pccjamie Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 I am looking for 2GB of RAM that will be compatible with my Dell Dimension 4600c. Should I buy the Value Select - VS1GB400C3 model or the System Select CMSS1GB-400 model? Will both work? What's the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted April 7, 2006 Corsair Employee Share Posted April 7, 2006 What is the Speed and FSB of your CPU? You can use CPU-Z to find out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pccjamie Posted April 7, 2006 Author Share Posted April 7, 2006 FSB - 133 MHz Bus Speed - 532 MHz Proc speed - 2.39 GHZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJLeong65 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 pccjamie, With your specs, you will need to look for a matched set of DDR333 or PC2700 DDR memory modules. Some DDR400/PC3200 modules know only DDR400 memory operation, and may not work at all with your CPU. This is due to the limitations on all Intel DDR1 chipsets, officially limiting your maximum usable actual memory clockspeed to 33.3MHz above your CPU's actual FSB clockspeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted April 7, 2006 Corsair Employee Share Posted April 7, 2006 Please look up your system on our memory configurator, and you will have to use DDR333 with that CPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pccjamie Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 pccjamie, With your specs, you will need to look for a matched set of DDR333 or PC2700 DDR memory modules. Some DDR400/PC3200 modules know only DDR400 memory operation, and may not work at all with your CPU. This is due to the limitations on all Intel DDR1 chipsets, officially limiting your maximum usable actual memory clockspeed to 33.3MHz above your CPU's actual FSB clockspeed. If this is the case, then why does the Memory configurator even suggest DDR400 as an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJLeong65 Posted April 8, 2006 Share Posted April 8, 2006 If this is the case, then why does the Memory configurator even suggest DDR400 as an option? That's because some Dimension 4600c's came equipped with "800FSB" (200MHz actual FSB clockspeed) CPU's, such as a 2.8C or 2.8E P4. Those CPU's can run DDR400 memory at its full DDR400 speed. Your CPU, however, is a "533FSB" (133MHz actual FSB clockspeed) model. For your system with your particular CPU, the best match for 2GB (according to the Corsair Memory Configurator) would be a pair of CMSS1GB-333 modules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pccjamie Posted April 9, 2006 Author Share Posted April 9, 2006 works for me then - thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJLeong65 Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 That's because some Dimension 4600c's came equipped with "800FSB" (200MHz actual FSB clockspeed) CPU's, such as a 2.8C or 2.8E P4. Those CPU's can run DDR400 memory at its full DDR400 speed. Your CPU, however, is a "533FSB" (133MHz actual FSB clockspeed) model. For your system with your particular CPU, the best match for 2GB (according to the Corsair Memory Configurator) would be a pair of CMSS1GB-333 modules. I have quoted myself in this post because I want to further clarify things about DDR400 compatibility with DDR333 systems. pccjamie, Sure, you can use the VS2GBKIT400C3 kit or a pair of CMSS1GB-400 modules, even with your particular CPU. However, since your system's BIOS offers absolutely no provision at all whatsoever to manually set the memory clockspeed, any DDR400 modules that you use in your system (given your CPU) will automatically run at the slower DDR333 clockspeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 any DDR400 modules that you use in your system (given your CPU) will automatically run at the slower DDR333 clockspeed.That's assuming the Dell BIOS can do even that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJLeong65 Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 That's assuming the Dell BIOS can do even that. It also assumes that the modules' SPD has programming for DDR333 in addition to DDR400. (Fortunately, very recent production runs of most of Corsair's DDR400 modules have SPD's that are programmed for DDR333 and DDR266 in addition to DDR400.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee RAM GUY Posted April 10, 2006 Corsair Employee Share Posted April 10, 2006 Our modules do have the information in the SPD for slower speeds, but when we tested the DELL 4600 MB with a 533 FSB CPU it will not post unless you match the memory to the speed of the CPU. However we can use almost any other MB and not have a problem, so it appears that DELL has done something in their bios so that you have to use their module. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhfu Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 I have a follow-up question to this model Dell Dimension 4600c. Given the following specs: FSB - 199.5 MHz Bus Speed - 798.0 MHz Proc speed - 2.99 GHZ Would I be able to install CMX512-3200C2 (two matched sticks = 1GB)? I am looking into purchasing TWINX2048-3200 (two matched sticks = 2GB) for my Shuttle XPC SN95G5 V3 and then using the current CMX512-3200C2 from the SN95G5 V3 in the Dell Dimension 4600c. I've been happy with running the CMX512-3200C2 at 2.5-3-3-6 at 1T in the SN95G5 V3. I would like to continue with Corsair for the 2GB upgrade. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Corsair Memory Compatible with the Dell Dimension 4600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhfu Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 Thanks for the response...I did use the configurator before and was hoping I could swap out my current 1GB of memory; not so sure I will move up to 2GB yet then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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