The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    N81vp-D1. . . How hard/$$$ would it be to swap DDR2 for DDR3?

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by Abogado, Aug 28, 2009.

  1. Abogado

    Abogado Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hey!

    New to the forum. Just purchased a N81vp-D1. The specs on the unit are good, except for the use of DDR2 memory. Not sure why Asus would load this unit up with a good CPU (T9600), a good GPU (4650), a 7200 RPM hard drive, but then skimp and put DDR2 memory in? In any case, I was wondering how hard/expensive it would be to swap the DDR2 out for DDR3? Do you think that this would be worthwhile, or would I get more bang by spending mod bux elsewhere on the machine? If you think that the DDR3 swap is possible and a good idea, can you detail the process and point me in the right direction as to where to obtain the DDR3? At the same time, I would probably want to max out the amount of memory on the unit. Stock it is 4 gigs, I think. Will it accomodate 8 gigs of DDR3?

    Sorry if this is a newb question, but I am, after all, a newb.

    Any other tips on maxxing out the performance of this machine would also be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks!
     
    Abogado, Aug 28, 2009
    #1
  2. WillardCW4

    WillardCW4 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    26
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    You won't be able to put DDR3 memory into the laptop :(

    Motherboards that are made for DDR2 memory do not support DDR3. However, the performance difference between 4GB of DDR2 800 MHz and 4 GB of DDR3 1066MHz is not that much. Having a fast processor, GPU, and HDD will pretty much set the pace of the laptop's performance.

    If there are 2 DIMM slots, then you can put 2 x 4 GB sticks in the laptop and get 8GB DDR2 total, but it will be really expensive, and I personally don't think it is worth it (from a performance and economic pov).
     
    WillardCW4, Aug 28, 2009
    #2
  3. BobXX

    BobXX Newbie

    Reputations:
    132
    Messages:
    1,097
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    DDR2 and DDR3 are physically different
     
    BobXX, Aug 28, 2009
    #3
  4. ClearSkies

    ClearSkies Well no, I'm still here..

    Reputations:
    1,059
    Messages:
    2,633
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Because the slots in the PCB are in different locations, which is why you can't use one for the other :)
     
    ClearSkies, Aug 28, 2009
    #4
  5. BobXX

    BobXX Newbie

    Reputations:
    132
    Messages:
    1,097
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Yep. ;)

    (10 char.)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    BobXX, Aug 28, 2009
    #5
  6. Abogado

    Abogado Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but thanks much for the replies. I guess I will need to focus my improvement efforts elsewhere. Any ideas about how to bump up the performance of the unit without spending big $$$?

    Thanks again for your replies.
     
    Abogado, Aug 28, 2009
    #6
  7. TevashSzat

    TevashSzat Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    334
    Messages:
    1,438
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    The only reasonable swap that would give pretty noticeable performance increases is if you swap out your HDD for a SSD
     
    TevashSzat, Aug 28, 2009
    #7
  8. Howitzer225

    Howitzer225 Death Company Dreadnought

    Reputations:
    552
    Messages:
    1,617
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    56
    You'll have to deal with more CAS latency in DDR3s also.
     
    Howitzer225, Aug 28, 2009
    #8
  9. mk1freak

    mk1freak Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    44
    Messages:
    349
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    it would feel like an expressgate version of windows if you did this swap, (not 8seconds but around 30 secs boot up)
     
    mk1freak, Aug 29, 2009
    #9