Newbie Needs S460P Memory advice

Just purchased a S460P (think I got a deal for $1320 after rebate), anyway - the machine comes with 2 x 256 DDR2 PC2 3200 ram. THis machine and ram operate at 400mhz. So I ordered a 1 Ghz stick to replace one of the 256 sticks. I would then have 1.25 gigs of ram but not with matching sticks.

Then I was reading the sony website and discovered the S460P will support DDR2 PC2 4200 ram, which operates at 533mhz.

So my question is this - is it worth replacing all of the ram in the machine to accomplish 2 things:

To operate the FSB at 533 mhz
To have matching sticks to hopefully utalize dual channels?

Finally how much of a difference will I notice between these 2 possible configurations:

1.2GB of DDR2 PC3200 @ 400mhz
2GB of DDR2 PC4200 @533mhz

I cannot find out if the machine will operate at 533mhz - however the new model (s580) which has the same chipset does operate at 533mhz - do my assumption is that the S460 will as well.

Thanks in advance for any help or insight.

So my question is this. Is it worth it to remover

 

1.25 GB RAM is a plenty large enough amount. Even if it supports the faster speed, you won't feel it, and for most people anything over 1GB is a waste.

 

Thanks Brian. However I am wondering about the benefits of having:

faster ram - PC2 3200 vs PC2 4200
Faster FSB of 533mhz vs. 400mhz (not sure if the S460 can take advantage of this) and finally
Will the dual channel work with 2 faster sticks.

FYI this is about a $160 upgrade.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Jeme,

I upgraded my S460 with two 1GB PC4200 DDR2 sticks with the following results:

1. The FSB speed DOES NOT change with the faster RAM. The PC4200 RAM is operating at the slower PC3200 speed, so there is no performance benefit there.

2. Dual channel operation is enabled with these two 1GB memory sticks, but the overall performance increase in memory bandwidth is only about 3- 5%, which makes no noticeable difference in perceived speed of laptop.

So is upgrading to 2GB from the 1.2GB that you already have worth it? Not really, but I did it anyway just because I wanted to max out the memory and it was relatively cheap to do...

-Robert

 

Robert - thanks! I ended up purchasing the 2 1 GB sticks. Like you it was only about a $75 difference - so I thought what the heck.

Any hints for changing the module under the keyboard?

 

jeme, look in the user guide at http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=VGNS580P Go to the "Upgrading your Vaio computer" section and you will see directions on how to install both memory modules. Good luck.

 

Got the bottom module no problem - I just can't get the keyboard off - I have removed the screws moved the switches up - but something is holding the keyboard in the middle. Any advice?

 

careful not to bend the keyboard or you will deform it. just get a tiny flathead and stick it in at the top middle of the keyboard. you should be able to see a little clip holding the keyboard down there. using the flathead push the keyboard down and out of that clip. hope this helps. if you do deform the keyboard then you should try molding it back so your lcd screen doesn't end up hitting the keys.

i learned the hard way a few hours ago, haha. good luck!

 

Thanks - heck I cannot get this thing out - I think I am going to go to COmpUSA to get this done. So if they mess up the keyboard they pay! did you bend yours?

 

yeah, i just got my s580 today. a few hours earlier i was changing the ram and was following the directions to a t and was wondering why it wasn't coming out. i later realized the middle cliip was holding it in so i was able to use a small flathead and get the keyboard out. by then, i noticed my keyboard was already slightly bent at the corners so i had to bend them back. i think it's okay now though, but darn sony for not mentioning it in their writeup, haha. oh well, live and learn.