Changed bios... now memory capacity different

First off, I have an Emachines T3612, which has: An Intel Celeron D 3.46GHz processor and I just upgraded it from 512MB of RAM to 2GB. Oh, and I am running Vista Home Basic 32bit. I just upgraded the BIOS to actual Intel BIOS (it was the stock BIOS from Emachines), as I am going to put a Duo core processor in (it has an LGA775 socket); this was one of the prerequisites to be able to do so.

The weird thing about it: after I upgraded the BIOS, I was going through SIW (from Gabriel Topala) and I noticed that it now says I now have a maximum capacity of 4GB for the RAM versus 2GB that was listed before the BIOS upgrade. Should I trust this and add more memory? Or is this some kind of glitch? I am hoping this is not a glitch, since I am going to put in the Duo core, add another graphics card, and upgrade to Windows 7 64bit, which I know is going to "hog up" the 2GB that I have available.

--NV6R

Who knows or cares? Windows basic and 2GB of RAM? You are starting to add RAM to the point that you create a bottle neck.

At some point throwing more RAM fails to improve or give benefit? You have gone beyond. Buy a new system if you want benefit?

"is it a glitch" Yes in so many ways.

Good luck.

NV6R said:

First off, I have an Emachines T3612, which has: An Intel Celeron D 3.46GHz processor and I just upgraded it from 512MB of RAM to 2GB. Oh, and I am running Vista Home Basic 32bit. I just upgraded the BIOS to actual Intel BIOS (it was the stock BIOS from Emachines), as I am going to put a Duo core processor in (it has an LGA775 socket); this was one of the prerequisites to be able to do so.

The weird thing about it: after I upgraded the BIOS, I was going through SIW (from Gabriel Topala) and I noticed that it now says I now have a maximum capacity of 4GB for the RAM versus 2GB that was listed before the BIOS upgrade. Should I trust this and add more memory? Or is this some kind of glitch? I am hoping this is not a glitch, since I am going to put in the Duo core, add another graphics card, and upgrade to Windows 7 64bit, which I know is going to "hog up" the 2GB that I have available.

--NV6R

Click to expand...

You were very lucky that you didn't brick the motherboard by updating the bios that way. If the bios update doesn't actually allow you to use new processor or more ram, you will be forced to buy a new system, would recommend building one over buying a store bought pc.

powerpack said:

Who knows or cares? Windows basic and 2GB of RAM? You are starting to add RAM to the point that you create a bottle neck.

At some point throwing more RAM fails to improve or give benefit? You have gone beyond. Buy a new system if you want benefit?

"is it a glitch" Yes in so many ways.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

He said he was upgrading to windows 7 64bit so yeah he would need more than 2gb of memory.

johnb35 said:

You were very lucky that you didn't brick the motherboard by updating the bios that way. If the bios update doesn't actually allow you to use new processor or more ram, you will be forced to buy a new system, would recommend building one over buying a store bought pc.




He said he was upgrading to windows 7 64bit so yeah he would need more than 2gb of memory.

Click to expand...

You are very right about the BIOS. However, I read a thread on another message board where somebody upgraded the BIOS in this manner -- on the exact same computer. He said that he had great success, so I followed his links and did the same thing. So far, the time it takes the computer to boot-up is just about cut in half, and my Windows Experience Index went up quite a bit as well; it obviously did something positive. I know that the Windows Experience Index should be taken with a grain of salt, but it went up a little with the memory upgrade and a whole bunch more with the BIOS upgrade.

I run quite a few different programs that are memory hogs and the memory boost has really helped. The guy I read about upgrading the BIOS on the Emachine also upgraded to an E4300 processor with great results, as well -- only after upgrading the BIOS, however. I just want to get rid of the Celeron D, since it's L1 and L2 cache is pathetic. The computer is running better than it ever has, but I know that I should be able to milk a little more out of it. I am in the middle of nowhere (east central Nevada; 240-miles one-way from anything) and have a very limited income, so I have to save and then buy everything online. As a result, I try to use what I have tio the fullest. I am not a gamer, so I don't demand the absolute best, but the design programs I used do demand a little bit more; not too much more, just a little more.

I just need to know if it is correct that it now says it should be able to handle 4GB versus the 2GB that it quoted before the BIOS upgrade?

All you can do is try and find out by getting more memory or borrowing from someone.