Does the Dell Inspiron 1501 handle more than 4 Gb of RAM?

Question

After the following comment on my last question, I'm thinking about upgrading my RAM:

I got a 160 GB Scorpio Blue a couple months ago for my 1501. It's nice. That + 2 GB Crucial RAM have rather revived my notebook (meaning a very nice speed and storage boost). I was outgrowing it... – Nathaniel

What would be the best choice to add more RAM? I've already got 2 GB, but I'm not sure what their speed is. What are the size, type and speed limitations for RAM on my particular laptop?

Solution 1

While many sources cite the max RAM as 2GB, the later posters in this thread seem to indicate that you can get more to work. From an OS/RAM standpoint, 4GB should be fine; the only concern would be if the chipset is limiting the amount of available RAM.

You could roll the dice from a place like Newegg with a decent return policy, or find a friend with a 2GB SODIMM that you could stick in temporarily just to see if it can recognize and use more than 2GB.

FWIW, I've seen this many times with laptops, where max RAM is erroneously reported due to the maximum size of modules that were configurable on the laptop as originally sold. That number is often used by other sources, when the reality may be much higher.

Solution 2

I don't think you will have luck on that, specs say 2GB Max!

Solution 3

I have the Dell Inspiron 1501, Turion 64 x2(TL-56), Windows 7 Professional (64-bit), and 4Gb of PC-5300 ram installed. I had Vista Ultimate (64-bit), and while it worked reasonable well, it regularly consumed 2-3 Gb of RAM for no real reason. When I bought the laptop it came with 1Gb or RAM. I upgraded it to 2Gb as prices came down. I traded the 2Gb and some cash to a friend for a 4Gb set he bought that didn't work in his laptop. As the memory installed went up, so did the amount Vista used for itself. When i had 1Gb installed, Vista would take 800 Megs for itself. When I had 2Gb, Vista would use 1.3-1.5Gb. When I went to 4Gb, like i said above, Vista took 2-3Gb. As I type this, Windows 7 is using 40% of 4Gb, or 1.6Gb.

Bottom line - If you have an Inspiron 1501, I would STRONGLY recommend putting 4GB of RAM in it. This should be fine for most users and at this point is not an expensive upgrade that will dramatically improve performance. As soon as prices drop to around $200, I'll be putting 8GB in my laptop because I've read it works and I do CAD work on it.

Solution 4

I have an Inspiron 1501 witht the AMD Turion TL-56 and just found out my laptop will take more memory than Dell said it would. I received some memory from a friend from his broken Toshiba laptop 3 GB. I put it in and was amazed that it worked and well.

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Comments

[Admin]

I have a 1501 with 8gb RAM and Windows 7 Premium 64-bit. It recognizes all of it, lists 7.68 as usable and hauls ass. Still having problems with the video compatibility with 64-bit though.

[Admin]

@David W please can you advise to what memory make and model your using please i have a Dell Inspiron 1501 ive updated the bios to 2.6.3 A16 which is the latest Bios version i was able to find. I currently have 2x 1Gb Infinity memory in this, but i wish to upgrade to 8Gb. I have purchased for £80 from ebay Komputerbay 8GB DDR2 SODIMM (200 pin) 667Mhz PC2 5400 / PC2 5300 CL 5.0 memory its just a generic brand but this has does not work. The processor in this machine is a AMD Sempron 3500+ thanks regards Richard. I think it could be helpful for others if we post what memory works or doesnt work

[DHayes]

support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1501/en/om_en/html‌​/… 2GB max per the user manual

[zillion]

I Hope it could be true but the best way should be to sure should be to contact that Nathaniel ... I heard of that a while ago but I was not sure of it ...

[Nathaniel]

Actually, I just replaced what was in there (two 512 MB sticks) with 2x1GB. So I don't really know. Sorry.