z70va ram upgrade question

would a 2 Gb DDR2 (PC2 5300) 667MHz memory stick compatible with this lappy? i've been using it for over 3 years. never failed me once. but 512mb ram can only take you so far these days.

i'm a real casual user. as long as the thing runs, i'm fine with it. just dont want to do anything that might cause problem in the future.

the lappy currently run on 1.5GHz Intel Celeron M, 512Mb RAM DDR2 533MHz. Nero says my Bus speed is 100MHz, not sure what's the multiplier is but it runs on a 512Mb RAM DDR2 533MHz / 667MHz compatible just fine. (i tested it)

All RAM mentioned are Corsair, including the 2Gb i intend to buy.

It's pretty obvious that i dont know enough about hardware

 

Well, it should work, even with the Celeron cpu you have in there (wow, I thought everybody put in at least a lower Pentium-M when they had it built ). The 667 will just downclock to 533; you might want to check the prices of regular 533 MHz (PC2 4200) RAM too, as that should be what you have in there right now and it could be cheaper. You're going to be stunned with how much faster XP works when it isn't having to write everything back&forth to the HDD all the time but can use RAM instead.

There are occasional reports, however, of some older models' BIOS not being compatible with the 2GB ram sticks, which were just a dream when the z70v series was out (and the z70va is old enough to perhaps have that problem), so you might want to consider two 1GB sticks instead.

I can't recall whether the z70va had both ram slots through the bottom, or if one of them is located under the keyboard. If the latter, post back if you can't find the instructions here with a search and we'll post them again for you.

 

the lappy is _very_ old. lol i've had it for ages. it was given as a gift, so i didn't really have the choice to pick what processor i want lol.

i decided to try and run 2 512Mb RAM, 533MHz and 667MHz / 533MHz compatible, and it runs. not sure if there will be any problem in the future. the second RAM slot is underneath the laptop, the other is under the keyboard. I didn't know there were two slot to begin with till i took it apart to clean it. lol

i couldn't find any 533MHz on newegg, and the 2gb im looking at is only 40bucks after shipping.. a tempting order, which is why i wanted it

would the downclocking be done automatically by the system or i'll have to mess around in BIOS?

and another question is that would it work if i run two sticks: 512Mb 667MHz and 2Gb 667MHz? most ppl i know say it is entirely possible.

if it makes any different, i'm running on XP Pro, i've heard of some cases where OS doesn't recognize the memory stick or something of that nature.

 

Here's your 533 ddr2 ram at Newegg.

Downclocking of 667 RAM is automatic by BIOS, there shouldn't be any user input required.

2.5GB on some of the older systems is not supported by BIOS (I think the W5 was one example of that), which were last written in the days before 2GB ram sticks were available - you're better off staying at or below 2GB total to be sure of compatibility. Newer systems, yes, but on the z70va maybe not and you wouldn't want to get stuck with a RAM stick that doesn't work because BIOS wont play nice with it.

XP Pro will be fine with the RAM.

 

great! thanks, clearskies.