Is PC5400 Ram ok to use in T61p?

I want to upgrade my ram for my T61p. I think the stock RAM is 5300. Can I use 5400? Could someone spell out the pros and cons of choosing this memory for me? Thanks.

 

You're absolutely fine. Memory that is qualified to run faster than your computer will just "slow down" to the fastest bus speed your computer is capable of. It has no performance impact whatsoever.

 

They are the same thing. It's how the manufacturer rounds up or down is based on the module naming.

 

Yep.

-Ram deals thread.

Just find a cheap DDR2-667 Sodimm stick with a lifetime warranty and you should be fine.

 

Thanks so much everyone!!!! Kdawgca - this is exactly the info I was looking for. +1 rep. So the 5400 is just a marketing gimmick. I thought it was an actual speed difference. I just want to make sure I don't have ANY ram incompatibility issues. Also I don't want the memory to have to be slowed down to the BUS speed. i just want t to fit the BUS speed perfectly as is.

Now the question comes, is it worth it to spend $37 more on lower latency 4 ram or save the money and go for cas latancy 5?? : :

 

just found this topic

can I just stick an extra 2GB 5400 stick with the 1GB 5300 came with the configuration?

 

pretty much if it fits properly you can do it. voltage is most important, the speed will slow down to the slowest stick and cap at chipset limit.

 

You can do that, but if you mix memory sizes, then you'll lose dual-channel mode. I'm not sure how much of a performance hit it'll be though. You might not even notice a performance hit at all if you don't do any gaming or use intensive applications.

 

Just want to say I dropped in 4GB of 5400 RAM and things are great. Thanks for all your help.

 

I'm not sure what you meant by "mix memory sizes"

 

Gnuh, you wanted to mix a 1GB stick with a 2 GB stick. You can do that, and still get "asymmetric dual-channel" mode.

If you used two 1GB or two 2GB, you would get symmetric dual-channel, which gives you a slight performance boost over single-channel. The boost from asymmetric dual-channel may give you a bit higher performance than single-channel but it will be lower than symmetric dual-channel.

 

I mean that if you plan to use a 1GB stick and a 2GB stick, then you can't get dual-channel mode. Dual-channel can speed up your computer a bit, but not sure by how much. Dual-channel requires both sticks of memory to be the same speed and size.

Edit: Sorry jimbob, didn't realize you answered it already.

 

So, the best thing to do is get either 2GB (2x1GB) or 4GB (2x2GB)? How about 2 stick with the same speed (5300) but different branch? Do I still get dual channel?

Thanks jimbob83 and dbam987

 

Ideally you would use 2 sticks with identical specs. This was required with older chipsets which didn't have an asymmetric mode, but with the current chipsets I don't know how different the sticks can be and still work in dual-channel mode.

Overall though, the performance benefit from dual-channel mode is very small so unless you need to squeeze every last bit of performance out of your computer, I wouldn't worry about it.

Now, having said that, if you're obsessive about such things as I am, it'll bother you no end if you don't have dual-channel mode. In this case, you'll either have to find an identical match for your existing stick OR buy 2 matching ones and try to recoup a few bucks for your old stick on ebay.

 

Yeah, I was a little obsessive when reading your post above. But since it only makes a little impact on the performance like you said, I think I just stick with 3GB (with 2 different speeds).

Thanks jimbob83, you've been very helpful