i said no ram (by ram, of course, i mean system memory, not necessarily RAM on vid cards) COMES with heatsinks, i didn't say you couldn't BUY ram heatsinks. There is a difference

however, those mini heatsinks you attach are equally as worthless as heatspreaders, only they don't look quite as neat

I installed the ram (correctly, I did everything the way I should!), but now the computer beeps everytimeI turn it on! I reinstalled the old ram and that works fine, the specs fit it too (the ram is: TWINX2048 - 3200PT). I hope i can get it to work, my mom is kinda pissed now...

are you sure its not just asking to verify that the amount of RAM changed? some dell's do that for stupid reasons

also try just one stick at a time, and make sure your mobo is flashed with the latest BIOS (do this from Dell.com so that you are sure to get the right BIOS - flashing the wrong bios will result in an unboot-able computer)

Also, the RAM could be seated incorrectly (I've had this happen before quite a few times; if you put the RAM in at a slight angle instead of straight down into the socket, it'll still fit and it'll look like it's in properly, but in reality it's not; try wiggling the RAM in the socket SLIGHTLY if Kllrnohj's suggestion doesn't work)

Definitely try one stick at a time; one of the sticks may be bad.

I wouldn't so much as wiggle it, as just reseat it (take it out and put it back in) - as reseating is safer

Well, you'd wiggle it after you reseat it (if when reseated it still doesn't work, like an N64 cartridge )

If it was one of those, you'd just have to blow on it.

ARGHHHHH! I was on with a dell tech for the second time and she said that my computer only uses 333 mhz modules! Everywhere I looked it said 333 AND 400 mhz modules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very very angry now...

Also, is it possible to buy 2 1 gb modules (the exact same ones) and them perform like 2? Or do they have to be designed as dual module ram? I can get better performance, possibly cheaper, than buying my 2 gb's (have to be non ecc, 184 pin ddr sdram and 333 mhz oh yeah, and preferably with a heatspreader, there is an ok one at new egg, but no heat spreaders...) as 1 pack. I would just get 1 2 gb module but my computer can only hold 1 gb per socket .



P.S. here are my machines specs: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600c/sm/specs.htm#1106076

Once you return the RAM back to Newegg, give these a shot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141214

I know, i was looking at those, but they do not have any heat spreader...

Oh yeah, another thing is that on the dell site when you look to buy ram for the dimension 4600c, the ram is 400 mhz! Also, i think the current ram in the system is 400 mhz (need to double check, but i am 75% sure that it says it on the label)! There must be something wrong with the ram

Oh yeah, and could someone answer my question on using 2 1 gb modules that you buy separately that are exactly the same? Will they work together?

For the majority yes, as long as the specs are the same (especially the standard, i.e. DDR400) Although be careful that you don't mix up modules that only work with AMD procs and those that do not (I'm assuming that your pc has an Intel proc, so make sure that the RAM you buy isn't AMD-only, and for that it may or may not be listed, so check google!)

If you read the reviews at the page where i bought it ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145491 ) you will notice that out of 3 reviews, 2 had 1 bad stick... Is it possible that I have 2 bad sticks? I have tested each individually and they both work... Any way to find out of they work? or should i just trade them in and try a new pair?

So your two new sticks of RAM only work when only one is in the mobo at a time?

and that folks, is why you never listen to dell...

First off, ALL DDR RAM WILL WORK IN A DDR SOCKET! The speed the RAM is rated at is IRRELEVANT, as the motherboard picks the speed to run them at. Your DDR 400mhz can run at 333mhz JUST FINE. (obviously ram rated at 333mhz might not work at 400mhz, but that is the opposite of your case)

Second, by dual module I am assuming you mean dual-CHANNEL. To answer your question, all that dual-channel RAM packs are is two identical sticks. There is nothing special about them. Dual channel will work AS LONG AS both sticks are the same size, it doesn't have to be the same manufacturer or anything like that. They also should be rated for the same speed (mhz and latency) for optimal results

Just so you know, the Dell Dimension 4600C supports up to 2gb of RAM. Try putting the RAM in different sockets (so if you have 3 slots, try putting them in different arragnements, changing which one doesn't get a stick)

@Ult Dev, there is no such thing as amd- or intel-only RAM.

It actually sounds to me like you might be putting in more RAM than your motherboard can handle/address, as wrong as I know Kllrnohj will point me out to be...

Thats what it sounded like to me at first to, but that doesn't make sense as the motherboard supports 2gb, and he said he is only trying to put in 1gb....

Not to mention I haven't heard of a late-model motherboard with an address limit of 1024mb of RAM - isn't that a proc thing anyway?

OK, the 4600c has 2 slots, each can hold up to 1 gb of ram. And the ram does not work in any slot. I have tried each stick of ram in slots 1 and slot 2, but it does not work.... It might be possible that both sticks are defective but really...

If only dell's mobos came with a decent BIOS....

What *might* be happening is that the motherboard is trying to set the FSB to the speed of the ram, which would in turn overclock your CPU an ungodly amount, which is why it isn't booting

Unfortunately, Dell doesn't allow tweaking in the BIOS, so you can't access the option you'd need to change. You can try returning the RAM and buying DDR333, or get dell on the phone and tell them to fix the problem