Questions regarding the C501NR's RAM capabilities.

Hi, I have an Alienware M5790 that I recently upgraded from 1GB RAM to 2GB RAM. My girlfriend just got her laptop for college and she has the Compaq C501NR.

My question is will my old Memory sticks work in her laptop? My Alienware's old RAM sticks were 1GB DDR2 667.

I just wanted to see if I would be able to give her my old RAM sticks to allow her computer to have 1GB of RAM.

Thanks in advance.

 

Judging by a quick google, it looks like that Compaq laptop has DDR2 RAM, so it should be ok. As far as I know, DDR2 will operate at the speed of the slowest stick in the system, so if she has a stick that's in there at 533 MHz, both sticks will operate at 533. I can't find any specs on the speed of the ram that comes with that laptop.

Someone please correct me if I'm totally wrong here.

 

You may be right... Im not sure about her laptop much... I assume it has 2 slots for memory sticks, but don't you have to put two of the same sticks in the system?

 

It should have 2. But one of the slots might be beneath the keyboard area. Open up the door for the RAM and check if you have one open slot or two.

It is not necesary to have two sticks, you can use odd numbers as well. Running 2 equal sticks enables dual channel but DC doesnt offer any noticable performance boost, so you wont be losing much by going with unequal sticks or just running a single stick.

 

Oh okay. So what you're saying is sometimes there is a Memory stick that is "inaccessable", but there can be a slot that would allow me to put my old stick in?

BUt just to double check:
If I find the open slot (whether that be the one slot or two slots), I can add 1 of my 2 RAM sticks in it, and it would function correctly because her originalstick would slow it down to 533MHz?

 

I wouldnt call it inaccessible but you will have to remove the keyboard to access it. You can also check the number of memory slots on the system by running CPU-Z. It is a nifty ittle app which will show you hardware info in your system.

As for as the second part. Yes, you can add 1 extra stick leaving the original as is. It doesnt affect the system nor its performance. As has been said previously it will run only as fast as the slowest module. Also since the C501 has Celeron M with 533MHz FSB, the memory is going to be limited by and is going to sync with the bus speed.

 

Okay. Well now all thats left for me to check is how many sticks she has in there and how accessible they are. (either way you slice it i'll have to leave one of her sticks in so it wont matter if its hidden under the keyboard or not.)
I'll just add one of my 512MB sticks in there. I know her computer has the standard 512MB of RAM in there at the moment. Would you happen to know if this computer has 1 stick of 512MB or 2 of 256? (I can't seem to find this on the internet)

Either way I'll be able to put one of mine in and give her a little more memory. (256 + 512) or (512 + 512).

Oh one more quick question for when I go over there tomorrow to look at her computer. THis CPU-Z, is this a program I have to download or does her computer already have it (not sure if its a compaq thing or not). Thanks

 

According to the HP spec sheet it should have 1X512MB...
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...6669&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

CPU-Z needs to be downloaded and is not included in the system. You can download if from here...
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

Wow okay well then if the computer does have a single 512MB stick thats almost perfect because that'll allow me to put my stick in and slow it to 533MHz... and still give it the 1GB potential. Thank you for your help.

quick edit: i noticed earlier you said that it has the Celeron M with 533MHz FSB (what is FSB). And when you said it wont affect the system or performance that doesnt mean it wont add more RAM it just means it wont harm anything, correct? (Im just making sure im 100 percent sure that this'll work before i open her laptop)

 

FSB or Front side Bus is the 'tunnel' which connects the cpu to the components on the motherboard. Since it runs at 533MHz the RAM will sync with this speed even if the RAM is capable of running faster.

Yes, it wont hurt the system but you will definately see a performance increase.

 

Thank you. This site has some of the most knowledgable people on it.