64bit in SZ650? or 3 gig of ram

Hi guys is it possible to install 64 bit vista in SZ650 and where to find the drivers? any performance gain (or stability?) My other option is to upgrade ram from 2 gig. But should I put 4 ot 3? I know the 4 gig can't be addressed by vista 32bit, but putting 3 gig meaning I have to install 1+2 (replace one stick of RAM) DOes it mean I lost dual chanel? How's SODIMM different from normal DDR?

Thanks in advance

 

With dual channel you will lose that i believe if you install 3GB but the performance gain for dual channel ram is very small like 3%. You will benefit from upgrading your ram anyway.

Your laptop only takes Sodimm DDR2 ram.

I would advise on going for 4GB if you are going for 64 bit Vista. The price of DDR2 ram has really gone down as well and 2GB sticks are relatively cheap now.

 

Hi,

From what I know, it seems that 64 bit drivers will only be offered on the current models (Z/SR/etc.) There is a performance gain, and you could say that it's less stable because the 32 bit drivers have been developed for a longer time, but probably not. 3gigs of ram should be enough, unless you're running some intense programs like video editing software (I'm currently running vista on 2gb of ram and have never even went close to using the full 2gb so there would be no difference in performance with more ram). You will get more ram from putting in 4 gigs, but the full 4 gigs will not be recognized, i think you'll get around 3.45gigs instead. I don't know about dual channel and SODIMM, sorry!

I hope this helps, if I gave any wrong info, please correct me.

 

You still have Dual channel with 2GB + 1GB. Like rachuk said, go for 4GB, it's very cheap now.
I'm running my SZ7 with Vista 64bit, well there are still some problems but it works fine.
You can't compare DDR to SODIMM
SODIMM is the form (SO = Small Outline) ---> Laptop. And DIMM is for the PC.
DDR is the class of RAM, which is (SDR, DDR, DDR2, DDR3...)
Of course you can't insert a RAM which is not the ame form and the same class of your RAM. For your SZ6, it's SODIMM DDR2

 

This post is very informative about dual channel ram. In order to get true dual channel ram you do need to be using matching sized sticks and type of ram.

 

The new PC can run Dual channel with different sized stick.
I have tried it myself with my SZ3VP, there is no difference of performance between 2GB + 1GB and 1GB + 1GB. Cpuz shows Dual channel in the 2 cases

 

I think you'll need same type and size of sticks to have dual channel work.

Another benefit of 4GB is that the remaining RAM can be addressed for the IGP.

Also, the remaining part can be used for a RAM disk. I don't know exactly what it is but it may be worth looking into.

 

Yes there appears to be an ever so slight difference between dual channel flex mode and dual symmetric ram mode. The difference like i said is very small and you would be better of performance wise (depending on what you are doing of course) if you went for 3GB instead of 2GB.

Btw, i am running Vista 32bit on my SZ7 and i have 4GB installed. The BIOS says that 3072GB is recognised so effectively just 3GB. Like Phil said though there may be more going on behind the scenes with the ram that is left over.

 

I don't think you need to have the same make of modules in order to get full dual channel. They need to be the same size and have the same timings to get the best performance. Otherwise the computer will use the timings of the slower module.

John

 

The linked to post was helpful when it was written, but is dated.

No, you do not need the same size modules to get either Dual Channel or synchronous mode. It depends on the memory controller (northbridge chipset and/or CPU, depending on the computer) and type of RAM.
With DDR3, there is no such requirements -- the RAM has to be able to run similar timing specs to get synchronous mode, but the dual channel happens on the same RAM chip (think of a 2 GB DDR3 RAM SODIMM as two 1 GB chips packaged on the same printboard).

With 2 + 1 GB in my VGN-Z590, I have Dual Channel and synchronous mode, verified with CPU-Z 1.49

(On my older desktop computer, on the other hand, I have to use two sticks of the same capacity and in the correct slots to get dual channel, and won't get synchronous unless all the sticks have similar specs.)

 

arthe1 you might be right there about the DDR3 ram. That post may well need updating in view of DDR3 ram. Anyway in the OP's case they use DDR2 so what was said will still apply.

 

Hi, thanks for the info, I am also wondering if I would get any gain by upgrade to DDR2 800? I know the FSB of SZ is 800mhz and the RAM is running at 667. I am sure someone asked this question b4, but I just want to check to make sure, especially after see this review:

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Sony-Vaio-SZ650.htm