Does Dell still require proprietary memory? 1

[jward52]

Hi Forum members!

A friend want me to upgrade her fairly new Dimension 4600's memory. It's DDR400/PC3200 on an 800mhz bus. Is Dell still picky about the memory stix? CompUSA has a sale on PNY memory that is the right type.
Thanks!
Jim

 

[bcastner]

I do not experience Dell being any harder to purchase third-party memory for than any other brand.

 

[jward52]

Can you say that specifically about a Dimension 4600? I don't want to buy some standard memory from a store only to find that Dell still has proprietary memory requirements. In older Dells you had to buy their memory at 3x the cost of normal store-bought memory.

 

[bcastner]

PC2700 (333-MHz) or PC3200 (400-MHz) DDR SDRAM
(non-ECC)

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600i/sm/specs.htm#1119251

I googled 'dell 4600 ram' and saw several vendors for RAM.

 

[jward52]

She's accepting the Crucial memory and it has been ordered. Best way to go. Thanks.

 

[Kurt111780]

Crucial is great espically when you are unsure of exactly what memory to get.

Kurt

It's only easy when you know how.

http://www.seedandgarden.com

 

[Frank4d]

Dell Customer Service wants you to believe that only memory purchased from Dell (for 2-3X what it would cost anywhere else) will work in Dell PCs. I have found that to not be true. As stated above, check out

http://crucial.com.

Also

http://corsair.com

 

[cdogg]

Dell Customer Service wants you to believe that only memory purchased from Dell...will work in Dell PCs

I'm not a big fan of Dell myself, but this comment is a little unfair. Due to company contracts, I've been working with Dell long before they were a household name. Over the course of 6+ years, I've never been told from any representative to ONLY use memory from Dell.

However as you know, every business prefers that you buy from them. IBM, Compaq, HP, Packard Bell, Gateway, you name it have all been hungry at some point in this business called "selling". A service rep may warn that only Dell memory is guaranteed to work, or they might try to explain that the BIOS is fine-tuned to work with their brand. But that is not the same as saying other brands WON'T work, which would be a flat out lie.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jward52]

Sure, they want you to buy from them, but it was a poor decision to force the issue by requiring Dell-branded memory and selling it for 3x the normal price, as they did some years ago. I know that was the case after getting error messages when upgrading the system memory using store-bought stix. Those very same stix worked fine in self-built PCs requiring the same type of memory, so there was no question the memory itself was not at fault for the Dell's error messages.

I bought a barebones Dimension 4600 on ebay last week and figured I needed a better power supply than the 250 watt it came with. I tried a 400 watt PowMax and it fit right in. At least some of their parts aren't proprietary any more!

 

[cdogg]

jward52,
One thing you have to realize is that some memory sticks don't work on every motherboard, whether it be one that was manufactured/sold by Asus, MSI, Abit, Dell, Gateway, etc.

It's quite possible that in your situation a few years ago, the memory you purchased didn't have compatible timings or densities that the Dell motherboard required. This has been a common problem since the early days of the Pentium I and before. The older the system, the less compatible the motherboard was.

But even so, I don't believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) that Dell ever had proprietary memory requirements. They might have other proprietary components like the power supply, but I've seldom had problems using 3rd-party memory in a Dell system.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jward52]

We'll just have to agree to disagree, cdogg. I didn't keep notes and don't remember details like that from 7 years ago, but it happened more than once and was one of the reasons I started getting interested in building my own.
Jim

 

[cdogg]

Guess so. By any chance, do you happen to recall the memory brand you purchased back then?

I have had more success with Micron and Kingston in older Dell systems than any other brand.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jward52]

No, I don't remember the brand.

 

[Gloryhound]

I would have to agree with jward52. Not only was Dell the only one to pick up on this practice, but also Compaq. The memory for some old Compaqs required a different varience in the circuit and hence OEM ram simply didn't work. It was possible that some manufactures made ram to fit that role, but vary rarely and it was far more costly. It is also well known that these companies invested in proprietary technologies. Smaller custom power supplies are most evident in nearly all "brands" of systems built early in the mellenium. Systems were designed to be cheap, so cheap you could hear tweety squeek. The only reason these companies still exist is the general lack of education on the consumers part and also flashy advertising. "Look closely.. buy our stuff it will make you smart and a savvy computer guru." Bah!! I say.

 

[cdogg]

Gloryhound,

The dispute is not about whether these companies invested in proprietary technologies. I acknowledge that, especially with custom PSU designs often found in Dell and Gateway PC's. I also witnessed first hand the horrible fact that Compaq forced the use of proprietary memory in their systems starting in late 1999 and over the next couple years.

The specific target in this conversation, however, is Dell and their memory requirements. Dell has crossed the line regarding some hardware components, but as a person who has serviced dozens of their models over the years, I've never had a problem using 3rd-party memory brands.

Introducing Compaq and your disgust of brand-name PC's is unrelated here. By supporting my claim, I am not condoning that "I love brand-name PC's". I actually dread them as much as the next guy, but I also separate fact from myth/rant in my explanations...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[garebo]

I have serviced a few Dells over the years and had no more problems with ram than with other pcs.
There is the world-famous power supply issue but not ram that i know of.
As someone pointed out, perhaps one stick of ram wouldnt work in a particular Dell pc but maybe it wouldnt work in someone elses home-built pc with, say, an MSi mobo. Much as i dont like Dell, compaq, Acer, or most others, fair is fair.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[bcastner]

I vote with cdogg.

Now I have seen machines with "odd" RAM, "SCRAM"? for example.

But the simple fact of the matter is neither Dell (or most other OEM manufacturers) manufacture RAM. They may occasionally error in guessing the latest and greatest and fastest, but the stuff is "industry standard."

I suspect you found a motherboard that used what proved to be a not very popular RAM configuration.

 

[jward52]

Her machine is working fine with the Crucial ram. It even has an industry standard power supply - imagine that! I replaced her 250 watt Dell-branded PS with a 400 watt PowMax.

 

[bcastner]

jwar52,

I had little doubt this would prove to be true.

Best wishes to her and you,
Bill

 

[cdogg]

As did I!