Is there such a thing as too much memory

M
Posted By
marionbabich
May 11, 2007
Views
476
Replies
11
Status
Closed
My father n law has an older PC. 333mhz but only 128k ram. He took it to Circut City and wanted to put a 512 stick in but they told him that it has 3 sticks already in there and the 512 would burn it up. Have you every heard of such a thing?

Thanks, Marion

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

DR
Donald_Reese
May 11, 2007
You could probably google the model and get specs on how much ram it can accept. i hope you are not running photoshop on that amount. even 512 is a miniscule amount of ram these days.
BL
Bob Levine
May 11, 2007
A machine that old could easily have been maxed out at well under 512 megs of RAM. Why in the world anyone want to put money into something that old?

Bob
M
marionbabich
May 11, 2007
Donald, I think the computer was given to him as it has no markings on the box. The system information just says 333mhz and 128k memory.

Robert, He’s old….LOL That is what I keep telling anyway. Hopefully I can talk him into a new computer.

Marion
RK
Rob_Keijzer
May 11, 2007
And I think you mean 128 MegaByte, not 128 Kilobyte RAM. Although I remember those Double-your-memory-to-128KB! -days, they’re long gone. 🙂

Rob
M
marionbabich
May 11, 2007
So can I put in more ram (512 total) into a computer like this without "burning" it up like the Circut City guy said?

Marion
AI
alan_ingham
May 11, 2007
If you go to this site and enter your details it will then do a scan of your computer advising you of how much memory is currently installed and how much you can upgrade it to:

<http://www.crucial.com/uk/?gclid=CJOflYmPhowCFRdhEAodIn8Kvg>
M
marionbabich
May 11, 2007
I have already done that and the results said that is could not determine which ram to use. I’m just curious if you can put "too" much ram in a computer. I’ve never heard of this.

Marion
AI
alan_ingham
May 11, 2007
Yes it is. Look upon it as putting a 6 litre engine into a Mini – after a few miles the transmission and other bits and pieces would disintegrate – too much power. The capacity of RAM (memory) has to match the limitations of your motherboard if it’s not to ‘fry’ as the man put it. The advise you received may well be sound but in the interests of safety I would seek out a second opinion.

By the way, my system is also pretty old now (3 years) has installed 1GB and the scan advised me that I could upgrade to 2 x 1GB which I already knew anyway and will do in the coming days. The scan wasn’t able to determine my age old machine either but by just clicking ok all the time it did come back with the correct memory that I currently have installed and to what I could upgrade to. It’s just the complete scan it is not able to complete. Might be worth another go.

By the way, this forum is mainly concerned with applications and their problems. You may or may not be lucky in getting some ‘techno’ with the knowledge to answer your questions quick enough. Here’s another forum link where they are all ‘techno mad’ 🙂

<http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1004>
DM
Don_McCahill
May 11, 2007
If it has 128megs on three sticks, it is probably a 64 and two 32s. (Some older machines would only accept RAM in pairs, but unless your messages were mixed up, this can’t be the case). Even if the machine is maxed out, you should be able to remove a smaller stick and put in a bigger one.

The problem might be Circuit City. I recommend going to a local computer shop that has been in business for at least 10 years, where the guy that owns it works behind the counter. You are more likely to get knowledgable service than from a chain where a high school kid working after school is going to be servicing your machine for $7 an hour.
EL
Edward_L._Brown
May 11, 2007
My HP that has ME on it is limited to 512 and it still works great. I would check the motherboard manufacturer and see what the max memory is. I have one limited to 2 gigs and one limited to 4 gigs and the old Compaq was limited to 2 128Megs of memory. Any more would not help and could cause problems
M
marionbabich
May 11, 2007
You guys are great. I really do appreciate the advice. That’s why I read this forum almost every day. I knew I could get some great advice from people that know.

Thank you all again,
Marion

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections