Confused about RAM options, help please?

I'm going to be purchasing a new HP 8510p tonight, and among other things, I'm a little confused about my RAM options. I've read through the stickies here and some posts, but I'd love some input from knowledgable people here.

So, I have 4 options for RAM, in ascending price order:

1024MB DDR2 1 DIMM
2048MB DDR2 2 DIMM
2048MB DDR2 1 DIMM
4096MN DDR2 2x2GIG DIMMS

Which is the better option? It over $130 to go from 2048 2 DIMM to the 4096 option, which seems a little steep.

Also, does DIMM just mean a stick of RAM? Does "2048MB DDR2 2 DIMM" mean its two sticks of 1024MB? If so, then why does the last option list 2x2GIG DIMMS?

And finally, assuming I get the 2nd option and it is 2 sticks of 1gig each, will I be able to upgrade to 3 or 4 gigs later on? And how much of a performance increase will I see with 3 or 4 gigs?

Thanks

 

Well, how much does each option cost? If 1GB 1 DIMM is cheap enough, then just get that and put your own 2GB in in addition to it. If 2GB 1 DIMM is cheap enough, and you're going 64 bit, then get that and add your own 2GB DIMM. Heck, if the difference between 1GB 1 DIMM and 2GB 1 DIMM is more than 20 bucks, it's not worth it. You can get 2x2GB of laptop memory for 55 bucks on newegg, after MIR, last I checked.

Depending what OS you run will depend what kind of performance you see. XP and 2GB will be plenty, but for Vista I try to have at least 3GB, but really that's my minimum, and I usually go for 4.

And yes, DIMM = stick

 

a DIMM is a stick of memory.

If you plan to upgrade later, get 2048 x 1 DIMM and buy a second 2048 DIMM later.

If you're not going to upgrade, get either 2048 2 DIMM(2x1024 DIMMS) or 4096 2 DIMM(2x2048 DIMMS) because then you have Dual-Channel memory support, which greatly increases memory bandwith.

It all depends on your budget and future upgrade plans.

What are you gonna use the laptop for?

If its picture/music/video watching and casual gaming, 2 gb should be plenty.

If its heavy heavy usage, hardcore gaming, 3d animation and video editing, go 4gb.

 

Thanks for the help. The laptop is Vista. I'm going to be using it for a lot of gaming and grad school stuff like word proc, internet, powerpoint, and a few molecular/anatomy simulators which might be quite intensive.

An issue I have is that to go from 1GIG to 2 GIGs is $107, which seems expensive. To go from 1gig to 4 gigs is $209, which seems also very expensive.

So if I go with just 1 gig, is it easy to take that out and put in 2x2gig sticks? Is dual channel utilized automatically when two identical sticks are in? Is it difficult to find the right kind of laptop RAM? Will that void the warranty?

 

It is easy to change the DIMM's. Dual channel is utilized even when sticks don't match all you need is two sticks. Dual channel is a modest increase in bandwidth, say up to 10%, but well it is there no extra charge might as well make use of it. If using Vista 32bit can't use much more than 3GB's of RAM. You can install 4GB's just won't use all of it.

 

You can check out the Ram Deals thread....The 4GB kit is available at a very good rate..!! And yes, it will be very easy to upgrade the ram yourself, and your system does support dual channel memory, so on installing similar modules (buy kits), it will be automatically utilized..!!
You need 200-pin DDR2-667 SO-DIMM PC2-5300 memory for your notebook....The memory size is upto you....!!
I am completely alien to notebooks bought as new/retail....but you should keep the old 1GB module with you, so whenever you need to send the notebook back to HP on warranty, you can put that 1GB module back in and avoid any suspicion by HP that a fault was caused by some after-market ram....

 

Alright, that seems easy enough. Also, is there a benefit to buying a kit vs. 2 of the same sticks? Or is it just convenience to get them both in the same package?

I went to that link you provided me, and there was one kit listed there for $209.00, which is way expensive. But then I clicked on its link to Newegg, com, and the price is actually like $69.00. Has RAM prices gone down a lot since that thread was created, or am I missing something. Because that thread says $209.00 is a "HOT" deal for a 4gig kit, while Newegg has 4gig kits for $70.00.

 

GO for the Newegg deals....You maybe right, the thread may have not been updated in a while..
Buy the ram that has a lifetime warranty....(or Crucial, Corsair, OCZ, G Skill etc) and you can buy a kit, it should be a bit cheaper than individual modules....If you find modules that are cheaper when sold individually go for those, but install same modules to gain the 10% advantage..
GO for something like this or like this.... (you can get PC2-6400 as well, it will be fine, but no need for a heat-spreader unless you will be considering overclocking)