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    Ram question

    Discussion in 'HP' started by Vaath, Sep 16, 2006.

  1. Vaath

    Vaath Notebook Deity

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    Hey,

    My friend recently bought an HP nc8430 Part# EY688AA#ABA

    I noticed it says it comes with 1gig of 533mhz

    First what ram would u recommend and where from?

    Also if he puts in a 667mhz would it use that or just clock down to 533mhz?

    Lastly, He is interested in upgrading....he wants atleast 2gig, but is also considering 2 2gig chips. I advised he just get 2 1 gigers and wait and see.

    He plays games on it : Mainly World of Warcraft but he's looking into unreal 2007 and such.

    I have 2 gig in my notebook and it seems speedy. So is the bigger ram chips worth the extra $$$
     
  2. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    DDR2-667 won't make much difference on an Intel notebook but he might as well buy it, unless the price is much higher. Intel notebooks will accept just about anything, see the customer reviews on newegg.com.

    I'm not sure how well a 32-bit notebook will react to 4GB of RAM. Technically that's the 32-bit limit (2^32 = 4GB) but then there's virtual memory, Windows memory management goofiness... and 2GB SODIMMs are EXPENSIVE. I'd stick with 2GB. Unless you're running a 64-bit notebook with a 64-bit OS I'd consider 2GB to be the practical limit.
     
  3. MGS2392

    MGS2392 NAND Cat!

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    So, where do you find these 2GB sticks? :)
     
  4. Apathosaurus

    Apathosaurus Notebook Consultant

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    I'm fairly sure most notebooks are not capable of handling 4GB of memory.
     
  5. MGS2392

    MGS2392 NAND Cat!

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    HP's business lines are.
     
  6. Vaath

    Vaath Notebook Deity

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    Hi,

    He is set on getting a 2gig chip. He wants to know if he pulls out a 512meg and puts in the 2gig for a total 2.5gig....will the fact they are 2 different size chips make it a problem/not work?
     
  7. MGS2392

    MGS2392 NAND Cat!

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    It probably would worl. It may or may not work in dual channel mode, but it should present no problems, although sometimes, there are systems that are picky with brand and things like that.
     
  8. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It should work, but it depends on how compatible the 2GB memory is ith the system and the 512MB stick.

    2GB sticks are also very(I mean very) expensive. Unless he is willing to spend upward of $700 just for RAM, I would advise againist it...
    http://www.memoryx.net/bpe.html
    http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.Asp?IMODULE=CT25664AC667
     
  9. MGS2392

    MGS2392 NAND Cat!

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    Hmmm, if I get 2 of those, I'd spend more money than I spent on the laptop itself :)