W5 memory update *important*

For any one interested.... I'm going to show my maturity by stating I was wrong..

Yes, the W5 should use DDR2 400 and Asus officailly only supports a maximum of 768mb of ram in these unit. However, aside from bickering all day with new forum members, I've been testing my finaly production W5. I've managed to get the system to run on ddr2 533.. not the first time, but the system will only recognize it as 400mhz. Also, I have gotten my system to support a 1gb stick. So right now I'm running 1.25gb on this machine.

I am not going to totally get behind it just yet, I want to test it some more. If we go outside of Asus' specs and offer anything more then 512mb ddr2 400, however... you void Asus' global warranty. I know that I've said in the past that memory is the only thing we can upgrade without losing that, but this is a situation where you would.

If you want ddr2 533 in 512mb or 1gb sticks...... you can drop me a line and express interest in it. I will be testing this system through the night and let you know what I think in the morning. If it works for me, I'll have it thrown up on the site and have it expressed that to use it you'll be voiding Asus' warranty and your repairs would have to be done through our warranty. However the official stance of our company will have to be to stick with the 400mhz ddr2 as an official memory stick for this notebook.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Well, here is the reason so far.... it won't run a 256mb ddr2 533 stick.... I know that. This system can run dual channel and when I started with a 256mb ddr2 533 stick, it probably tried to recognize both sticks at the same time. Ideally, dual channel is best.. which is why Asus shipped with with 512mb instead of just the onboard 256mb.

The 533mhz chips are no more expensive, but also not supported, like the 1gb sticks. This means we have warranty implications. Since the 533mhz doesn't do anything performance wise, it's not the best idea to go with the 512mb ddr2 533 over the 400.... and same with the 1gb stick.... The only reason I wouldn't just add a 1gb ddr2 400 to the W5 page is because a 1gb stick on a whole isn't supported by Asus either for this model... I'll let people make up their own minds as long as it continues to work....... I beleive what we will do is offer the ram as a seperate item. You can install it.... it's warrantied for life. You can do many things with your notebook, but as long as you keep it in the original configuration, Asus is going to support your notebook... So you could go out and buy a 1gb stick if you wanted.... so whether we offer them "with it" or "seperate" ....... as long as they work, we'll allow a customer to make up their own mind.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

intro: besides flame wars i may know the reason fo your experience results and from what i know from w5 here also i can say:

- The w5 has an internal memory of 256 MB DDR2 400 Mhz which can't be replaced and an empty slot.
- A memory of 533 Mhz can run at 400 Mhz no problem with that.
- A memory of 400 can't (shouldn't, it's called extreme memory overclock hehe) run at 533 Mhz.
- All RAM main memory in a pc must run at the same frequency

So there is 2 possibilities as a result of your experience:

1) SCPD detects the 533 Mhz memory first and tries to set that frequency for the whole memory, and that will for sure result in a failed boot

1) SCPD detects the 400 Mhz memory first and tries to set that frequency for the whole memory, and that will for sure result in a stable system but notice that the 533 memory is running at 400 Mhz so there is no gain in using the 533 memory unless it's cheaper than the 400 one (and that should happen as memory productions evolves)

 

i'm confused. what do you mean by "more then 512mb ddr2 400, however... you void Asus' global warranty". if something goes wrong with the laptop and i need Asus to repair it, couldn't i just remove the 1GB stick, and it'd be right back in standard Asus spec?

 

For Asus to repair the notebook, it has to go back to them in the original configuration.

If you put extra ram in, thats your business, but it's got to be put back for the warranty.

Just like with the V6, right now to keep your warranty through Asus, you've got to buy the package and then customize it so you have the original configuration to send back for warranty work.

I'm pretty sure the ram can't actually hurt the system...... but Asus' official specs say do not use more than a 512mb stick of ddr2 400....

Let me try to clear up the warranty thing in the morning.... I'm delerious at this point... but I think this is what I should say right now.

1. buy the package
2. the ram is still working - so you can pick up the extra sticks... we'll probably put them on the site tomorrow as long as all is still good....
3. we can install the ram for you, but keep the ram from the package if you want to keep Asus' direct and global warranty.


Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]