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    Using 2 different Sodimm modules in 2 slots ?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Serville, May 23, 2007.

  1. Serville

    Serville Notebook Consultant

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    What will happen if I use 1GB + 512MB ?
    Is this possible ? What will happen ?
    This is possible with Desktop, so I figure this is also possible with notebook ?
     
    Serville, May 23, 2007
    #1
  2. chomorro

    chomorro Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nothing will happen you will just have 1.5gb of ram and i dont think it will be able to run in dual channel mode. That is all :)
     
    chomorro, May 23, 2007
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  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You'll be fine...
     
    Greg, May 23, 2007
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    RAM modules contain tables called SPD with their timings (see the attached example). Most (all?) BIOSes look at these tables at bootup and select the slowest timings shared by both RAM modules.

    I have mixed RAM of different sizes and speeds on several notebooks over the past two years without any problems. :)

    Any modern computer which can't handle such combinations is defective.

    John
     

    Attached Files:

    John Ratsey, May 23, 2007
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  5. Serville

    Serville Notebook Consultant

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    Glad to hear that. I just want to make sure that it runs fine because my 1501 comes with 2 x 512MB. I will have to sacrifice one of the 512MB module. Ideally I know it's better to upgrade it to 2GB, but I can only afford another 1GB stick for now. Thanks :)
     
    Serville, May 24, 2007
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  6. Ahzuz

    Ahzuz Notebook Consultant

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    It's very recommanded to run one identical pair of DDR2... But your setup will work, just a tad slower.
     
    Ahzuz, May 24, 2007
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  7. chii888

    chii888 Notebook Guru

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    just a question.. how do i know if my ram is in dual channel mode.?? coz i recently went from 1gb + 512mb to 1gb + 1gb.. hahah!! does the laptop automatically switch to dual channel mode.,??
     
    chii888, May 25, 2007
    #7