Again, they told me that it could'nt be done... Lighting strikes twice! CF-30 memory

As we know, there is always some knucklehead that doubts Panasonic and Intel Engineers, and thinks that he can push these machines out of the planed parameters. This board is loaded with them! Today, I am proud to be among that group.

I have a CF-30FCS85AM, thanks to Jeff and several others here. I was a bit disappointed that the common consensus was that Win7 x64 Ultimate was a poor OS decision as I only had 4GB of RAM. So, I decided that clearly the only way to solve this software problem, was with hardware!

One night after doing some serious research, while drunk, I ordered (2X4GB) SODIMM 667MHz 200-Pin PC2-5300 DDR2 1.8V Low Density 16 CHIP, Notebook memory modules. I had read all of the information I could find, and most of it said I was wrong, but well, I was disinterested in that answer... So, without more steaming PS, the MAX RAM of a CF-30 Mk2 is, drumroll... 8 Gigabytes! *

 

Bravo...

 

Congratulations again

 

Holy Smokes! Way to go! I guess we'll be seeing these on eBay soon! LOL

 

As long as the ram and unit can play well together,why not? I think someone did that with a CF-19 over at the dark side,I run 64 bit Windows 7 on this CF-52G and always have.
But congrats,you little rebel you.

 

As I said in another thread if it can be done the pig will do it... :laugh: Good job Azrial.

 

Thanks for the kind words!

I would like to say that I am more pleased that I was able to do this upgrade myself! I know that it is a "piece of cake," but just a little over two months ago I was having a problem holding a coffee cup with one of my hands.

BTW, Ubuntu Linux sees 7.8GB of RAM.

 

Thanks for doing the pioneering!

Looking to upgrade as well. Seems like DDR2-800 PC2-6400 is cheaper than the slower DDR2-667 PC2-5300. It shouldn't matter for a CF-30 Mk2, right?

Does anyone know if the G-Skill F2-6400CL6D-8GBSQ will work? I believe it's low-density. Willing to look at other manufacturers as well; that's just the one that I picked out of the Newegg website.

 

Welcome to the Panasonic Toughbook forum

The 6400 works just fine but will only run at the slower speed...it's just cheaper. I never used that brand before.

 

The brands I use most of the time.

First choice...
Crucial
Hynix
Samsung
Kingston
Micron

and my second choice...
Nanya
Elpida

The look of prices at newegg for that memory you might want to check eBay, about $124.99 :thumbsup:

 

That's usually the combination that makes me order more stuff to try on these things...
Maybe they need an alcohol interaction warning label added to them.
:laugh:
Congrats on your success!

 

Azrial... I love this thread!!! You rock!

I love it when someone steps out of the comfort zone and teaches us ALL a lesson!

Thank You!

 

Toughasnails, thanks for the welcome and the suggestions.

I will check eBay for that RAM. $125 is a lot more affordable than $245 for an 8GB Crucial kit on Newegg.ca. lol

 

Holy cow... I started reading this and thought I read you responding to "Toenails".... I hope I just didn't coin something here.

Too much Jack for me tonight! LOL

 

Here's a random tip........

DO NOT type "toenails" into google and then go to the images......

 

Uh, I wouldn't have... but thanks for the tip. lol

Haven't found RAM that cheap yet. Closest has been just under $160, which I guess isn't too bad.

Did I read that I have to do more than just remove the bottom RAM cover to replace the first stick? I stuck a 2GB stick in from my old laptop so that I'd have 4GB for now, but didn't pay attention to what had to be done to replace the first one. If I remember, it was covered by a sliding black plastic retainer for the second stick.

 

T-bolt...only if you have a smartcard reader. What's your full model number?

Caution: Try to not pull the two center FFC cables loose. Too much risk of damage as they are a bit flimsy. First remove two black screws in the fingerprint reader and see if you can lift it enough to clear the ram. That doesn't work and you loosen two black and two silver screws towards media bay to loosen it up a little.

I have another one or four to work on pictures may be available then. To be clear this is with the bottom removed. Smoosh the silly putty before you re-install.

J'd

 

It's a CF-30FCDAXAM.

No smart-card reader or fingerprint reader.

 

Cool....ram accessible through the door. It's still a good idea if you have heating troubles to pull the bottom and smoosh the thermal pad. Nice unit....enjoy.

J'd

 

No heating troubles yet, as I've only had it on for a few minutes so far. Basically enough time to verify that it powers up, and to take a wander through the BIOS settings. lol But thanks; at least I'll have an idea where to look if there IS a heat problem.

Waiting for the hard drive caddy, SSD, and DVD multidrive to show up, all of which should be here on Monday, from three different sources.

 

This is what I used in my Mk2.

8GB 2x4GB Memory 512x64 PC2 5300 667MHz 1 8V DDR2 200 Pin So DIMM | eBay

$138.00 Free Shipping

 

Hm, it says US$169 for me.

However, I see that Sterling also has PC2-6400 800MHz sticks that are $158.
8GB 2x4GB DDR2 Memory RAM PC2 6400 SODIMM 200 Pin | eBay

 

I just bought two 4GB sticks of new Micron MT16HTF51264HZ-800C1 (PC2-6400 800MHz) for US$100 for the pair. Very happy about that!

 

The RAM finally showed up today. I installed it and everything is good!

 

Blair... You should sticky this or, at least, add it (link) to the CF-30 FAQ with BIG BOLD letters!

Azrial... Again... GREAT find! Kudos!

 

I added a link in the cf30 thread that is stickied already

 

I will add this soon. Going to put all the CF-30 stuff together. It seams it's spread all over so it's time to do some house cleaning

 

Interestingly, the BIOS shows 8GB installed, but only 4GB available. Windows 7 64-bit sees 8GB.

 

My BIOS in my CF-53 shows...

Available memory 16269 MB (3239 MB for 32bit OS)

All 32Bit Windows OS will only see 3239MB (4GB)
All 64Bit Windows OS will see up to 16GB