Inspiron 580 MT Maximum RAM

@Peachtree55  To add to what @JOcean said, you may want to check that you have the latest Intel chipset drivers, etc installed before adding additional RAM.

Dell hasn't offered updates for this PC for a long time, so you can go to the Intel Download Center, install their Support Assistant, let it scan your hardware and potentially offer newer drivers.

Thank you @JOcean  - I will have a good look at that article tomorrow (Only had time for a quick glance Today), but sounds promising

Thanks for the info, Ron. Is there any Danger to installing newer drivers, IF Intel offers them? As it is my Wife's work Computer & money is very tight right now, a bricking would be very problematic!

Is a roll back possible if they cause problems?

@Peachtree55  - Shouldn't be any issues installing new Intel drivers. You can always roll them back in Device Manager because they're just files saved on the drive, unlike BIOS updates which are written on a motherboard chip. 

But, if you want to be cautious, you can always manually set a System Restore point before updating any drivers. NOTE: A System Restore point only saves Windows settings. It doesn't save personal files, and won't affect them if you have to do a Restore. It never hurts to back up personal files on a regular basis on an external USB drive or optical disk...

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@RoHe Makes some excellent points. If you decide to backup the entire drive then I strongly recommend Macrium Reflect Free, available here. I use it on a regular basis to back up my C: drive and in more than once instance it has saved me from having to clean install and rebuild my boot drive. And there are excellent tutorials both at Macrium and on YouTube.

 

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Thanks both for your great answers

@RoHe That is comforting to know - I was concerned that any update from Intel would be for the BIOS, Yep, I would definitely set a system restore, burnt into me from the days of Windows XP & before!

@JOcean Yep, we already use a product from ashampoo called Backup Pro, which does an incremental full drive C: backup, plus a separate Documents Folder backup

Hi @JOcean 

Back again! Something I missed on first looks - both Memorystock & Compuram offer these type of 4GB Sticks

4096MB-1333MHz DDR3-1333 PC3-10666, 240p DIMM, 1.5v

But Reitz in the forum post wrote he was using these sticks, & why:-

4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600 MHz 4G DESKTOP MEMORY 240 PIN Non-ECC RAM CL 11 

I was careful to cross-ref what would fit and how fast it was.  These are faster than they need to be but they were also the lowest cost.  The old ones were DDR3-1333.  So these are faster (doubt that helps the machine go any faster), DDR3-1600 (aka PC3-12800). 

I'm pretty sure that the 2 x 4 GB sticks in there now are DDR-1600, but I cannot check until the weekend (My Wife is in the middle of a huge work project right now, so even glancing over at the PC is frowned upon, as she knows I want to get inside it!). Interesting that neither Memorystock nor Compuram offer the faster version.

My Inspiron 580 runs well with 32GB (4x8GB 2Rx8 1600MHz low density with 8 memory modules on each side of the memory sticks).  I've used this with both the i7-870 and xeon x3480 processors but don't know if the i3's and i5's will work with 32GB.  4x4GB configurations also work well but only if low density 2Rx8 with memory modules on both sides of the stick.  I found out Kingston ValueRam doesn't work - it's high density with no memory modules on the back of the stick.  Even though my 8GB sticks are rated for 1600MHz CL11, the iCore and Xeon LGA1156 processors can only run them at 1333MHz CL9.  Most UDIMMs can run at 4-6 different frequencies so there's no harm in putting in 1600MHz or 1866MHz as long as 1333MHz is also supported (and it typically is.)

Thanks for the update. We've still to try the RAM upgrade as my wife has been uncertain to let me try more RAM on her 580 as it is her work PC. Hopefully one day soon, though!

@tales59​ Sir do you mean to say we can put 4 pieces of 8GB of Ram in a dell inspiron 580? I thought the maximum is only 16Gb of ram?