256MB PC2700 or 512MB PC2100?

[Zxian]

I'm asking on behalf of a friend who just bought a new laptop that came with 256MB PC2700 DDR-RAM.

I've got the 256MB PC2100 chip that came with my laptop sitting at home not doing anything useful, and I was thinking that I might be able to sell it to her if the performance would increase. Since my chip is PC2100, the whole memory bus would run at that speed (right?).

So I'm basically asking what would be better for the system... you can find the link for the specs here.

Thanks in advance!

[Delprat]

It depends on what your friend do with her laptop : for most usages, more RAM is better (or makes no difference).

For gaming & multimedia authoring, better timings can be better than more RAM (the easiest is to test...)

bye

[Zxian]

Well... the specs don't really make it great for gaming or anything, so it's basically gonna be used as a general purpose computer.

[lylo]

Hmm if its just a general purpose rig then I'd say go for the 512mb.

I also have PC2100 ram, and when I first got this system it only had 256mb, and I even intended to play games on it as much as I could. After increasing to 512mb there was a huge performance jump and so I would recommend more RAM. I now have 768mb and there was still quite a small boost in the performance I got.

I'd say to anybody now that 512mb should be a strict minimum for computers today heh.

So yes, if the memory would be fully compatible (I have no idea about mixing different speeds when it comes to memory), throw it in there

Edited July 18, 2005 by lylo

[kenshin]

So yes, if the memory would be fully compatible (I have no idea about mixing different speeds when it comes to memory), throw it in there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can mix and match; it'll just run both sticks at the slower speed.

[Zxian]

Good to know... thanks!

[BombaTwist]

So yes, if the memory would be fully compatible (I have no idea about mixing different speeds when it comes to memory), throw it in there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can mix and match; it'll just run both sticks at the slower speed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

but people have told me they did that and their pc stopped completely. =/. i was also thinking of mixing ram type speeds and after hearing that i got kinda paranoid.

[hammermtl]

Do all laptops take the same sized ram or do brands like dell, gateway and sony have their own ram with cannot be combined with other brands?

I ask this because the Viao T series sells ram upgrades for $299 512 pc 2700

it seems pretty expensive for what it is.

Also if the system bus on the notebook is 400 mhz would it make sense to upgrade to 400 mhz ram after buying the notebook since sony doesnt offer it?

Thanks

Josh

[Zxian]

but people have told me they did that and their pc stopped completely. =/. i was also thinking of mixing ram type speeds and after hearing that i got kinda paranoid. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had this situation with one particular stick of RAM. It works fine on its own, but mix it with any other RAM and the system won't boot. No big deal... just chuck it out (it's 256MB PC2100 184-pin).

Do all laptops take the same sized ram or do brands like dell, gateway and sony have their own ram with cannot be combined with other brands?

I ask this because the Viao T series sells ram upgrades for $299 512 pc 2700

it seems pretty expensive for what it is.

Also if the system bus on the notebook is 400 mhz would it make sense to upgrade to 400 mhz ram after buying the notebook since sony doesnt offer it?

Thanks

Josh

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Laptops don't behave any differently than desktops when it comes to RAM in terms of sizes and such. Laptop RAM is typically known as SODIMM RAM (that's the chipset of the sticks). I think the price you see is mostly due to the name that comes with it.I've got a 1GB PC2700 chip in my Compaq laptop to replace 2x256 PC2100 that came with it, and I've had no problems whatsoever (the stick cost $170 USD).

But in your case, I'd check the RAM chips that you get in the first place - if they're PC3200 (400MHz), then you'd want to buy RAM to match that.

[BombaTwist]

but people have told me they did that and their pc stopped completely. =/. i was also thinking of mixing ram type speeds and after hearing that i got kinda paranoid. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've had this situation with one particular stick of RAM. It works fine on its own, but mix it with any other RAM and the system won't boot. No big deal... just chuck it out (it's 256MB PC2100 184-pin).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My mobo supports PC 2100/PC 133 ram, if i have a PC 2700 256mb RAM right now (no clue what brand) in my machine and what if i add another stick of 512mb ram which is a corsair value select PC 3200. do you think they will work both at the same time even though they are mixed?

[Zxian]

My mobo supports PC 2100/PC 133 ram, if i have a PC 2700 256mb RAM right now (no clue what brand) in my machine and what if i add another stick of 512mb ram which is a corsair value select PC 3200. do you think they will work both at the same time even though they are mixed?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you plug in both PC133 or PC2100 RAM? The two are not mixable.

If you've got a stick of PC2700, then you should be able to add a stick of PC3200 without any problems. You cannot, however, add a stick of PC100/PC133 RAM.

[BombaTwist]

My mobo supports PC 2100/PC 133 ram, if i have a PC 2700 256mb RAM right now (no clue what brand) in my machine and what if i add another stick of 512mb ram which is a corsair value select PC 3200. do you think they will work both at the same time even though they are mixed?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you plug in both PC133 or PC2100 RAM? The two are not mixable.

If you've got a stick of PC2700, then you should be able to add a stick of PC3200 without any problems. You cannot, however, add a stick of PC100/PC133 RAM.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so would it be ok to have one slot to have a ram speed of PC 2700 and the other slot to have PC 3200?

[Zxian]

so would it be ok to have one slot to have a ram speed of PC 2700 and the other slot to have PC 3200?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes.

[BombaTwist]

ahh i see, the thing im concerned about is that you said you had a situation with a stick of ram that it would work on its own but not mixed, why wouldnt it worked when it was mixed?

[Zxian]

I'm not all too sure. It was the stick of RAM that came from my Dell system (I know I know.. Dell... *shudders*). It's a Samsung chip, and for some reason, it won't work with other chips in a system other than the Dell.

I've mixed and matched other chips without any problems in my current desktop - it's just that one Samsung stick that doesn't work. On it's own however, it's fine. I've beat the thing as hard as I could with Memtest and it's perfectly fine - it just doesn't like company.

But to aleviate your concerns, I've run a stick of 512MB PC2700 and a stick of 512MB PC3200 in my desktop without any problems. They both just default to the PC2700 speeds (333MHz).