Question on SO-DIMMs and compatability

[dexmax]

Hi all,

It has been ages since my last post here..

I have an old laptop that I want to add/replace SO-DIMMs.

Currently, I have 2 modules of 512MB DDR2 PC5300 (667) SO-DIMMS on it. Now, I am having a hard time finding PC5300s.. It seems to be rare now-a-days.

In the past, I used to mix DIMMs of different speeds, it would adapt to the module with the least speed.

But the lady at the store suggests that some laptops/notebooks do not accept rams of different speeds. Unfortunately, I had to buy the RAM to be able to test it.

I'm asking your opinion(s).. would a 800mhz SO-DIMM (say 2gb modules) work in an old Laptop?
Specs are: Pentium Dual T2370 on an Mobile Intel 965 chipset (ACER Aspire 4715z)

I would hate to buy something, and end up unuseable.

Thanks

[Steve R Jones]

Are you very certain the machine can handle 2 gigs? If not - go here:

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx?&pid=2780251#

[Train]

2 GB max
so, you can use 2 sticks of 1GB each.
http://www.memorystock.com/memory/Ac...ZNotebook.html

[dexmax]

Thank you very much for the replies. The site was much of a help.

I got an email reply from ACER. Here goes..

Dear Sir / Madam,

Good day.

Aspire 4715 series can accommodate maximum of 4GB DDR2 667 MHz by the use 2pcs 2GB module. Please be guided that to use 4GB, it will require a 64 bit version of OS (Windows) to be detected and accommodated for processing use, 32 bit version will only accommodate 3 GB maximum of capacity.


Thank you very much!

Acer Philippines Incorporated (Service Center - Otis)
1651 Paz M. Guazon, Paco, Manila 1007
Tel: (632) 321ACER or 3212237

So I went to an ACER store and fortunately they had 2GB PC5300 modules available. I thought about buying 2 to make it 4GB, but that would make me shift to a 64-bit OS which I really don't need (besides, I could not justify the cost of buying a new OS for an old laptop).

The laptop runs memory intensive applications significantly faster.

[Steve R Jones]

If you install 4gigs - you generally get to use around 3.5 gigs of ram on a 32 bit system.

[BipolarBill]

If you're running XP, there's no need to go over 2GB.

[dexmax]

Im running windows7. Even with my 1GB of RAM, Windows7 was running flawlessly. But when I run StarCraft2(Beta) and some EA Games, loading time is a bit slow. But with 2.5GB, everything loads faster now.

Not bad for a 2-yr old laptop. I think I can squeeze in another 2yrs out of this.