Silly Memory Questions...

[Marquis77]

Hello

I am fairly ignorant of memory specifications, so please excuse me. I am looking to buy 1gb of ram for an ECS A928 laptop which takes standard DDR. Although the manufacturer says that the max amount of ram is 512 mb, many people on the internet have claimed that 1gb works just fine. Although the specs say the laptop accepts PC2100, would 1GB PC 2700 or PC3200 work? Another question: What is the difference between 1GB (2X512Mb) and 1GB? I must admit I am confused...

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

Marquis

 

[Sdiver2489]

1. Faster ram would work but would likely be downclocked to PC2100 speeds making the extra speed worthless(unless its cheaper)

2. 2x512 means 2 sticks of 512MB of ram. 1 GB is 1 stick of ram totaling 1 GB

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Marquis77
Hello

I am fairly ignorant of memory specifications, so please excuse me. I am looking to buy 1gb of ram for an ECS A928 laptop which takes standard DDR. Although the manufacturer says that the max amount of ram is 512 mb, many people on the internet have claimed that 1gb works just fine. Although the specs say the laptop accepts PC2100, would 1GB PC 2700 or PC3200 work? Another question: What is the difference between 1GB (2X512Mb) and 1GB? I must admit I am confused...

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

Marquis

PC2700 or 3200 will work, though it may run at 2100 speeds.
(2x512) means two sticks 512mb each, while 1gb means you have a single stick that is 1gb.

Lemme research what this laptop takes...

edit: Sdiver2489 beat me to it :thumbsup:

edit 2:

Is this your laptop?
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Produc...ailName=Specification&MenuID=1&LanID=9

Memory
128/256/512MB DDR- SDRAM for Factory/Dealer installed
Upgradeable to 512MB on one DIMM socket, support DDR 266/ PC2100 specification

Do NOT buy 1GB stick, it will not work. What people on the Internet meant is probably they have two sticks 512mb each. Let me further check manual to verify that your laptop has 2 RAM slots.

 

[Marquis77]

Thank you so much for your help!

Marquis

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Marquis77
Thank you so much for your help!

Marquis

Don't run off yet. Did you read my edit that says DO NOT buy 1gb stick?

Open your laptop and if it has 2 memory sticks (I think it has 2 mem sticks, but manual wasn't helpful), buy two 512mb sticks and enjoy

 

[Marquis77]

Thanks a lot MegaVovan! I opened my laptop and I have only one memory stick. So what should I do now? Try my luck with one 1GB stick? There has to be a way...I read many people were successful with 1GB within this laptop.

Thanks again!

Marquis

 

[Sdiver2489]

Originally posted by: Marquis77
Thanks a lot MegaVovan! I opened my laptop and I have only one memory stick. So what should I do now? Try my luck with one 1GB stick? There has to be a way...I read many people were successful with 1GB within this laptop.

Thanks again!

Marquis

What is in there now? (RAM wise)

 

[MegaVovaN]

I am not sure what you read, can you link to where you read it - about 1gb?

What I was asking, is how many memory slots you have? It is typical to have 2 slots and only 1 stick by default (factory). Can you take a picture of that memory stick where it sits in the laptop? There might be another slot nearby.

EDIT:
Indeed, it looks like laptop has one slot for RAM, and that slot can fit 1gb...
For example, here: http://www.memoryx.net/pcchdea9nome2.html
They wouldn't want that information to be fake because that means consumer will send them memory back.

So Marquis, probably you can buy 1gb stick of RAM somewhere for cheap, simply because you can't use two sticks of 512, it's either one stick that is 1gb or one stick that is 512.
And like Sdiver2489 asked, how much RAM you have right now? Click start --> right click on My Computer --> properties.

Maybe this 1gb stick wil ldo fine.

 

[Lemon law]

To Marquis77,

I strongly recommend you talk or email the people at ECS to get your memory answers. And you need the answers to some bottom line questions. And the A928 specs seem vague to me. But you need to know---for sure for sure exactly what your memory specs are in terms of things like ECC vs. non ECC, voltages, and timings. I see from the link you can download a manual which I recommend you do. But since the link says your limit is 512mb and implies you have one and only one memory slot, you are somewhat into uncharted territory going to a gig.---and the following applies.

1. If your existing bios only supports 512mb--that may be your upper limit---or you may be able to flash your bios to a later version that will support 1 gb.-----don't guess---know.---and answers are at ECS website.

2. You can identify whats in there now with cpu-z---which is a free utility you can run which will tell you a lot about the ram in there now. You can also go to various ram manufacturer websites and find out what they guarantee works in your lap top. But if any recommended modules differ much from what you have in there now, you may have to play with some bios settings to get it running right.

3. Some PC3200 and PC2700 memory modules will downclock to PC2100 with no problem. But others will not--because they send no PC2100 SPD setting to the bios---and then they will just sit in the memory slot and not get recognized at all. Again don't guess---Know.

4. What OS are you running? What are your memory needs?---but if you are still running win 98---over 512MB is probably overkill. With XP overkill will be somewhere between 512MB and a gig for someone with normal memory needs. And your lap top will never be a modern performance machine---its design is just too old---and if you have a need for speed---after a certain point, spending might be directed towards a more modern laptop with a faster processor and memory bus.

 

[Marquis77]

RIght now I have 512mb ram.

 

[Marquis77]

"I strongly recommend you talk or email the people at ECS to get your memory answers. And you need the answers to some bottom line questions. And the A928 specs seem vague to me. But you need to know---for sure for sure exactly what your memory specs are in terms of things like ECC vs. non ECC, voltages, and timings. I see from the link you can download a manual which I recommend you do. But since the link says your limit is 512mb and implies you have one and only one memory slot, you are somewhat into uncharted territory going to a gig.---and the following applies."

It is true that ECS doesn't describe all the specifications such as ECC and voltages. And I also know that they mention max 512 mb ram, but I am willing to see if I can get 1 gb working. I will be running tests with various memory sticks until one works. I will go to bestbuy and try various memory sticks and return those that don't work.

I have Windows XP. I use Adobe Photoshop a lot to work on my many pictures, so I guess 1gb is reasonable

Thanks for all the information

Marquis