RAM Question
 

Guys,

I'm in need of some more RAM for my relatively new notebook, and the stuff from the old one isn't compatible. And so I have a question for you (apologies if there's already a proper thread for this kind of thing)...

At the moment I've found the stuff I want to get here. My question is this: I already have 512MB, and I have room for one more SODIMM. How much of an issue is RAM compatibility between brands these days? Because I'm a cheapskate, I'd quite like to go up to 1.5Gb of RAM for £60 rather than paying £120 to go up to 2Gb, but both the make and size of the RAM chips would be different if I was to only add one SODIMM of this stuff.

So, um, yeah. How many problems should I expect to get if I mix RAM? I'm prepared to pay more for the higher amount, but only if it's really seriously recommended.

Many thanks for reading.

(My current RAM is, courtesy of the notebook manufaturer's support people: 1 x Infinion 512Mb DDR SDRAM 200pin (PC2700). Note also that postage is free no matter which option I go for, so I could purchase another SODIMM at a later stage with ease.)

If speed is not a factor (either because you're not interested OR your laptop is not capable of dual channeling) then buy the cheaper 1 Gig module. The manufacturer is not so important but the caps of the module ARE.

I suggest using Everest to determine the RAS-CAS lantency caps for your current RAM and choose an additional one that matches those. Ie, it works 2.5-3-3-7? Then buy a module which works at the same speed. This way you get the smoothest operation.

BTW. Infineon is a middle-range brand but one of the best among them.

Remember, the more memory, the shorter is your uptime, even if it is a less-power consuming DDR (DDR2 eats more). For a non-gaming laptop, 1 Gig should be enough for everyone :devil: :D :D :D

Oh, I'm only buying 1Gb modules, but my query is whether to get one or two of the things.

If I only put one in with my current RAM, then the RAS-CAS latency caps would match, as would them both being PC2700. So I'm really only asking this: how sensible is it to end up with 1.5Gb of RAM split up as 1Gb/512MB from two different manufacturers.

If, as I suspect it will be, the answer is something along the lines of "that would be asking for trouble" then I'll add even more to my computer replacement costs by going for 2x1Gb SODIMMs from the same manufacturer, which would solve both of the problems while giving me enough RAM to play with.

Actually, I suppose I should ask if I end up buying completely new RAM, is there any great advantage to PC3200 over PC2700?

It's not ideal, but if the timings/latency, clock/bandwidth are the same, then the brand shouldn't matter much, at least to say, in my experience there's been occasions when I couldn't get the same brand to upgrade someone's PC and there hasn't been any problems.

Okay, final question from me: Is it worth paying more money to have PC3200 over PC2700 RAM (my motherboard supports both, and I've decided to just buy two new SODIMMS)?

Last time I didn't, it's not that big a difference, but aren't they virtually the same price now?

It's an extra £15 or so, but I'm already over the budget I'd allocated for myself.

That and the PC3200s are out of stock at the moment, so I've gone and ordered two of the PC2700s. Of course, I can still cancel that if someone thinks that I'm making a fairly huge mistake.

Rest assured, that deal will just do justice to your laptop, no reason to step back.