BIOS Updates forum

I have a DELL Inspiron 4000 P3 850 system. According to DELL my system only allows certain RAM chips, which are the most expensive. I have installed a 128 MB 144-pinns SoDIMM PC 100, CL=2, non-pairity.

Regarding my question: could it be that my system does not support any other RAM modules because of the DELL BIOS? If so, how can I omit this?

Example: the DANE-ELEC module SP100-06432 is not supported by my system and the DA-311-1398 (the expensive module) is supported by my system.


Thank you in advance for your reply.

I'd guess chip density issues, or perhaps the cheaper one doesn't have SPD.

SP100-06432 is SODIMM, PC, 100MHz, 64bits, 32Meg. and comes in a variety of densities depending on the letter designations that follow in the part number.

DA-311-1398 is a 256MB that references DELL OEM 313-0641 or 311-1398.

Usually model-specific memory is just tested more to make sure it meets the specifications that the computer designer has setup in his hardware. I'd bet if you could get the actual chip numbers, you might find you could buy a "generic" stick that would work just fine.