ddr2 memory speed

[Neo95]

hey guys i had bought a upgraded memory for my laptop ddr2 5300 1gb and my original laptop has ddr2 4300 256. my question is will the new memory speed clock down to 4300 and work with no problem. because the memory i recieved came doa not once but twice now and want to make sure its bad memory or is it my fault for not getting the right speed. cause i have done this with other memory with no problem but it wasnt ddr2 laptop memory. so any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

Laptop bios are notoriously slim and unforgiving. It's very likely that the system is not going to boot with a DIMM of the wrong spex. I'd suggest replacing it with an OEM type memory specifically suited for your laptop.

 

[Neo95]

well gateway for some reason doesnt have an upgrade memory for this laptop and should i get the same speed memory 4300, but the ones i find online are 4200 speed? well i guess my main concern is the difference od the speed of the ram is causing it not to boot or is it the generic brand memory that im trying to use that my laptop does not want to boot?

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

My guess is that the speed difference is the issue. The bios cannot work with the SPD on that memory.

I would suggest you try something like this: http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/system_select.html

You can use our memory configurator to be sure: http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/configurator_search.html

 

[Neo95]

well thanks for link to the corsair website and the one they recomend for this laptop is 150 dollars at newegg which is alot more then i want to spend but i did find a corsair valueselect 1gb ddr2 4200 for $99 what u think? well can someone answer this does ddr2 memory thats faster will it clock down to a slowe speed if needed? i am trying to figure out if this memory is doa that i have or its just genric that my laptop does not recognize it.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

well can someone answer this does ddr2 memory thats faster will it clock down to a slowe speed if needed? i am trying to figure out if this memory is doa that i have or its just genric that my laptop does not recognize it.

The memory has nothing to do with this. It is the bios in your laptop which must be capable of negotiating the information provided on the SPD of the memory. Most laptops cannot do this as the bios is very limited. It is highly likely that the bios is the problem, not bad RAM.

As to the VS vs SS, the VS "should" work but, there is no guarantee. That is why we made our SS line of memory.

 

[Mondoman]

well thanks for link to the corsair website and the one they recomend for this laptop is 150 dollars at newegg which is alot more then i want to spend but i did find a corsair valueselect 1gb ddr2 4200 for $99 what u think?

ValueSelect is a much lower quality module than Corsair's excellent premier lines. Something like Kingston's ValueRAM would be in between the two in quality. Lower quality memory will be more likely to be incompatible with your notebook, if only because it is less likely to tolerate variances.
Your problem is unlikely to be due to a speed difference in the memory, because faster memory can always be run at a slower speed without problems. You are also right that all the memory installed will run at the speed of the slowest memory installed.
However, DDR2 for notebooks is a new memory technology that isn't fully mature, and was less so when your notebook was designed. Thus, your notebook is more likely to have incompatibility problems than are more recent designs.
The key issue here is who shoulders the financial responsibility if the module doesn't work with your notebook. If you buy a module from a site that guarantees the module will work on your notebook, then the vendor is responsible, otherwise you are. Unfortunately, because of the factors I mentioned above, chances of incompatibility are fairly high in the DDR2 notebook market, especially for low-end modules.
There are many different vendors who will guarantee that their module will work with your notebook, so shop around a bit before deciding which route to take.

 

[Neo95]

well thanks mondoman and i did purchase this memory through newegg and i will be calling them tomorrow and seeing how we can fix this problem and most likely upgrade to another ram and hopefully this will fix the problem. i read reviews on this ram and there have been acouple people who recieved doa ram's before so maybe i got the same batch as them. but thanks again guys and anymore suggestions or input would be greatly apprecaited.

 

[Dahak]

I would install two memory modules of the same speed.Laptops are notorious for being picky when it come to ram specs.Goodluck.

Dahak

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