RAM upgrade on laptop, 2GB to 4GB

[we3fan]

Hi guys, I know few things about RAM but I am not an expert, so I wanted to ask for your advice.

I have 2GB RAM on my XP laptop and I want to upgrade it to 4GB RAM.
My GPU is 512MB, so maybe XP x86 will detect only 3.5GB RAM or less, we will see when I upgrade to 4GB RAM.

I have another Win7 laptop, which has few problems (broken cooling fan, no dedicated GPU) so I only use it for testing sometimes.
My Win7 laptop has 3GB RAM, one stick of 1GB and one stick of 2GB.

I was thinking to take out the 2GB RAM stick from my Win7 laptop and put it inside my XP laptop, and see how it performs for few weeks.
If all goes well, later I can buy another 2GB RAM stick for a total of 4GB RAM.

I made some screens to check if the RAM sticks are compatible.

XP laptop:

 

Win7 laptop:

 

 

Is it safe to try and use the 2GB RAM stick from my Win7 laptop inside my XP laptop?

 

I also have a question about Latency Timings, I am not sure if I understand them.
From what I can see, the Latency Timings for my RAM sticks are: 5-5-5-15. Is this a correct way to describe my RAM sticks Latency Timings?

 

Thanks for your time.

[TrevMUN]

The amount of memory your GPU has, I think, doesn't impact how much ram XP32 sees. The GPU's RAM is only used by the GPU. My XP32 laptop, Etesia, always reported around 3.5 GB of available RAM regardless of whether she had 4 GB or 8 GB, at least until I installed the PAE patch. Nowadays she reports 7.57 GB of RAM. I'm not sure but I think that's because XP doesn't count whatever memory is necessary for the system to run.

Glancing through the CPU-Z report it appears that the RAM modules for both your XP and 7 laptops are both DDR2 and have the same clock rate despite the different sizes involved. I've often heard that it's not a good idea to mix and match memory modules of different sizes or manufacturers, however. Looking around online, it seems like this advice is only really applicable to older systems. Crucial's own website says: "Theoretically, if the other traits (generation, speed, latency, voltage) are the same, there should be no issue using DRAM from two different brands. Though some older DDR3 systems require matched sets of memory."

The modules you have do appear to be of the same generation, speed, latency, and voltage. And it looks like your laptops already use a mix of modules from varying manufacturers, which suggests to me that you stand good odds of the 2GB RAM stick working in your XP laptop. I'd give it a shot; if you run into BSoDs where you had no such problem before, then it's likely the RAM doesn't agree with your system somehow.

[we3fan]

Thanks TrevMUN, much appreciated.

I looked inside and found out what is physically written on the RAM sticks:

XP laptop:
1: 1 GB, 667 MHZ, DDR2-SODIMM, 200 PIN, 64x8, OPID#2851, 6/26/06
2: 1 G, DDR2, 667, SO-DIMM, CL5

Win7 laptop:
1: 1 GB 2Rx16 PC2-5300S-555-12-A3
2: 2 GB 2Rx8 PC2-5300S-555-12-F0

I am not sure about this, but does this mean that both Win7 RAM sticks are capable of 555-12 Latency Timings?
But only run at 555-15 Latency Timings because my Win7 Motherboard can only handle 555-15 Latency Timings?

[TrevMUN]

I'm not sure. I tried looking up "PC2-5300S-555-12-A3" in hopes that maybe it could help me decipher what each part of that means specifically, but all the search results turned up the exact model of Samsung RAM in question. Curiously I can't find that module listed on Samsung's Product Finder, either.

[RainyShadow]

Whatever the latency, it sure beats swapping to the HDD. Don't bother too much with it.

How many RAM slots does the XP system have? If it's just 2, you will get only 3GB total (1x 1GB + 1x 2GB).

Anyways, just move the 2GB stick to the XP laptop and start testing.

 

P.S. i found a site saying that the laptop supports 2GB RAM max, but it may have been that 2GB sticks were not available at the time of writing.

Try it anyways, worst case it just won't boot.

[we3fan]

Google search for "PC2-5300S-555-12-F0" :

I found this page:   https://www.laptop-sodimm.nl/product/2gb-2rx8-pc2-5300s-555-12-qimonda-hs08/
RAM stick has similar description: 2GB 2Rx8 PC2-5300S-555-12-ZZ Qimonda Sodimm memory
Under "Timings" it shows: Cas latency: 12 (The period between the request of a job and its processing.)

So I think "555-12" on my RAM stick label stands for CAS latency: 12 .

Is there any way to check if my Win7 Motherboard can support CAS latency 12?

 

 

EDIT:

Hi Rainy, I didn't see your post, you must have posted while I was typing.

My XP system has 2 RAM slots.

Yes, it's possible that my XP laptop supports 2GB RAM max, that is why I wanted to test with 3GB RAM first.

Edited December 19, 2021 by we3fan

[TigTex]

You can mix RAM modules. You can have a ddr2 400mhz CL6 with ddr2 333mhz CL5 module. Your system will always run at the highest speed that it's compatible with both DIMMs so you are free to do whatever you want with the RAM modules.

But be aware, the i945PM might need a bios update to accept the full 4GB of RAM

Edited December 19, 2021 by TigTex

[we3fan]

Thanks guys.

My XP laptop detected the additional 2GB RAM stick, all seems to work OK for now.

But in System Properties > General - it shows: 2,87 GB of RAM. Is this normal?
I was expecting to show 3,00 GB of RAM.

[TigTex]

Some part of the RAM is shared with the onboard graphics. You probably have 3.00GB with 128MB shared memory

[jaclaz]

@we3fan

JFYI:

http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=21165

In some cases (but not always) there is a setting in BIOS that allows to remap memory and recover some RAM as available, as well in some cases you can use part of that for a Gavotte Ramdisk (useful for - say - temporary data).

jaclaz

[we3fan]

@TigRex - Yes, that's probably the case, thanks.

Thanks jaclaz, always appreciated. Unfortunately, I didn't find such setting in my laptop BIOS.

 

Now for the interesting part, let's see how much RAM it will detect out of 4GB.

I will try to find and buy 1 more 2GB RAM stick, DDR2 2GB 667MHZ PC2-5300 SO-DIMM, hopefully decently priced, from Europe.

[Rod Steel]

On 12/22/2021 at 9:31 PM, we3fan said:

Now for the interesting part, let's see how much RAM it will detect out of 4GB.

It will detect 3.2GB or ~3.5GB.

You can install XP Integral Edition with PAE patch, or modify your own XP ISO by WinXP-IE Optional Patch Integrator, so your OS can see 4GB. You currently have 32 bit processor, so you can not install 64 bit OS.

On 12/22/2021 at 9:31 PM, we3fan said:

I will try to find and buy 1 more 2GB RAM stick, DDR2 2GB 667MHZ PC2-5300 SO-DIMM, hopefully decently priced, from Europe.

Since you decided to upgrade your notebook i suggest you to update your BIOS so your notebook will support faster 64-bit Core 2 Duo. The fastest Core 2 Duo for your laptop is Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.33GHz/4MB). It is much faster CPU (compared to your T2500) and support XP-64 bit Edition. It is currenly on sale on ebay and aliexpress. But i advise to check first local sale boards and sites. Usually when i buy notebook memory i buy it used from local sellers because it is cheaper.

Edited December 28, 2021 by Rod Steel

[we3fan]

Thanks Rod Steel, this is really great info, I could try upgrading my notebook CPU at some point, I think it would be worth it.

Off Topic:
My SSD (Samsung 860 EVO) performed almost twice as fast on my HP Win7 laptop CPU (Core 2 Duo T5750), compared to my Asus XP laptop CPU (Core Duo T2500), so upgrading to Core 2 Duo T7600 should improve the SSD speed even more I think.

I wonder if installing a SATA driver or similar could improve my SSD speed on my current Asus XP laptop CPU (Core Duo T2500)?

[Rod Steel]

2 hours ago, we3fan said:

I wonder if installing a SATA driver or similar could improve my SSD speed on my current Asus XP laptop CPU (Core Duo T2500)?

Yes it should, because NCQ can work then and performance in 4K Command Queuing will be possible. It is easy to measure with program AS SSD Benchmark which is freeware. Just measure before and after drivers are installed and make screenshots of both before and after and upoad it here.

If you formatted your SSD under win XP it is not 4K formatted. It shows in AS SSD Benchmark too as green OK symbol if 4K alignment is correct. To achieve 4K alignment you need to format drive in win7 or later. Under windows XP you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard - which is great software. Talk to me in Personal Message if you wanna know where to get old good version for XP that i used, cause i am not sure if recent version works with XP. By the way, try to launch latest free version to check if it still work with XP.

The other problem is that XP do not have TRIM command, so your SSD experience great Write amplification   To avoid that under XP there is program LC Technology Solid State Doctor v3.0.3.2. It have function auto-trim and manual trim of all empty space on SSD which is great because it stops Write amplification. If you want i can show you in PM where to get version 3.0.3.2 because it is not present on official site anymore.

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Rod Steel

[jaclaz]

Small (but substantial) nitpick, the issue is not with "formatting", it is with "partitioning" (using the XP built-in disk manager, the diskpart should be able to create the needed alignment even on XP).

See:

https://sites.google.com/site/robertjkarp/home/windows/diskpart-to-create-aligned-volume

To clear the essential separation of the two steps (partitioning+formatting), you can create the partition(s) on Vista+ and then format (please read as "apply a file sytem") under XP .

jaclaz