The right RAM for my HP Pavillon dv8000t (with T2500 2.00 Ghz) ??

Hey guys, after long consideration I'm planing to buy a HP Pavillon dv8000t, with the following specs

Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition
Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2.00 GHz)
17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050)
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600
512MB DDR2 RAM
100GB 7200 RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive
....

now, I want to replace the 512MB RAM that come with it, with 2 gig RAM of a brand and from an onlineshop that you recommend to me...

1) it should be fast (out of the box, no overclocking or stuff like that) and thus increase the notebooks overall performance (I'm doing lots of 3Dmax, photoshop and office stuff, some gaming)

2) it should be cheaper than $200

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146125

Theres that kind. A brand I've never heard of.

Or you can buy two of any of these SODIMMS. The best deal I've seen recently, if you don't care about BIG brand names, is here. If you ask me, all ram is pretty much the same.

I just ordered two SODIMMS of corsair value select DDR2 5300 ram from newegg.com. took two days to get to me. Popped em in. it worked like a charm.

 

what speed should they be? I find the different types, such as DDR2 5300 or DDR2 667Mhz irritating.. what is what and what is right for me, given the cpu and bus speed I have?

 

The ram you currently have is most likely PC4200 533 Mhz (that's what HP puts in). The ram you should get, like chris said, are DDR2 200 pin 677 Mhz SODIMMS PC5300 or PC5400.

 

hey quiong.. thanks, that makes things clearer..
but what is the difference between pc5300 and pc5400?
and would you agree on cosair ram, or choose a different brand?

 

There is no difference between PC5300 and PC5400 - it is a numbering issue. The numbering is calculated by multiplying the clockspeed of the RAM (in this case, 667MHz) by eight. 667 * 8 = 5336. It all depends on how manufacturers round the number - some go up, some go down - makes no difference, it's the same stuff. I'd go with PC5300 simply because there is more of a selection.

Corsair RAM is excellent. Also consider OCZ and Crucial.

 

thanks chaz, very helpful answer!
now I get it