Can I upgrade from PC2-4200 to PC2-5300/5400

[mbg10484]

I need to add some more ram to my old, slow laptop (SONY VAIO VGN-FE770G). Came stock with 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 (2x512MB). I am going to double it to 2GB, but was wondering if I can use DDR2 PC2-5300/5400 instead? And will it actually run at the higher speed, or will it just run at the slower PC2-4200 speed?

Also, supposedly the max ram that can be utilized is 2GB, though I thought 32bit systems could use 4GB but anyways, does it have to be a 2x1GB kit or could I use a single 2GB SODIMM? and would there be any advantages/disadvantages to either way... besides price (which is why I'm asking)

One thing that confuses me is when looking at the "SPD" tab in CPU-Z it says max bandwidth: PC2-4300 (266MHz), I thought PC2-4200/4300 was always 533MHz? Isn't PC-XXXX always roughly 8 times the FQ.?

 

[KnowItAll]

Go to Crucial.com and use the memory finder tool. It will tell you what you can use.

 

[techsamurai]

I need to add some more ram to my old, slow laptop (SONY VAIO VGN-FE770G). Came stock with 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 (2x512MB). I am going to double it to 2GB, but was wondering if I can use DDR2 PC2-5300/5400 instead? And will it actually run at the higher speed, or will it just run at the slower PC2-4200 speed?

Also, supposedly the max ram that can be utilized is 2GB, though I thought 32bit systems could use 4GB but anyways, does it have to be a 2x1GB kit or could I use a single 2GB SODIMM? and would there be any advantages/disadvantages to either way... besides price (which is why I'm asking)

One thing that confuses me is when looking at the "SPD" tab in CPU-Z it says max bandwidth: PC2-4300 (266MHz), I thought PC2-4200/4300 was always 533MHz? Isn't PC-XXXX always roughly 8 times the FQ.?

Or you can even try this direct link to another third party: http://www.memorystock.com/memory/SonyVAIOVGNFE770G.html

This system supports upto 2 GB, using two 1 GB.

Good luck!

 

[molletts]

The laptop should work with PC2-5300 memory; I've looked it up on Crucial's website and they list PC2-5300 modules as compatible. It may well work with PC2-6400 modules too (but not at full 800MHz speed, although you may get slightly tighter timings at 667MHz instead - I have some Crucial 5-5-5-15 PC2-6400 SODIMMS which report 4-4-4-12 timings at PC2-5300 speed in their SPD).

You would probably be best off using two matched modules - the system almost certainly runs in dual-channel mode and would switch back to single-channel if you only fitted one module.

It may possibly work with 2GB modules; this depends very much on the individual system, though (mostly the BIOS). I've had various results when trying out-of-spec modules in systems that I've upgraded at work, from black-screen no-POST to starting up but not recognising the full capacity of the module(s) to working perfectly. Some systems behave quite strangely - our older Toshiba SatPro A100s work fine with a single 2GB module as long as we leave one of the 256MB modules they shipped with in the other slot. If we take it out or fit a second 2GB module, they don't POST. We still only get 2.0GB, though, not 2.25GB. The newer A100s, on the other hand, don't show this behaviour but will only recognise 2GB max even if we fit two modules.

 

[mbg10484]

delete

 

[KnowItAll]

Yeah I agree, you definitely want to get 2 matching modules. YOu can always sell the one/s you have now.