RAM Upgrade...

G'day,
I have a few bob left in my PayPal account and figured I might as well spend it on at least upgrading my laptop to 2GB RAM! I've found the following RAM and just wondering if it would work in my laptop?
2GB 2 GB DDR2 DDR 800 Notebook Laptop Memory Dell HP - eBay, Memory Upgrades, Laptop Accessories, Computers. (end time 27-Oct-10 02:02:52 AEDST)

The current RAM I have is as follows:
Slot #1
Type DDR2
Size 512 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number HYMP564S64P6-C4
Serial number 00007059
Week/year 25 / 05
SPD Ext. EPP


Slot #2
Type DDR2
Size 512 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max bandwidth PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Part number HYMP564S64BP6-C4
Serial number 00007091
Week/year 52 / 05
SPD Ext. EPP

Also, is it possible, with this setup, to just add the 2GB stick to an existing 512MB to add up to 2.5GB? I'm not to worried about the speed the RAM runs at...

Cheers,
Joel.

 

Yes that should work fine. Any Notebook DDR2 ram should work.

2gb + 512mb should work also. The maximum memory of your laptop should be 4gb so that 2GB in a single slot works. Maybe you can get a 1gb ddr2 stick also. They can be had very cheaply sometimes since so many people are upgrading to 4gb leaving them with unused 1gb sticks. I know in Germany on ebay you can get them for 5€ sometimes.

3gb (2+1gb) is the sweet spot for 32bit systems.

 

Thank you very much! I guess in the short term I would endeavor to get a 1GB stick to bump it up to 3GB.

 

The new memory is faster than yours, your motherboard/chipset must support it. Installing it with your current RAM decreases at least the speed, maybe they are completely incompatible.

 

I'm sure the RAM will downclock (especially to match the existing 512MB stick) but maximinimaus does have a point about compatibility.

I always recommend matching the RAM modules identically - simply sell off what you replaced.

It is a good idea to run multiple instances of memtest on the new RAM setup overnight to make sure that everything is working properly before you sell off any old/replaced modules.

Good luck.

 

Newer memory will be backwards compatible as long as it is of the same format (ie. DDR2 SO-DIMM). There shouldn't be any issues but as noted the fastest memory will downclock to match the slowest memory (even if the chipset supports higher).

 

It's fine to mix a faster rated memory module with slower memory modules of the same type because the slower speed always takes precedence over faster modules. In other words, even if your notebook supports running memory at a faster frequency, and you install such memory modules but at the same time keep your older slower modules, your system will still operate at the slower frequency.

As for mixing capacity though, I wouldn't go it with DDR2 or newer notebooks as then you won't have the full benefit of dual channel mode. Of course I'm not saying it's foul practise to mix memory modules capacities of DDR2+, just that you'll suffer some bandwidth. Depending on the application performance will suffer to a lesser/great extent.

Anyway, the link below explains it in more detail, same logic though.

Types Of Laptop RAM Modules

 

There really is no difference in performance with mixing capacities in any real life situation, except gaming on integrated graphics. Higher capacity (such as 1+2GB) will always be better then lesser but synchronous (ie. 1+1GB).

 

Thank-You very much for all your replies. Now I'm just a tiny bit worried, because after looking on the Dell website, it tells me:
Min: 512MB DDR2 shared1 533 or 667MHz
Max: 4GB2 DDR2 shared1 533 or 667MHz

Does that mean my new RAM won't work, or will just downclock?

EDIT: Oh, wait, I think I just found it out...

 

It will just downclock: 266 Mhz x 2 = 533 Mhz DDR2 rates.

 

Thought so, Thanks for clarifying that for me!

 

RAM arrived today, installed it beautifully, and worked! I'm liking the RAM usage meter on the Sidebar Gadgets now, around 37-40% instead of 78-92% before hand! Thanks everyone for your help!