Digital Meld

Ah, the Dell Inspriron Mini 9 love-fest continues! Building on yesterday’s Windows 7 installation we’re back with another today with more. Today we are going to take you through the process of upgrading your Mini 9’s memory to the maximum of 2 gigabytes. While this article may be focused on the Mini 9 it can be of some help to those seeking to upgrade the memory on any modern notebook. Upgrading the memory on the vast majority of modern notebooks is this easy, so fear not!

Prerequisites
To perform this upgrade you’ll obviously need new memory (RAM). I am using a 2GB stick of Corsair ValueSelect 200-Pin 667 DDR2 SO-DIMM that I purchased for $24.99 (with free shipping) from NewEgg. At that price, this upgrade is an absolute no-brainer. You’ll also need one small Phillips head screw driver and about five spare minutes of your time. You’ll also need to give yourself about two square feet of well lit, static free workspace.

The Installation
1. First, you’ll need to power down your Mini 9, close the lid and flip over the notebook.

2. You’ll then need to remove the power cable (A) and battery (B). The battery has two locking switches (C) that will need to be opened before removing the battery. Once you unlock both latches the battery should slide out towards the back of the device. Some force may need to be applied as the battery "clicks" into place.

3. You then remove the two screws (A) from their holes (B) using the screw driver. Then attempt to remove the module cover (C) which may require some prying in the module groove (D) with either the screw driver or a finger nail. Please note that this took a little force for me as the module cover was partially sealed with thermal tape.

4. Once you have the module cover removed set your eyes on the memory module (A).

5. To remove the memory module you need to pry open the memory clips (A) on both sides of the memory chip.

6. After you release the memory clips the memory will pop up at about a 25 degree angle. Give the memory chip a good pull (in the direction of the arrows) and it should dislodge from the machine. This may take some pressure as the memory clicks into place. Don’t worry, as long as you pull in the correct direction you aren’t going to hurt anything.

7. Once you have the memory stick removed make note of the memory module’s tooth indicator (A), this shows you the correct placement of the new memory module. The memory will only go in correctly if the memory module’s tooth aligns with the memory chip’s indention.

8. Place the new memory chip into the memory module by sliding it in at the same angle you removed the previous memory chip (as directed by the arrows). This may take some pressure as the memory chip will click into place.

9. Use the tip of your finger and firmly press downward on the memory chip until it locks into place. The memory clips (A) will click when they are properly seated.

10. Replace the module cover plate (A) making sure to line up the proper screw holes (B). Please note that I had to firmly press down on the module cover while applying pressure to all four sides to ensure that it was closed completely.

11. Replace the two screws (A) that you removed earlier which will tightly lock down the module cover (B).

12. Replace the battery to it’s proper place and flip the Mini 9 Over and fire it up.

Benchmarks
I ran some simple before and after benchmarks using the free Sandra Lite.

- With 1GB

Memory Bandwidth
Analyzing…
Combined Index : 2.10GB/s
Run ID : Intel Mobile 945GME Express Processor to DRAM Controller (Internal Graphics); 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM (532MHz) PC2-4300 (4-4-4-12 8-16-4-2)
Finished Successfully : Yes

- With 2GB

Memory Bandwidth
Analyzing…
Combined Index : 2.21GB/s
Run ID : Intel Mobile 945GME Express Processor to DRAM Controller (Internal Graphics); 2GB Corsair DDR2 SO-DIMM (532MHz) PC2-4300 (4-4-4-12 8-16-4-2)
Finished Successfully : Yes

As you can see there was a .11 combined index score increase with the 2GB memory stick. There was also a .1 increase in the memory operations per second score increase within the Windows Experience Index.

Conclusion
I see some huge performance improvement right off the bat regardless of the minimal benchmark improvements. Windows minimize and open faster, videos plays more smoothly and I can have more windows open before I see a downturn in performance. Overall the repair took five minutes and cost all of $25; you can’t beat that, even if it’s just a 5% improvement.

If you enjoyed this article be sure to check out our entire How To category.

No related posts.