Inherited my Grandmother's DELL Inspiron 3650 Desktop to ADD to my Computer Fleet. More RAM needed!

jessewilliams56 · May 26, 2025

I am sure y'all have seen me post on here in the past about me working on my grandmother's DELL computer. Unfortunately, due to Alzheimer's Disease and from a Stroke, we had to put her into a nursing facility. It has been very hard for me, my family, and my mother. We managed to go through some things at her house, and one of those things that was handed down to me was her DELL Inspiron 3650 desktop computer that I always helped her keep up. I was going to add more memory to it when she used it, but she didn't use it enough. So now is the time to do so. The computer looks new, even if the hardware is slightly older as it was released in the Windows 10 era. But I put Windows 11 on it. Granna always used Windows XP on her old computer, and she didn't like Windows 10 or Windows 11. But she managed it because of how I had it set up for her. It is compatible with up to 16GB of memory. Right now, it only has 4GB installed. I am thinking 8GB should be sufficient for what I will use it for. So, can anyone point me in the right direction on where I can find compatible memory for this computer, 8GB or higher? I want to keep it up and going for my grandmother.

XxXxX · May 26, 2025

sad news indeed ..
is it DDR3 or DDR4 RAM as both are not that expensive for a 16GB of RAM.
you can check Crucial for type and prices.

this is a link to the Crucial site.

Crucial RAM Memory | Comparison Guide

See the benefits of different types of DRAM. Check compatibility with our memory comparison chart for laptops, desktops & servers - 100% compatibility guarantee.

www.crucial.com

edit.
just to add if the RAM is laptop type RAM SODIMM i have a spare stick of 16GB DDR4 3200 SODIMM
best of luck, Steve..

glasskuter · Tuesday at 12:07 AM

I'm partial to Crucial ram myself. Go to Crucial.com and run their scanner (scroll down page a bit to find it)
Or
to get your 8 gb, if you have one 4gb stick installed now, get the number off of it and search for a matching 4 gb stick on Ebay. Used 4 gb sticks are dirt cheap due to not a lot of folks use them anymore. I've bought a ton of used ram off Ebay over the years and not a bad stick in the bunch.

XxXxX · Tuesday at 12:35 AM

i have just checked the spec for that PC and it states DDR3 1600

Dell Inspiron 3650 – Specs and upgrade options

Read about Dell Inspiron 3650 desktop PC. Find detailed specification, upgrade options, and info about the CPU, RAM, PSU, motherboard, and release date

www.hardware-corner.net

and believe it or not it looks like its cheaper to buy a 16GB kit then a single stick of 4GB.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ddr3+1600&crid=29GPK75WLC86P&sprefix=ddr3+1600+%2Caps%2C168&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

best of luck, Steve ..

Berton · Tuesday at 12:37 AM

I've shopped for RAM and notice that DDR2 and DDR3 is becoming low in the supply chain. Problem most likely is no motherboards are made for it so no demand. I save all the RAM salvaged from junked computers just for that reason. A little lower on the speed side doesn't hurt and I have mixed speeds if everything else matched, just that the fastest speed will be of the slowest module, e.g. 3200 will run with 2600 but at the 2600 speed.

jessewilliams56 · Tuesday at 12:56 AM

It already has a 4GB Module in it. If I just add another 4GB Module to the open slot, would that be, okay? The other filled slot is harder to get to. If I buy another 4GB Module, that will equal 8GB.

MisterEd · Tuesday at 1:25 AM

Processor
• Intel Celeron Processor
• Intel Pentium Processor
• 6th Generation Intel Core i3 Processor
• 6th Generation Intel Core i5 Processor
• 6th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor

Memory
Slot: Two UDIMM slots
Type: Dual‑channel DDR3L
Speed: 1600 MHz
Configurations supported: 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, and 16 GB

Storage
Interface: SATA 3 Gbps for optical drive and SATA 6 Gbps for hard drive
Hard drive: Two 2.5‑inch drive or one 3.5‑inch drive
Optical drive (optional): One 9.5‑mm DVD+/‑RW driv

Dell Inspiron 3650

https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_inspiron_desktop/inspiron-3650-desktop_reference%20guide_en-us.pdf

If these specs reflect what your computer has then you have a 6th generation Intel CPU. If you try to install Windows 11 then it might abort and say your computer is not compatible. All is not lost because there are ways around that. Come back here and you can get help with that.

If the computer only has 4GB RAM then 8GB or 16GB will make it faster. If 16GB is the same price or cheaper then buy it.

Note whether Windows 10 is 32-bit or 64-bit. If you upgrade the RAM to 8 or 16GB then you have some options:

If Windows 10 is 32-bit then your options are
Option 1:

Do a clean install of Windows 10 64-bit
Do an upgrade to Windows 11

Option 2:

Do a clean install of Windows 11

If Windows 10 is 64-bit then your options are
Option 1:

Do an upgrade to Windows 11

Option 2:

Do a clean install of Windows 11

Does the computer have a hard disk drive (HDD) or an SSD? If it has a HDD then an upgrade to a 2.5-inch SATA SSD would make the computer seem noticeably faster.

jessewilliams56 · Tuesday at 1:29 AM

SOLUTION: I found some old RAM laying around, so I opened it up just now and popped it in, and it's zippy now. My apologies for the wasted topic.

MisterEd · Tuesday at 1:51 AM

jessewilliams56 said:
SOLUTION: I found some old RAM laying around, so I opened it up just now and popped it in, and it's zippy now. My apologies for the wasted topic.

Do the specs I showed in my last post match yours? If so you might consider upgrading from a hard disk drive to an SSD.

Also, if your CPU is an Intel 6th generation and you want to install Windows 11 then you will need a workaround to install it.

Berton · Tuesday at 7:15 AM

As @MisterEd said, if wanting Win11 over the 32-bit Win10 you'll need to do a clean install, there is no 32-bit version of Win11.

Rollback_Jockey · Tuesday at 5:22 PM

jessewilliams56 said:
SOLUTION: I found some old RAM laying around, so I opened it up just now and popped it in, and it's zippy now. My apologies for the wasted topic.

It's not a wasted topic at all! Most of the inmates in this nursing home, sorry Windows 11 forum relish solving issues.

Berton · Tuesday at 5:50 PM

Rollback_Jockey said:
Most of the inmates in this nursing home

Careful there, age-wise I qualify.

XxXxX · Tuesday at 8:55 PM

Rollback_Jockey said:
It's not a wasted topic at all! Most of the inmates in this nursing home, sorry Windows 11 forum relish solving issues.

and i have my own room with a view ..
best of luck, Steve ..

jessewilliams56 · 2025-06-01T20:28:22-0400

To continue the work on this computer, is there any way that I can speed up boot time or windows startup time & windows shutdown time?

I have followed and did the steps from the (Optimize Performance of Windows 10 - tutorial) which also consisted of helping speed up shutdown and boot up time, however those tutorials did not help enough. This computer has a standard HDD, not an SSD so it doesn't need to say "Shutting Down" when I log out and shut down at night. It just needs to do what my other computers with a standard HDD do and have the spinning circle before completely going off. Also, upon turning on, there's a slight delay to get to the Windows lock screen. It says "Please wait" before going to the lock screen. Can anyone assist me on getting these little kinks out to help the computer perform like my other computers?

glasskuter · 2025-06-01T20:51:15-0400

jessewilliams56 said:
Can anyone assist me on getting these little kinks out to help the computer perform like my other computers?

You can't compare performance of apples to oranges unless all hardware on the apple and the orange is exactly the same. CPU speed varies, ram speed varies, different motherboards performance are not all equal. The specs say that device came with one of the following processors: Intel Gen6 i3/i5/i7; Celeron; Pentium; If yours is a Celeron or Pentium, it won't do much.T hat includes startup and shut down very fast.

If you did a Windows 11 UPGRADE rather than a clean install, I would do several things.
Create a new local account (be sure to make it an administrator) and delete your grandmother's account.
Check for malware using Malwarebytes.
Uninstall any unnecessary software.
Stop any unnecessary startup apps.
Disable fast startup.

XxXxX · 2025-06-01T22:40:01-0400

please check system configuration
start > windows tools > system configuration

click the 2nd tab 'boot'

on the right about half way down this window is 'timeout'
change this from the default '30' to 3 then save settings.
this should help a little with boot time.

best of luck, Steve ..

pseymour · 2025-06-01T22:46:19-0400

The boot timeout only applies if you have more than one boot menu entry.

jimbo45 · 2025-06-02T07:17:11-0400

My advice here (for what it's worth) is to copy any data you need from the machine, and then via UUPDUMP get the latest Windows ISO for a Windows version you want. Then Clean install via dism /Apply-Image as this bypasses all the usual restrictions -- and if you are installing Windows 11 PRO then choose use computer for work / school-->login -->domain join if you want a local account.

Cheers
jimbo

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