Memory choice for the F3SA-a1?

So friday I finally get my tax money and I'm going to buy the F3SA-a1. I'm trying to figure out how much ram to add. I know what type of ram, but I can't make up my mind on what to order.

So....

1. If I put in 4gb and it only read 3.2 will it cause any other problems like screwing with the dual channel?

2. I run apps like photoshop/premiere 2.0 and hopefully some games. Will 2gb do ok?

3. is 3gb superior to 2gb of ram? I've not been able to get a straight answer yet.

4. Are any brands better than another?

 

Also, I have a choice between "Cas Latency 4" and "Cas Latency 5" Will the 4 make any difference that I'll notice?

 

I decided to go with 3GB and bought this:
OCZ Value Series PC2-5400 2GB 1X2GB DDR2-667 200PIN SODIMM Memory

Bios is reporting that ram is running in dual channel L shaped mode? I don't know what L mode means but I'm happy with the purchase.

 

Probably it's asymmetric dual channel (1st GB dual channel, the top 1GB of the 2GB module in single channel).

Won't make a real life difference anyway.

1. If I put in 4gb and it only read 3.2 will it cause any other problems like screwing with the dual channel?

Don't use 4GB, can cause issues.

2. I run apps like photoshop/premiere 2.0 and hopefully some games. Will 2gb do ok?

Probably, but:
3. is 3gb superior to 2gb of ram? I've not been able to get a straight answer yet.

yes, for Vista and photoshopping I expect it will make a difference.

4. Are any brands better than another?

Don't know. Just pick one with good warranty (longer than you expect to use the laptop) and it's fine.

 

Awesome, thanks guys. I have one last question.


The keys look odd, like they don't click. Does the portion at the bottom still function as a right and left click but without a lever type button? Or, am I stuck slapping the mouse pad when i want to click on something? Its kinda confusing looking at the picture.

 

honestly I would get a 4gb kit, I prefer matching pair of ram and I just bought 4 gb kit of Patriot Signature line, replacing 2gb crappy stock ram (Eldipa) and the system is so responsive. The brand I would highly recommend: G. SKill, Mushkin, and Patriot Signature in that order. Brands I would not recommend: OCZ, Corsair, A-Data (a-data makes their own chip). OCZ and Corsair uses Promo Chip and if you know about memory, Promo is the worse IC chip makers out there. Mushkin, G. Skill and Patriot Signature line uses Micron Chip and Micron chip can only be found in expensive ram like Corsair Dominator, G. Skill Hz series ram and Mushkin Redline and Patriot Extreme LLK. The stock ram out of my U6S is Eldipa chip, very bad, almost as bad as promo IC found in OCZ value and Corsair Value Ram. And OCZ and Corsair Value Ram are not cheap so might as well pay for a premium IC. Crucial is good too since it is owned by Micron but only if they use Micron Chip. Some Crucial uses infineon chip and thus not as good as their own chip. Good luck with your new laptop.

Almost forgot, X86 (32-bit OS) only recognize 3gb max even you have 4 gig installed, but still much better than installing 3gb. I am currently running 4gb of Patriot Signature Line Revision 1 Ram with Windows XP Pro 32-bit with SP3 Candidate Release 2, I love the performance. I have U6S-A1. I am gonna go with Vista Ultimate 64 bit with SP1 when time permit. I got my hand on Sp1 for Vista 64 bit.

 

Why? I really don't understand, if it only recognizes 3GB anyway why waste the money.

 

I concur completely.

There really isn't a reason to purchase 4GB memory when there is not a proveable difference in performance level compared to 3GB, and as noted dual-channel in notebooks provides a negligible boost at best over asym 2/1 memory configs. Then there is the issue of driver and system performance & stability problems with 64b Vista, and the fact that little to no commercially software I'm aware of currently is written to take advantage of the 64b platform abilities.

The days of 64b advantage won't arrive for at least several more years, when developers actually start optimizing code, and by then the current crop of notebooks and desktop components will be obsolete (or at least very old).

In addition, there are documented cases in multiple posts here (with benchmarks, as I recall) of 4GB actually causing *slower* performance compared to 3GB in the same notebook. My suggestion for members would also be to stick with 3GB ram for the forseeable future.

 

The above post is completely correct. Sorry if this seems like circularly confirming our respective posts, but everything is so correct, and this quest for 4 GB of RAM in current notebooks is misguided in almost every case.