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Old 10-03-2013, 12:24 PM   #1
FredJones
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Replacement RAM


My PC is very good but the RAM "fills up" all the time (with Firefox/Chromium/Thunderbird) and I have tried many things to get it under control or figure it out but now I have decided the that best/easiest solution would be just to upgrade from 4G to 8G RAM.

If I have understood the below data correctly, then I have two slots on my mobo and they are both now holding a 2G chip each. Thus I must buy two fresh 4G chips and replace them. I guess then I throw the 2G's out? Or save them for a rainy day (yeah, right).

If that is correct, then can anyone advice precisely what I should buy? I think I want 64bit DIMM 4G at least 1333MHz, but I really don't know.

Here is what I see in my CLI:

Code:
[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t 16
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0028, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
	Location: System Board Or Motherboard
	Use: System Memory
	Error Correction Type: None
	Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
	Error Information Handle: 0x0029
	Number Of Devices: 2

[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t 17
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x002B, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0028
	Error Information Handle: 0x002C
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 2048 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL A
	Bank Locator: CHANNEL A-DIMM 0
	Type: DDR3
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 1333 MHz
	Manufacturer: Undefined       
	Serial Number: 00087874  
	Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum0
	Part Number: JM1333KLU-2G      
	Rank: 2

Handle 0x002E, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0028
	Error Information Handle: 0x002F
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 2048 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL B
	Bank Locator: CHANNEL B-DIMM 0
	Type: DDR3
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 1333 MHz
	Manufacturer: Undefined       
	Serial Number: 0008AF96  
	Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum1
	Part Number: JM1333KLU-2G      
	Rank: 2

[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t bios
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
	Vendor: Intel Corp.
	Version: TCIBX10H.86A.0037.2010.0614.1712
	Release Date: 06/14/2010
	Address: 0xF0000
	Runtime Size: 64 kB
	ROM Size: 1024 kB
	Characteristics:
		PCI is supported
		BIOS is upgradeable
		BIOS shadowing is allowed
		Boot from CD is supported
		Selectable boot is supported
		BIOS ROM is socketed
		EDD is supported
		5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
		Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
		8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
		Serial services are supported (int 14h)
		Printer services are supported (int 17h)
		ACPI is supported
		USB legacy is supported
		BIOS boot specification is supported
		Targeted content distribution is supported

Handle 0x0027, DMI type 13, 22 bytes
BIOS Language Information
	Language Description Format: Long
	Installable Languages: 1
		en|US|iso8859-1
	Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1

[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t system
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0026, DMI type 12, 5 bytes
System Configuration Options
	Option 1: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Handle 0x0031, DMI type 32, 20 bytes
System Boot Information
	Status: No errors detected

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
	Manufacturer:                                  
	Product Name:                                  
	Version:                                  
	Serial Number:                                  
	UUID: FA8443A7-7ABC-DF11-8211-001A9239FA9B
	Wake-up Type: Power Switch
	SKU Number: Not Specified
	Family: Not Specified
 
Old 10-03-2013, 12:29 PM   #2
corp769
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What are you exactly saying by "filling up?" I ask this because if you are using your "free" command, remember that you have to account for your buffers and cached memory. (If this is what you are implying)
 
Old 10-03-2013, 12:37 PM   #3
FredJones
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There is a 3 page post here http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rmance-917353/ about some of my RAM problems. In short, when the system uses up 90% of the physical RAM, the machine crawls to almost a halt. I regularly restart Firefox/Chromium/Thunderbird when conky shows the usage is high. I can sometimes tell b/c the machine just slows down.

I have tried many things, but I think for $100 this will be the best solution.
 
Old 10-03-2013, 12:41 PM   #4
corp769
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Ahh, didn't see that post, thanks!

I didn't fully read through every little detail in the thread yet, but I would like to ask one question - If you ran any direct RAM/memory tests, did you get any sort of bad output?

Ninja edit: After soaking in some more of the details, it definitely sounds like an odd quirky issue. Have you fully swapped out the memory with completely new modules?

Last edited by corp769; 10-03-2013 at 12:44 PM.
 
Old 10-03-2013, 12:51 PM   #5
FredJones
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> After soaking in some more of the details, it definitely sounds like an odd quirky issue.

Good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks it's odd.

> Have you fully swapped out the memory with completely new modules?

You mean did I replace the RAM chips? No.

But I would like to now with bigger, fatter, nastier ones.
 
Old 10-03-2013, 01:03 PM   #6
Montetwoshots
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Replacement RAM

Are you running preload? Preload is an adaptive readahead daemon that preloads some libraries to ram. Linux/Unix uses ram differently than "other operating systems" so that a heavy ram load does not necessarily mean a slow box.
 
Old 10-03-2013, 01:20 PM   #7
corp769
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Well I would at least acquire a different set of RAM chips and swap them, and see if the issue persists or not. Say for ex, the problem DOES persist after swapping, then it could even stem down to a motherboard issue (north bridge, MMC, etc). Hopefully, it is nothing this major, and comes down to either weird/bad memory, software/kernel, etc :/
 
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Old 10-03-2013, 01:30 PM   #8
frieza
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replacing the ram is a good idea, though before buying bigger ram, i would look into the make/model of motherboard to see what the max amount of ram supported IS, because if you buy 8 and your machine only supports 4 max it's never gonna work.
 
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Old 10-03-2013, 02:57 PM   #9
FredJones
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This is my mobo:

Code:
sudo sudo dmidecode -t 2
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
	Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
	Product Name: DH55PJ
	Version: AAE93812-302
	Serial Number: BTPJ037001W3
	Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
	Features:
		Board is a hosting board
		Board is replaceable
	Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
	Chassis Handle: 0x0003
	Type: Motherboard
	Contained Object Handles: 0
and I do believe that this link to intel.com indicates "Support for up to 8 GB of system memory" so we're OK.

So back to my original question:

>precisely what I should buy? I think I want 64bit DIMM 4G at least 1333MHz, but I really don't know.

Seems from that link actually that it only runs up to 1333 MHz so getting faster won't help. So I need two 240 pin DDR3 SDRAM DIMM 1333MHz 4 GB modules right? Price in the USA online appears to be around $50. I will buy here in Israel and I see on this Israeli comparison shopping site that prices are around $50 also, which is around 180 NIS today.

So just clarify that I've got it right and I will do it.

Thanks!
 
Old 10-03-2013, 03:55 PM   #10
corp769
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FredJones View Post
240 pin DDR3 SDRAM DIMM 1333MHz 4 GB modules

So just clarify that I've got it right and I will do it.

Thanks!
Yup! According to the spec sheet, that's the fastest you can go, and the maximum amount of supported RAM.
 
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