4 gb on a SZ6XX

Hello everyone,

I've searched for some infos regarding this subject and I didn't find any answer.

So, basically there are two things I'd like to know:

1) Has anyone tried to upgrade the SZ6XX to 4 GB ram?

2) Does Vista Business recognize this quantity (or at least performs as if it had this quantity)?

thanks in advance!

 

I believe as long as it is vista 64 bit it will... as for the ram it all depends on the motherboard, but if it is a relatively new laptop I would assume it wouldn't be a problem upgrading to 4gb

 

You need the 64-bit version of an operating system, otherwise the system will only be able to access ~3-3.5GB of total RAM, or if you have a 32-bit version, you can search up PAE, but that's a bit fiddly.

Regardless, you probably wouldn't notice the difference between 3 and 4GB of RAM for most general computer uses.

 

Well, since I'm 99% sure I have a 32-bit version, I think it would be a waste of money if I'd choose for 4 gb of ram. (although I really need it!!)...

 

4GB RAM is cheap enough now and if you're on 2GB you'll still get an extra 1.2GB. With that amount you can afford to reduce the size of your pagefile. 32-bit Vista will still use around 2.5GB RAM with a few apps open.

You can also sell your 2GB of RAM to reclaim some of the cost.

 

PAE is enabled by default in Vista -- the OS itself limits the amount of memory regardless of PAE.

For XP, setting PAE can have an effect. In general, you'll slow down the system a slight bit, but gain the ability to run more than (4 GB minus hardware addresses = ~3GB) RAM. But a single process can not see more than 2 GB, so it's not useful if you intend to e.g. give Photoshop a boatload of RAM.

 

Indeed it would be a waste. The difference in usable memory between a 3 GB and a 4 GB Z running 32-bit Vista is not enough to notice -- in effect, both will have 3 GB of memory. If you currently have 2 GB, upgrading to 3 GB would be worthwhile, though.

Setting up ReadyBoost (on a Memory Stick, SD card or USB drive) won't give you more memory either -- it will act as a compressed shadow for the disk swap, but not as memory. (It's still beneficial to add it regardless of how much memory you have.)

 

i have sz650, vista x64, and 4gb of memory. updated to the latest bios(04/08) and can confirm all 4gb are recognized in bios and system information. since you have business 32 bit, if you went with 4gb...it would recognize about 3.11gb of memory. i always say..the more memory the better!

 

The maximum amount of usable memory for a 32-bit Vista system is 3120 MB, or 3.05 GB (3 GB = 3072 MB). This is hardcoded, ostensibly to avoid apps that can only run on some Windows machines and not others, even if you upgrade the memory. In practice, these apps would likely hit the 2 GB-per-process limit anyhow.
See Microsoft KB929605 for details.

So the maximum you will get out of having 4 GB of memory is a whooping 48 (3120-3072) MB more. That's the maximum -- it's usually less. In reality, a Z with 3 GB and one with 4 GB will report an almost identical amount of memory, making buying 4 GB of memory a waste of money (and presumably a minute or so of battery life) unless you plan to upgrade to a 64-bit OS.

 

@arth1: i have x64 vista so ive got all 4gb of memory bud! however, i do see your point to aacury. it all depends..does he have 2gb of ram right now or is he already at 3gb? memory isnt that expensive these days so he may be able to pick up an a 2gb stick for $10 more. if he decides to get another laptop in the future..that move would definately pay off also because he has 2 capacity matching sticks of ram.

 

wow, thanks for all of your inputs.

actually, I have now the 2GB of RAM that came originally installed. As I work with Matlab, Fortran and Java programming, I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade it now, since the prices are relatively lower.

BUT, I really don't see a point in buying 4GB if those apps cited above won't be able to used it as a whole...