Best RAM for DAW?

[djak24k]

I am running a DAW on a laptop, Sony Vaio vpceb26fx, Intel Core i5 M430 @ 2.27ghz, Intel hm55 motherboard (I think??). DDR3, PC3-8500, 533 MHz, 4 Gig Dual Channe,l 7-7-7-20-1T currently installed if that means anything, Manufacturer: Elpida. I am having a huge problem figuring out what ram I can use.. even after much research.

Not so important question #1: What is it that determines what ram I can use? Speed of current ram? latency of current ram? Motherboard? Does that matter? I've come to the conclusion that for me, I must use SODIMM 204 PIN DDR3. All the rest is confusing. I haven't found one website which explains articulately what the hell the RAM Specs really mean IN parallel to how they are listed on websites selling them (newegg, etc) Ive read as long as my mainboard uses ddr3 and that's the slots I have, I can use pretty much any DDr3 ram I choose. Then Ive also read that's not so smart and may have to tweak for it to work.....

Down to serious business...
I run a DAW and its not uncommon for daws to be running 16g, 32g and even more ram. Please don't tell me I don't need more than 4 gigs, I do. I'll never have enough ram, never a fast enough hd&cpu, I could always use more on every level. The tool at crucial tells me my maximum capacity is 8gb So that's what I want, at the least.
This is the only 8gig option that comes up on crucials "guaranteed compatibility" tool:
8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V

Through searching further into the Crucial Site Ive found "Ballistix memory - Take your game to the next level" this sounds more like what I need, this is what comes up when searching 2x4 gig ddr3 sodimm 204 pin, but doesn't give me the "compatibility guaranteed":
8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V
8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 PC3-14900 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V
Im not even sure if these would work with my vaio. it looks like one is faster than the other, but has higher latency. I know latency in the studio is something I want to avoid but not so sure if its the case with ram, but it sounds like Id want lower latency and faster ram. Would these be compatible with my system? Which would be "better" for me?

And upon searching newegg for ddr3, sodimm 204 pin laptop ram, HUNDREDS of ram sticks come up. So what CANT I use with my system would be a better question?
Ive emailed crucial and am awaiting their response and have searched toms but its hard to see what applies to me if I don't understand what is what anyway. Im sure theres a question on here about intel hm55 but nothing about my sony vaio vpceb26fx.
Really. I'd like to know what you guys would recommend, and I want the most I can get out of my ram, the biggest, fastest, lowest latency. But that and it being compatible are 2 different things. What would you recommend outside of crucials website that would work? Ripjaws? so many Pcxxxx xxxxxxx and model numbers I don't even know whats what.

Please help me, thanks so much in advance, this has been nerve wrecking.

 

[13thmonkey]

physically have a look at how many sticks you have that can be removed, then you'll know how many sticks you are looking for, it'll 1 or 2. Also look on the sony site to see what they'll sell you, this will tell you what the max size of ram stick you can cope with, it'll be 4 or 8GB.

After that for a less troubled existence get the right number of sticks as big as you can in a pair. or supplement your current stick, if single, for a riskier upgrade, it'll work or it won't.

 

[LostAlone]

Ok - First things first -

The things that will effect what kind of RAM you can use - Most importantly it's that you are looking for Laptop memory. It's a totally different shape and size to the desktop stuff. That's a big deal. Next up - If you are using a 32bit operating system then you can only ever make use of 4gb of RAM. By default your VAIO is running Windows 7 64bit, but if you have changed for 32bit then you'll need to switch back for more RAM to matter. In theory you could use any DDR3 modules, because if the memory is too high-speed the motherboard can run it at lower speeds but that's really not ideal. You need to look in your manual or support material and see what speeds it lists as supported (in the form of DDR3-XXXX; like DDR3-1600). You will be able to use any ram that is under than speed that is still DDR3. Your motherboard will still have a maximum amount of ram supported too, so you can't just stuff the biggest modules you can find into the slots.

As you guessed that leaves a LOT of potential RAM that you can use. There's a lot of brands and there's not a lot of difference. Bigger brands are generally better but that's more because of the support they offer than because it's a better product as such. You should be looking to buy a matched set of 4gb modules though (2x 4GB) because that will ensure the two modules are compatible with each other and will work without tweaking (assuming it meets the specs).

I don't know why the middle RAM kit you linked isn't listed as compatible. It may be that they simply haven't tested it themselves or they stop listing compatibility after machines are no longer manufactured. Still, it looks to be fine. Looks being the operative word, but still. It's the same speed as something that is supported which should mean it'll work. The third kit you linked is faster though, DDR3-1866 instead of DDR3-1600. So that probably is too fast for your system.

As for the last point - The fastest shiniest ram you can get? Honestly, that is not how you want to be looking at this. Not in the slightest. I know you want to have the best system you reasonably can, but dude that way madness lies. Unless you are already pushing your system to it's absolute possible memory limit (ie lots of slow down as programs are cached from hard drives instead of ram) then you won't achieve a major improvement by adding more RAM no matter how glitzy it appears to be. Don't get me wrong - More is better. Absolutely true. It'll allow you to multitask more which is nice, but don't expect the whole world. Yes, certain kinds of programs can use very large amounts of RAM, but think about it more like this - Michelangelo painted the roof of the Sistine chapel, but if you were a painter who insisted he required a massive church cieling to paint on every time you'd be stone crazy. Having more RAM will help, and I dare say an older system could use a bit of a spruce up all around. More RAM is fine, but you don't need to think in terms of faster, sexier RAM. You aren't doing things that need it. Even the most demanding applications (in RAM throughput terms) aren't vastly effected by RAM speed. Buy a kit you can afford that is definitely compatible. Don't worry so much about the rest. Don't be the guy who thinks a golden paint brush will make him paint better. Focus on learning the skills yourself. Don't think about what other people need or claim to need - I work in video production, and trust me the pros are snooty sons of bitches who say they absolutely NEED ten grands worth of kit to make it worth their time sitting down - It's a complete lie. It's nice to have the swanky stuff, and if all you do all day every day is wait for things to render/load/process and that is a limiting factor on your productivity and the amount of money you make then that's when you maybe think about investing in swank. Until then, just make the stuff you want to make. While you're learning it'll take more time for you to work out how to make it than for your computer to load it.

From an outsiders perspective - The single biggest improvement you'll see in performance will be switching out that crappy 5400RPM hard drive for a solid state drive. That'll vastly improve your ability to juggle large audio files, as well as reducing loading times on every application. Using an SSD as virtual memory is a huge step up from using a hard drive. Not RAM fast, but you can easilly give your machine an extra 32gb of very fast space to work with if you absolutely need it. Trust me, you won't look back if you get an SSD.

 

[djak24k]

In reply to lost alone:
Thanks so much for the reply. My biggest concern right now is running plugins. I will be thinking about SSD in the future and definitely the next time I buy a computer.
Ive found this in the marketing specs
Installed: 4GB (2GBx2)
Maximum: 8GB
Type/Speed: DDR3/1066MHz

Im not sure is 1066 is the max speed or if that's whats installed...I don't think that's the max but Im not sure?
I assumed 8 gigs would be my max, and that it means per sum of both channels.

 

[djak24k]

This doesn't make much sense....the guy I just talked to on the phone told me the fastest I could install would be DDR3-1066. That doesn't even look like a legit...thing........Then he told me it was 8500. PC3-8500 Looks legit, but crucial said I can run ddr3 pc3 12800????

Finding *anything* about my motherboard has been a pain in the ass. And I still don't know what the specs mean in line to how the ram is spec'd being sold ex: 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V
I see 8 gigs coming from 2 4 gig sticks, DDR3 type Ram, but whats the ddr3 pc3-12800? Is that the Speed? and below it it says DDR3-1600? I thought that was the speed. huh.

Edit: Some sense I can make of this is that DDR3-1066 *IS* PC3-8500. DDr3-1600 *IS* PC3-12800. One number must be the speed, the other something else, or maybe both numbers are speed. I've noticed as speed goes up so does latency, and that crucial recommended something with a higher latency and speed than what I'm running now.