Difference between KVR533D2SO/1GR & KVR533D2S4/1G - 1 GB Notebook memory

Can someone please help me out understanding what're the differences between these two Kingston memories? Both are 1GB PC2-4200 (533 MHz).

KVR533D2SO/1GR at Micro Center Link & Pricegrabber.

KVR533D2S4/1G at Fry's/Outpost & Pricegrabber

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the Challenge, I spent about 20 minutes and came up with this.

KVR = Kingston Value Ram
533 = Clock speed
D2 = DDR2
S = Single rank
4 = a 4x rank chip
G = ?
R = Registered

Reference: http://www.kingston.com/literature/pdf_files/mkF_672_6_vridentifier.pdf

In addition to that the 2nd one shows up when searched at www.kingston.com The 1st one does not. Kingston only comes up with a rebate form for circuit city when searching for the 1st one.

I haven't been able to find anywhere what the 0 might stand for other than to think that ranks wouldn't matter when using registered memory.

I know that it's not good to mix ranks. the x4 and x8 ranks get into talking about high and low density. I know that certain computers have issues with high or low density and may not work with one or the other. This is also an extreme and is something I have run into as a PC tech, but very very unoften.

As it seems a D would mean that it contains 2 'rows' of memory, the 4x, 8x would indicate the number of 'channels' or how many there is per 'row'

The distinction between x4 or x8 is determined by the different number of data outputs per DRAM; with the total amount of memory available per DRAM being the same (for example, an x4 DRAM has twice the number of addresses as an x8, but each is half as large)

4x = Low density 8x = High density

As for high density memory, it is incompatable with a lot of motherboards and chipsets, it is generally incompatable with nforce and intel chipsets

# x4 vs x8 DRAMs

* DIMMs always have 64 DQ lines coming from the board
* x4 DRAMs have 4 DQ lines, and 1 DQS line
o A DIMM with x4 DRAMs needs 16 DRAMs to get 64 total DQ lines
o Therefore, also need 16 DQS lines
* X8 DRAMs have 8 DQ lines, and 1 DQS line
o A DIMM with x8 DRAMs needs 8 DRAMs to get 64 total DQ lines
o Therefore, also need 8 DQS lines

# Single Rank vs Dual Rank

* Remember that Chip Select chooses which DIMM a command is meant for
* Some DIMMs accept two separate Chip Selects
o They behave as if they are 2 separate DIMMs but on one physical board
o They require double the number of DRAMs, and only have are active at a time
+ X8 16 DRAMs
+ X4 32 DRAMs, requires DRAMs to be physically stacked on each other, 2 high
* Single Rank – one chip select goes to the DIMM
* Dual Rank – two chip selects go to the DIMM


Do you need registered memory? if yes get the top one, if not, I'd get the bottom one.

For the TL;DR people out there

Top one registered memory. Bottom one, low density single rank with 4 'channels'

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation Daetlus. Yeah, I checked the Kingston website and came to the same search feedbacks.

Funny things is when I called Fry's, the model # it shows up as S0 instead of S4 in their system.

 

so. i know this is an old topic. but itwould help to know. i have a dell inspiron and i installed 1 gig of kvr533d2s0, which i got from circuit city for like 90 bucks. and i just looked on newegg.com and they have the kvr533d2s4. would it be bad to mix and match? or would it be ok to use the one from newegg with the one currently in my computer.

 

If the R in KVR533D2SO/1G does stand for Registered then that means you're not going to be able to mix and match it with unregistered memory. Registered memory is also slower than unregistered memory. Registered memory does error checking to prevent any errors and usually it's only used in servers so that's why I question whether or not that R stands for Registered. I wouldn't see a lot of use for ECC on a laptop but who knows.

 

I sent an email to Kingston yesterday asking the same question because Google search didn't solve this puzzle.

Note that it's not S0 (s-zero) but SO (s-oh). My gut feeling is that SO means SODIMM. There are very few stores that still offer SO so this model might be discontinued. This would also explain why there is no info on Kingston website about it.

When you search for recommended memory to A135-S2276 Kingston suggests KTT533D2/1G. Despite a lot of research I was unable to come up with any confirmation that KTT is any faster than KVR. What I found out though is that KTT533D2/1G is manufactured by various companies ( http://www.memoryx.net/ktt533d21g.html) and the model # assures Toshiba compatibilty. If this is true, then Kingston's KTT may be the same as KVR, only named KTT for Toshiba sake.

I'll post again when I get an answer from Kingston.

 

Is this what you're looking for:
http://www.valueram.com/notebook/memory.asp

 

PLease let me know, I've been dying to figure this one out!

 

Good find, but doesn't seem to explain this case.

 

After 2 phone calls and an email to Kingston I finally solved the mystery. According to Kingston KVR533D2SO/1GR and KVR533D2S4/1G are exactly same models. The model with R at the end basically means it's sold by retailers (similarly to Retail and OEM versions of many other components you can buy online). The "Retail" number is further simplified so it doesn't show latency. Indeed, it says SO (SODIMM) not S0 (zero) as some people thought.

Having said that, both Kingston technicians who I spoke to do not recommend ValueRam memory in Toshiba Satellite (in my case A135-S2276).

Quote:
ValueRam memory does not have certain controlled build of materials, such as components, as required by the system to be compatible.

The KTT533D2/1G is the recommended part number for your system. When Kingston offers memory for an OEM system like Toshiba this means it is designed to be physically and functionally equivalent to the original manufacturer memory.

Kingston Technology offers two memory product lines: Kingston Branded and ValueRAM. While both product lines are made with premium components and are carefully designed and manufactured, they differ in support and testing services.

• Kingston's branded memory line has been designed, manufactured and tested to the specifications of each particular brand name computer system. Kingston's branded memory is tested more extensively, being subjected to system-specific tests, system/chip compatibility tests, system/chip performance tests, as well as having a controlled build of materials and adherence to system-specific constraints and production requirements.
  
• ValueRAM memory by Kingston is our value-priced line of industry-standard, generic memory. ValueRAM is available for those customers who have a white box or generic computer system, or who plan to purchase memory by specification.

The last sentence of my quote above is particularly interesting and would mean that if you buy memory by specification then KVR is fine (somewhat contradictory to what was said by the same person earlier).

When I asked why in this case Circuit City offers only KVR and recommends it for my Toshiba, the CSR responded that "retailers offer only KVR because KVR are more generic so retailers don't need to carry a lot of memory sticks for each specific computer. However, it wouldn't be the first time when a Circuit City customer calls Kingston for support because the KVR he bought doesn't work with his computer. Furthermore, Kingston offers warranty/replacement only for defective items, not incompatible items" (for that we have store return policy ). According to Kingston representative, "KVR works well with popular motherboards such as Asus, Soyo etc but, again, it's not recommended or tested with Toshiba systems and KVR may or may not work properly in such systems".

Personally, I have never heard of a person whose Toshiba Satellite wouldn't work with KVR and I did a lot of research (forums, customer reviews, spec data etc). I found many cases of KVR not working with Mac's though. So, the fact that there are technical differences between generic (KVR) and brand (KTT) memory are definitely true at least for some models such as Powerbooks.

In fact, I have a generic 1GB PNY stick in my Toshiba right now and it works without any problems. As to which KVR you should choose from the two models in the subject of this thread, you can pick any of them. They are both the same.

I hope this clears up things a bit

 

Awesome. You are my hero for the week, thank-you for this wonderful info. I've always suspected this to tbe the case, but didn't want to risk it. In any case, I can feel confident upgrading my toshiba with non-specific ram now.

 

Greg220,

Any thought to how good or comparable to Kingston RAM is to Crucial RAM???

TIA,
Cindy