Thinkpad T61 Ram Upgrade

So I just bought myself a T61:

ThinkPad T61 15 Widescreen
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)
1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
9 cell Li-Ion Battery

I now want to upgrade the RAM. After reading several posts on the forums that suggest purchasing RAM elsewhere since it's much cheaper, are there any suggestions on which RAM will work well with a Thinkpad T61?

I found the following deals:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) - $78.99 w/ free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135

4GB DDR2 PC5300 DUAL SO-DIMM / CORSAIR - $74.99 + shipping
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5468099

DDR2 4GB PC5300 DUAL SO-DIMM PATRIOT - $59.99 + shipping
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5247587

Kingston 4GB Kit (2 x 2GB) PC2-5300 667Mhz DDR2 - $75.24 w/ free shipping
http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-4g...aptop-memory-modules/q/loc/101/206684926.html

What's a better stick of RAM? Does it matter? Will any of these work? Will one have better performance over the other? I was looking through the RAM buying guide post and it mentioned all the RAM is about the same but after looking through some reviews of some RAM on sites like newegg, some people reported that certain sticks were not compatible with their specific laptop and they had to return (manufacturer representative even posted a reply stating that the RAM indeed was not compatible with the specific laptop model in question). So I just want to be sure that a particular stick of RAM will in fact work with a Thinkpad with the configuration I posted above. Thanks!

 

All those are name brand with CORSAIR, PATRIOT and Kingston being almost the big 3. The G.SKILL is good and will work fine. I am curious the manufacturer representative who posted, was his comment favorable to his company? I suspect it was I doubt he said oh yea and ours doesn't work with such and such. If so a very biased useless opinion that is self serving. RAM is built to standards set up by JEDEC so they all work within those tolerances. I have heard of certain notebooks/performance ones being picky. This is likely because they are pushing some envelope for performance and going a little out of spec. If not this reason then just bad system design. ThinkPads is not one of those with these issues. But PATRIOT is the cheapest I would buy that in a heartbeat.

 

Agreed with powerpack. I'm running on a mix of a 2GB sticks of A-Data and Kingston RAM, and my laptop hasn't hiccuped or given a protest at all.

Just buy whatever's cheapest, which would be the Patriot.

 

Go cheap with Patriot or go for best performance with the G. Skill with 4-4-4-12 timings.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231154

 

Look here for the manufacturer comment:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135

See the review/comment posted on 3/1/2008 3:33:47 PM.

 

Always take performance over cheap. You get what you pay for

 

Is the G. Skill product with 4-4-4-12 timings much better performance over the cheaper Patriot product? Will it provide a noticable difference when running lots of memory intensive programs?

 

[DELETED] See p.2 of thread, where I posted a clearer response.

 

It is faster. It's $30 more than the Patriot memory mentioned in this thread.
Doesn't cost much more than other 667mhz SO-DIM CL 5 DDR2 RAM either.
Unless you are going for ultimate speed you probably will never notice the difference.

The fastest 667 MHZ DDR2 RAM made has 3-3-3-10 CL speed. It's not available in notebook SO-DIM form though.

Good read on cas latency with benchmark information:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/print/core2duo-memory-guide.html

 

^^ Thanks for the link!

 

Remember the key to all of this: If you buy RAM that can run at 3-3-3-10 timings, but your system's BIOS only supports 4-4-4-12 timings, you've wasted your money; the system won't run your RAM at the fastest timings it is capable of. A memory module (using the SPD-EEPROM chip on each module) tells the system what speeds it is capable of running at, but in the end, the BIOS makes the determination.

Laptops, and OEM desktops are far more likely to have support for only a few sets of timings. So with that in mind "going for performance" may net you nothing, since you could buy ultra-fast memory, and your notebook may not run it at those ultra-fast speeds. Note that Lenovo themselves ships PC-5300 memory in their systems, probably with fairly basic timings.

Unless you can find documentation that shows what timings are supported by your ThinkPad's BIOS, you'd have to borrow performance memory from someone else and run CPU-Z to confirm whether you're running at performance settings (and thus, whether your ThinkPad is capable of setting performance memory timings). My guess is you will find that most notebooks will run conservative timings for stability, making performance memory not worth the price.

 

I did similar thing! Order my T61 with 1x1GB and getting 1x2GB from Futureshop.ca for only $39.99cad... Better deal than Lenovo and if there are problems with the ram, simply return them at any local store!

Once 1x2GB hit $29.99, I will upgrade again

 

I don't think 3-3-3-10 DDR2 667mhz is available for notebooks.


I tested the G. Skill 4-4-4-12 after I installed it with CPU-Z and it did detect 4-4-4-12 speeds.