RAM Upgrades for Noobs

Many of the people who come to OCmodshop are tinkerers like us.  They like to upgrade their computers every chance they get, they can tear down a fully-loaded tower to nothing but nuts and screws and put it together again in an hour.  Hell, many of us do that at least once a month.  I hate the idea of leaving dirt and lint inside my case.  Some guys have their cars, some guys have their guns, we have our PCs.

Not everyone knows how to build a computer scratch, and many more are completely clueless when it comes to something as simple as upgrading a stick of RAM.  So I’m going to give a quick and dirty lesson on how to install new memory on your motherboard.  A memory upgrade can mean the difference between tens of frames per second in a game.  It can mean a difference of minutes to hours in rendering time for people who play around with 3D modeling, as I do in my spare time.  Without a decent amount of memory, your “fast as hell” processor is nothing.  Where do you think it fetches the majority of its info with which to process?

If you want to speed up your OS, programs, video playback, gaming experience… the first step should always be to check into a memory upgrade.  Before I go any further, I want to reiterate.  This is a noob guide, for those who have no idea what they are doing.  We’ve all been there.  We all know someone like that.  Ready noobs?  Let’s get dirty.

Okay, first thing is that you need to know what motherboard you have.  This is important, because once you know the make and model of your board you’ll have access to a list of what your mother does and doesn’t support.  There are a lot of varieties of memory out there.  Here are the most common types:

• 72-pin SO-DIMM (not the same as a 72-pin SIMM), used for FPM DRAM and EDO DRAM
• 100-pin DIMM, used for printer SDRAM
• 144-pin SO-DIMM, used for SDR SDRAM
• 168-pin DIMM, used for SDR SDRAM (less frequently for FPM/EDO DRAM in workstations/servers)
• 172-pin MicroDIMM, used for DDR SDRAM
• 184-pin DIMM, used for DDR SDRAM
• 200-pin SO-DIMM, used for DDR SDRAM and DDR2 SDRAM
• 204-pin SO-DIMM, used for DDR3 SDRAM
• 214-pin MicroDIMM, used for DDR2 SDRAM
• 240-pin DIMM, used for DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM and FB-DIMM DRAM
• 244-pin MiniDIMM, used for DDR2 SDRAM

Right now DDR3 is all the rage.  When I built the computer that is now my media center just a short two years ago, DDR2 was at the top and DDR3 was just coming onto the scene.  This time next year?  It could be a whole new story.

So how do you find out what kind of motherboard you have?  Okay, then from here on in I’m going to assume that the reader is the kind of person who ordered their computer from Dell or something, and they’ve never cracked the case.  Now’s the time, virgin…

WHOA!  Hold on there cowboy, you need to go get some protection.  Make  a quick run to your nearest computer supply store or major retail store and pick up a can or two of compressed air.  You can never have too much, in my opinion.  I buy a can every time I go shopping.

Make sure your computer is off, unplugged from the wall, and give the power button a push to get any extra electricity out of the PSU’s capacitors.  Now, figure out how your case opens.  I can’t give you any pointers here.  They’re all different.  Pandora’s box gave up the goods easier than some cases.  Once you get it open, clean it out good with the compressed air.  Just follow the directions on the can.  Get the entire motherboard, clean out all the expansion slots, the DIMM slots, the heatsinks, get it all.  If you see lint or dirt anywhere, treat it like a zombie horde and blast that shit back to wherever the hell it came from.

Got your computer’s innards all nice and clean?  Good.  Now to avoid destroying your internal components while you root around inside there, try to remember to touch some bare metal on the case as often as possible.  This will prevent ESD, or electrostatic discharge.  Walking across the carpet and touching a doorknob?  That can be thousands of volts.  It only takes 30 volts to destroy your motherboard’s components.  Touch that case.  Even better would be to get an ESD wrist strap, if you plan on catching the Upgrade Bug.

Now, look on the motherboard for any identifying names or model numbers.  Sometimes it’s right there in your face, usually near the CPU.  It can be hard to find at times, and then sometimes there’s no trace at all.  For those of you who have no idea, there’s a handy little free program you can download called CPUID that will give you all the info you need for this upgrade, including what kind of memory you already have installed.  Download that program, install and run it, and get your motherboard info.  Once you know what you have, find the manufacturer’s page for it and it will let you know what memory it supports.

For this tutorial, I ordered a 2GB stick of DDR2 PC-6400 to go with the 2GB I already have installed.  This is memory is only clocked at 800Mhz, and while my motherboard supports over 1000Mhz, I want to try to match it to the memory I already have installed.  However fast your memory is, if they are mismatched they will only run as fast as your slowest stick.  If you want to do a full upgrade and max out what your mobo can handle, by all means.  Just make sure you get all the exact same brand, speed, and voltage for optimal results.  I don’t really care about speed on a PC that I use to watch movies all day, and 4GB will be more than enough for HD, so I’m sticking with the slower 800Mhz.

Once you have your memory out of the static bag, don’t touch the copper contacts or the black chips.  Hold it by the edges and with your fingertips.  You want to always be wary of ESD.  Make sure your computer is off, unplugged, and the power button has been pushed, same as before.  Make sure the locks that hold the memory in are pushed up at the top and down at the bottom.  Hold your memory up beside the slot to line up the notches in the memory with the guides in the slot.  It can only go in one way.  Don’t try to force it if it won’t go the first time.  Just double check that you have it right and that the locks are open fully.  If it still won’t go in, triple check that you have the right kind of RAM.

Once you get it to go in, put your fingers on the back of the stick and push it into the slot gently.  Provide equal pressure in the middle and at the corners.  When the locks snap inward to hold the RAM, you’re done.  Blow out any dust you might have missed before and put the side of your case back on.  Plug your computer back in and turn it on.  BIOS might do a memory check, and will most certainly alert you that the amount of memory has changed.  Just tell the computer to continue to boot into Windows.  Once Windows has loaded, run CPUID again and confirm that your memory is working.  It should see it all, and you should see a nice increase in power.

Once thing on memory upgrading and your OS.  This tutorial assumes you have Windows.  But if you try to upgrade past 4GB of RAM in Windows 32-bit, you’re going to hit a wall (you could try the tips here, though).  It won’t see more than 3.5GB, as is the case with my media center right now.  If you want more, you’ll have to get a 64-bit version of Windows.  Only then can you max out your motherboard if it supports more than 4GB of RAM.  My media center will support up to 8GB of DDR2, but only if I install 64-bit.  Which I might do in the future just for kicks.

I hope this tutorial helps you guys and gals new to the upgrading and modding scene, and I look forward to doing another noob tutorial soon.