help with choosing ram for my laptop

joshyroks · 10-12-2006, 04:00 PM

hey i dont really know much about the sort of ram i need for my laptop, iv got a acer extensa 2000/2500 series, searching for specs on ram compatible with my laptop is difficult cos no site seems to have my model listed (??)

its a 2.6ghz pentium celeron, 512mb ram inside with two slots, im wanting to upgrade to 2x512mb.

i know it takes soDIMM DDR ram but im not confident enough to buy anything until i KNOW that it will be compatible.

so what sort of info do i need to make a good choice?, is there a difference between laptop ram and pc ram?

thanks for help

**PanamaGal** · 10-12-2006, 05:42 PM

There is a difference between laptop and desktop RAM, the most obvious being the number of pins. You need 200 pin soDIMM. Have you checked the online Kingston configurator? I've noticed in the past theirs seem to have more listings than most others.

**TheMatt** · 10-13-2006, 08:39 PM

Does your laptop have DDR2 in it? Look in your manual or download Everest to find out.
This will work if it has just regular DDR:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145484

joshyroks · 10-14-2006, 12:56 AM

awsome, it doesnt say it supports DDR2 in the manuel, is it important that buy only DDR?
So the specs im looking for DDR so-DIMM 200 pin, the speed of the one you showed is 333mhz, is there a limited speed my computer can handel? or is that the fastest - 333mhz

thanks for help :) im learning

**TheMatt** · 10-16-2006, 07:45 PM

Sorry I didn'y get back to you untill now, I was away.

After doing a little more research, I found out that the RAM I recomended will work fine in that laptop, it is the right speed.

The computer can only take a limited speed memory module. Anything faster will slow down to the speed that your laptop will take. DDR2 is just faster than DDR so be simple, so you won't want to spend extra money on faster RAM if your system can't take it, but you will want to utilize faster RAM if your board can support it.

Its OK to ask questions, we were all newbies at one point.

joshyroks · 10-23-2006, 06:38 AM

ok, thanx, thats great help, iv found out that mylaptop is running 2 x 256mb SDRAM PC-2700 166mhz, my cpu speed is 2.6ghz, so what would be the limit RAM upgrade? could my laptop handle 2 x 512mb DDR400 PC3200 RAM? or more?

also whats the risk of combining different RAM together, for example i replace one of the sockets with a 1gig RAM and keep the 256mb RAM in place?

10-12-2006, 04:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
joshyroks Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5 OS: winXP	help with choosing ram for my laptop hey i dont really know much about the sort of ram i need for my laptop, iv got a acer extensa 2000/2500 series, searching for specs on ram compatible with my laptop is difficult cos no site seems to have my model listed (??) its a 2.6ghz pentium celeron, 512mb ram inside with two slots, im wanting to upgrade to 2x512mb. i know it takes soDIMM DDR ram but im not confident enough to buy anything until i KNOW that it will be compatible. so what sort of info do i need to make a good choice?, is there a difference between laptop ram and pc ram? thanks for help

10-12-2006, 05:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
PanamaGal Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Panama Posts: 1,240 OS: WinXP Pro SP2; Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista Ultimate; Vista Business	There is a difference between laptop and desktop RAM, the most obvious being the number of pins. You need 200 pin soDIMM. Have you checked the online Kingston configurator? I've noticed in the past theirs seem to have more listings than most others. __________________ It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

10-13-2006, 08:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheMatt Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,615 OS: Windows 3.1, 98, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Does your laptop have DDR2 in it? Look in your manual or download Everest to find out. This will work if it has just regular DDR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145484 __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides Last edited by TheMatt : 10-13-2006 at 08:40 PM.

10-14-2006, 12:56 AM	#4 (permalink)
joshyroks Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5 OS: winXP	awsome, it doesnt say it supports DDR2 in the manuel, is it important that buy only DDR? So the specs im looking for DDR so-DIMM 200 pin, the speed of the one you showed is 333mhz, is there a limited speed my computer can handel? or is that the fastest - 333mhz thanks for help :) im learning Last edited by joshyroks : 10-14-2006 at 01:05 AM.

10-16-2006, 07:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
TheMatt Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,615 OS: Windows 3.1, 98, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Sorry I didn'y get back to you untill now, I was away. After doing a little more research, I found out that the RAM I recomended will work fine in that laptop, it is the right speed. The computer can only take a limited speed memory module. Anything faster will slow down to the speed that your laptop will take. DDR2 is just faster than DDR so be simple, so you won't want to spend extra money on faster RAM if your system can't take it, but you will want to utilize faster RAM if your board can support it. Its OK to ask questions, we were all newbies at one point. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

10-23-2006, 06:38 AM	#6 (permalink)
joshyroks Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 5 OS: winXP	ok, thanx, thats great help, iv found out that mylaptop is running 2 x 256mb SDRAM PC-2700 166mhz, my cpu speed is 2.6ghz, so what would be the limit RAM upgrade? could my laptop handle 2 x 512mb DDR400 PC3200 RAM? or more? also whats the risk of combining different RAM together, for example i replace one of the sockets with a 1gig RAM and keep the 256mb RAM in place?