Quick Question: single 4gb memory stick in NP5791

Sorry for the dumb question, but I just wanted to make sure before I go out and purchase new memory, and I couldn't find a direct answer anywhere.

If I might later want to get 8gb of memory, can my NP5791 run on a single 4gb DDR2 so-DIMM module for now? I'd rather purchase one stick now and have the ability to get more later if possible.

I'm not even exactly sure if I just have one 2gb stick in my laptop right now (rather than 2x1gb sticks), just what I have insinuated from another thread, but I will try and check when I get home later today. I guess there is always the option of just buying one more 2gb stick cheap and later upgrading to 8gb if it's necessary at a cheaper price (hopefully). Thanks for your time!

 

Installed 8GB before, worked no problem.

 

Ah ok, thanks for the response! Did you by any chance try just having one stick of 4gb in there for a while? Im just wondering if I can get by with 1 stick of 4gb until I wanna purchase another 4gb stick later.

 

Yes, you can do that too.

 

If you're doing that, you might as well run with one 4GB stick + one of your current sticks (be it 1 or 2GB)

 

Ok, thanks very much guys! I will go get a 4gb stick and put it in with whatever I got . There are issues with mixing different sticks I thought though, aren't there? I mean, guess not given the input presented here, but I was under the impression that you had to have two identical memory modules? And just to clarify, I need to look for 667/DDR2 so-DIMM's? Thanks!

 

For the 5791 it takes 200 Pin DDR2 667MHz SODIMM's. You can mix different sized RAM modules.

 

Mixing memory sticks should be fine, and usually is. If they are of differing speeds/latencies then the faster one(s) will run at the speeds of the slower one(s). However, sometimes some systems don't like certain combinations generally for completely unknown/illogical reasons.

In conclusion, try with the 4GB and one of what you already have, and if it causes problems (unlikely, but possible) then remove the old stick and run with 4GB.

 

The only reason (apart from possible compatibility issues) to run 2 identical memory sticks is to get synchronous dual-channel mode going, which gives you a (small) boost in performance. Realistically, you'd never notice, and running two sticks at least lets you run in asynchronous dual-channel mode, which will still be better than just a single stick.

 

Ok thanks a lot guys!

 

Remember though, if you only have 1 dimm, you are going to take a small speed loss because it won't be running in dual-channel mode, which would be active with 2 identical dimms.