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    Will 667mhz ram work in 533mhz notebook...

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by xprohx, Feb 9, 2007.

  1. xprohx

    xprohx Notebook Evangelist

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    I am going to buy more ram for my VAIO S series notebook that currently has two 256mb sticks. The notebook is capable of 533mhz ram, but I would like to buy 667mhz ram so I can reuse it later in a newer notebook if I decide to sell the VAIO. Will there be any problems with using 667mhz ram in a 533mhz machine?
     
    xprohx, Feb 9, 2007
    #1
  2. CeeNote

    CeeNote Notebook Virtuoso

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    It will easily work although it will only run at 533mhz if you mix the two.
     
    CeeNote, Feb 9, 2007
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  3. vespoli

    vespoli 402 NBR Reviewer

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    It will run at the speed of the FSB, in this case 533Mhz. No matter how fast the memory is, it will only run as fast as FSB speed.
     
    vespoli, Feb 9, 2007
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  4. xprohx

    xprohx Notebook Evangelist

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    Thx, that's what I thought. If I have matching pair of ram, regardless of unmatching brand, will it run in dual channel?
     
    xprohx, Feb 9, 2007
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  5. CeeNote

    CeeNote Notebook Virtuoso

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    No, you must have the the same type and the same brand of ram in order to run in dual channel.
     
    CeeNote, Feb 9, 2007
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  6. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    Actually, that isn't entirely true. All of the DDR2 Intel chipsets support what's called asynchronous dual-channel mode, wherein all RAM will downclock to the speed of the slowest RAM (as it would anyways) and then run in dual-channel mode at that speed.
     
    lowlymarine, Feb 9, 2007
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  7. xprohx

    xprohx Notebook Evangelist

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    Another question: I installed 2gb worth of pc2 5300 (667mhz) ram into my VAIO . This is what it shows, is this right?

    [​IMG]
     
    xprohx, Feb 10, 2007
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  8. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    The 797 MHz isnt the RAM speed, its the CURRENT cpu speed (speed step technology).

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Feb 10, 2007
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  9. Cheffy

    Cheffy Notebook Evangelist

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    Don't get hung up on frequency - latency has as much or even a larger impact on ram speed. typically, the higher the frequency speed the higher the latency. In general, 533 pc 4200 ram is faster than 667 ram due to a CAS latency of 4-4-4-12 vs 5-5-5-12 - lower is better. Despite the higher frequency, the lower latency time allows faster access to the ram and better performance. In other words, focus less on frequency rates and more on lower latency.
     
    Cheffy, Feb 10, 2007
    #9