help with laptop ram

[Ice384]

Currently, i have a 1gb DDR2 667mhz PC5300 single stick ram in my laptop. However, i hav a spare slot which i intend to use with another 1gb stick. I was wondering, as long as the clock speed is the same... Is it fine if i use a different brand ram to the one already in my laptop?

 

[TheKracken]

Ya, I don't think it will mess anything up. I've done it in a pc and nothing happend, but I don't own a laptop so I don't know what would happen exactly but it should be okay.

 

[Mondoman]

It should be fine, but I'd try to buy from a vendor that guarantees the SODIMM they sell will work in your model notebook. DDR2 in notebooks is still new enough that there are sometimes weird incompatibilities even when the specs look OK.

 

[Ice384]

ooo, sounds good atm... atm i am considering either Corsair or Kingston/Kingmax... they're within my budget... r they known to hav good compatibility?

 

[306maxi]

ooo, sounds good atm... atm i am considering either Corsair or Kingston/Kingmax... they're within my budget... r they known to hav good compatibility?

Go onto the Kingston website and try the memory configurator

 

[technology-sponge]

STOP!

don't mean to be harsh or in your face, but never mix and match laptop ram. for some reason, unlike desktops where u can mix and match different brands, speeds and capcities, laptops have real issues. its best to stick to the same brand, same size and latencies.

i'v seen countless cases where people have used different brands, or same brand, just different capacities. the end result is an unstable laptop that freezes/bsod's.

although in theory, u could mix n match, in abt 70% of the times, this isn't so. stick to the same brand and you'll save yourself a lot of greif

 

[Mondoman]

...
although in theory, u could mix n match, in abt 70% of the times, this isn't so. stick to the same brand and you'll save yourself a lot of greif

My experience has been different than yours. Without any data to back this up, you're basically just saying "trust me, you need to spend more money".
If Ice does as I suggested, and orders from a vendor who guarantees compatibility, there's no financial risk.

 

[Mondoman]

ooo, sounds good atm... atm i am considering either Corsair or Kingston/Kingmax... they're within my budget... r they known to hav good compatibility?

Corsair's premium lines have top-notch compatibility and quality. However, their ValueSelect line is low-quality and has compatibility problems, so avoid that.
Kingston's lines, including their ValueRAM, have excellent compatibility.
Kingmax is a lower tier vendor; I don't have a good feel for their compatibility.

In any case, make sure your vendor guarantees that the module will work with your notebook.
After you install your RAM, be sure to run memtest86+ (freely available for downloading as a bootable floppy or CD image) to make sure the memory is working correctly -- just booting into Windows isn't a good enough test.

 

[306maxi]

...
although in theory, u could mix n match, in abt 70% of the times, this isn't so. stick to the same brand and you'll save yourself a lot of greif

My experience has been different than yours. Without any data to back this up, you're basically just saying "trust me, you need to spend more money".
If Ice does as I suggested, and orders from a vendor who guarantees compatibility, there's no financial risk.

Yes. What you said is correct. What spongetard bob said is wrong. Like both you and I said. Order from someone who guarantees compatability and you're fine.

Kingston does many different SO-DIMM's and DIMM's designed specifically to suit particular laptops and desktops. Unless the module or yoru motherboard is faulty it will work. This is am 100% sure of

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/mfrmod.asp?root=us

 

[technology-sponge]

...
although in theory, u could mix n match, in abt 70% of the times, this isn't so. stick to the same brand and you'll save yourself a lot of greif

My experience has been different than yours. Without any data to back this up, you're basically just saying "trust me, you need to spend more money".
If Ice does as I suggested, and orders from a vendor who guarantees compatibility, there's no financial risk.

What i said isn't based on my guesswork. I have seen many people in other forums with the same issues. I also know a guy who ahs worked full time in a PC local PC store for abt 10 years now. He is of the same opinion. Although vendors like Kingston and Corsair guarantee compatibility, clashes do happen, especially if your laptop is 1+ years old, or your using Tier 2 memory.

By tiers, i mean

1-corsair, kingston, ocz, geil
2 - kingmax, transcenf, hyundai/hynix,apacer, generic, oem stuff, aopen etc

BTW, that shoulda read 50%, not seventy. Typo

 

[Mondoman]

...
What i said isn't based on my guesswork. I have seen many people in other forums with the same issues.

Unfortunately, without knowing what fraction of the total population with that notebook/ram combo complained on the forum, the number is meaningless.

I also know a guy who ahs worked full time in a PC local PC store for abt 10 years now. He is of the same opinion.

That's fine, but he doesn't have to pay extra when people act on his opinion.

Although vendors like Kingston and Corsair guarantee compatibility, clashes do happen, especially if your laptop is 1+ years old, or your using Tier 2 memory.

By tiers, i mean

1-corsair, kingston, ocz, geil
2 - kingmax, transcenf, hyundai/hynix,apacer, generic, oem stuff, aopen etc

I agree in general, although I would put Corsair's ValueSelect and OCZ in tier 2, the first for low quality, the second for an emphasis on speed over compatibility. Also, I would term these "manufacturers" rather than "vendors", in that the "vendor" is the company you are actually dealing with directly. I'm not saying that there aren't differences, rather that any vendor who is willing to guarantee compatibility of the product they sell must be doing so for a reason, as they will lose money and customers by selling incompatible modules under such a guarantee.
Different people have different willingnesses to pay for a reduced risk that they will have to return a module for replacement/refund.

 

[Ice384]

hmm, that kingston site is quite handy... however... the best option it provided me was "1GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 SODIMM". Lookin at that part that says Non-ECC... :? Is it still worth gettin this one? Everything else about it seems pretty standard, that is fair enough. Also had a look at the Kingmax Venus 1GB DD2 667MHz sticks.

 

[Mondoman]

"Non-ECC", "unbuffered" RAM is what you want. Other types are used in specialized applications, such as servers, and may not even work properly in your notebook.

 

[Ice384]

Yup, thanks a lot. I know which one to get now.