jagzee

I bought a new notebook at Staples on boxing day for a pretty good price. An Acer Aspire 5100. It was advertised as having 1024 MB (512 MB + 512 MB) DDR-2 533 SD RAM with AMD Turion 64 X 2 TL-50 @ 1.6 Ghz and ATI X110 graphics (128 MB shared)

The system properties show 896 MB RAM. A Belarc report shows 896 MB installed with 1024 MB in slot one and slot two as empty.

Board: Acer Navarro
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Acer V2.50 10/27/2006
A sticker on it states it supports dual channel.

A system scan at Crucial states it currently has one stick of 1024 MB DDR2 PC2-5100. Also, that each slot can hold DDR2 PC2-4200 or DDR2 PC2-5300. I’m not sure if the 5100 listed in the scan is a mistake of some kind? Can it be assumed it should be 5300?

Anyway, more to the point. I went back to the store and suggested that the 2 X 512 that was advertised should be what’s installed since running in dual channel mode would be a better configuration. They are willing to swap out the 1024 for 2 X 512 at no charge.

I’m now wondering if I should save the empty slot for another 1024 stick upgrade? If I ever do add another 1024 stick it’s at least a year or two down the road. Or am I better off accepting the 2 X 512 offer and worry about more later, if ever at all.

Any advice, or info to help make a decision, would be much appreciated.

TheMatt

I would take the 2 x 512 MB, because even if you do upgrade to 2 GB, you will need matched pairs to achieve a dual channel configuration. If you juat add another 1 GB stick to the one you have, you will only get single channel. But if you will be on a tight budget, then you could save some money by just adding another 1 GB stick.

BTW, it says you only have 896 MB of RAM because the Radeon X1100 uses 128 MB of the system RAM for video RAM.

jagzee

Thanks TheMatt. Would I not be able to find another 1 GB stick that matched the one already there?

TheMatt

You can, but unless it is the exact same specs and model, there is no guarantee it will work with your current stick. When I buy RAM for my laptop, I always buy it in matched pairs.

jagzee

Thanks for the help TheMatt.

TheMatt

You're welcome.