Reccomend a 4gb RAM upgrade for eMachines W3609?

Question

I have read that this machine is capible of running 4GB as opposed to the "as suggested" 2gb that it came with. Would this RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178219 work well for this upgrade? Can you recommend a better one or better priced one?

Answer 1

According to the manufacture, the max supported memory is 2GB. But that does not always mean it cant support more, it just means that the manufacture has not tested that computer with more that 2GB. In my experience, most of the time the system can support more that what the manufacture says, but I cant be certain that it is the case here.



If you use the computer for daily computing only, I honestly don't see how 4GB will benefit you anyhow. Having more memory doesn't make your computer any faster unless your system needs it. My computer previously had 4GB of RAM. I upgraded it to 16GB a while ago. Guess how much faster it was? Not faster at all. But I needed the extra RAM because I run a lot of virtual systems, and now I have plenty of memory to share between them.



Here is what I recommend, while your using your computer for what ever you do, open the task manager (Ctrl+Alt_Dlt) and go to the performance tab. There you can see just how much memory you are using. Im guessing you will probably be using 1 to 1.5 GB at the most. If thats the case, you will not notice an improvement by upgrading to 4GB.



But, you may be able to make the system run better by not installing more RAM, but FASTER RAM. If you download and install Speccy from filehippo.com you can see what speed your memory is clocked at, and you may be able to buy faster RAM with a tighter latency. Then you may notice an improvement.



But now its time for me to be brutally honest. This computer isn't worth putting any money into. Buy a nice new tower that comes with 4GB of ram and Windows 7 for 350 to 380 bucks at newegg.com.



Hope this helps,



Tyler Adler

Answer 2

Let me touch base on what they are talking about above, and start by saying that XP 32 BIT WILL SEE 4 GB of RAM!!! All 32bit operating systems can see a maximum of 4GB. It is a mathematical limit, not the OS. Vista x86 like XP x86 will show a little over 3GB on System Properties. This is normal. The "missing" ram is not really missing. It is used by the system and not presented to the user. There is a range of addresses at the upper end of 4GB that is reserved. In a system with less than 4GB these are logical addresses and are handled by the system that way. However, when the system has 4GB it must block out physical ram to protect the reserved addresses. In addition, the BIOS will reserve some additional address space for use by devices detected by the BIOS.

Answer 3

No, for the W3609, you will need DDR2-533 RAM, not 800.



Here is a link to all of the DDR2-533 RAM. In various GB sizes.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006042%20600006096&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR2%20533%20%28PC2%204200%29

Answer 4

I have no clue what RAM you have inside your PC or what type of RAM your PC can use. You can open up your case and take a look or go to pcworld.com and get yourself a program that will run and find out every part in your computer. The program is free, i just cant remember the name so you will have to do some reading.