring to the overall combination in the system.

It's a good enough GPU and will have enough memory of it's own for the games you intend to play, in addition to the 4GB of system memory you already have.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The GPU RAM is irrelevant to system RAM.


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

^ Of course, but I didn't say they were dependent on each other either. Just some additional reasoning to tell him why 4GB of sys. memory is sufficient for the system, while the GPU takes care of his gaming needs.



> He plans on playing SC2/D3 once he gets his HD 6850


As the OP mentioned gaming as part of the PC's usage, it doesn't hurt to talk about why GPU RAM (VRAM) is also important in gaming. 

Practically speaking, what's the point in having 8GB of system memory and not having enough memory on the GPU (on a 6850, for games like D3), which will ultimately offer the horsepower required for gaming? Hence the comment.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The more Video ram the less system ram the video subsystem will use.
If for example the video card had 256 meg and loaded up past to the 256 any additional would come from the pool of shared system ram, with a 1 gig card it's highly unlikely it will load up that much video memory to need to use any of the shared system ram.


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

^ Spot on! That's exactly what I was trying to convey and use as justification here.


----------



## Pr0GameFreak (Aug 23, 2011)

Thanks guys for the help... One more question, does the 531Mhz make a difference in anything? Will it help if I was to get the same set up 4GB(2x2GB) but with a higher amount of Mhz?


----------



## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

It depends on what speed of RAM your system can take but do not run two different speeds as the higher speed will default to the lower ram speed anyway.

there wouldn't be much difference between 533Mhz and 800Mhz but there would be if you system could take 1066MHz speed.


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

Pr0GameFreak said:


> One more question, does the *531Mhz* make a difference in anything?


1. What kind of memory are you referring to? DDR, DDR2 or DDR3?
Exact details would be great, so we can comment further.

2. By 531Mhz, are you referring to the *DRAM Frequency* (clock speed)? 
If yes, then that's the actual clock speed, while 1066Mhz is the effective running speed.

An example:


----------



## Pr0GameFreak (Aug 23, 2011)

Sorry, thought I stated it in the original post... Yes I am referring to the DRAM speed frequency... Its DDR3


----------



## ReviverSoft (Nov 30, 2009)

Ok cool, so they are 1066Mhz DDR3 sticks.

Well, if money is no object and the motherboard/FSB _supports system memory up to 1600Mhz_, then the perfect upgrade would be an 8 GB Kit:

2 X *4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 Memory*.

Trust me, this upgrade will bring about a noticeable difference in overall system performance and last for a while.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

There are no games that can utilize more than 3GB of RAM so going to 8GB will show no improvements. 
Not much point in spending money for something that can't be used.


----------

