RAM and HDD upgrade for VAIO Z?

I ordered a Z590 from Sony online two days ago. Now I am thinking of adding 2GB of RAM and switch the HDD to WD 500GB.

What brand and model of RAM does Z uses? Any recommendation?

Also, the WD Scorpio Blue 500gb HDD is out of stock everywhere. Is the HDD inside passport essential 500gb the same? Some source said it has 2mb cache instead of 8mb. can someone confirm this?

many thank in advance

 

Not sure about the brand/model used by the Z series. But you can use any reputable brand such as Kingston, Crucial, OCZ or Corsair.

 

another vote for Crucial for the RAM.

for HD, read the user reports at Newegg. I like WD, too - but some batches have more errors. Do you want 7200 rpm?

 

I would not count on it. It may be a Samsung drive. The WD5000BEVT is in very low supply.

 

thank you for the advice.

I was thinking of match memory so dual channel works better.... but again, crucial and kingston should be fine also. I remember my TZ had some inexpensive generic memory IC (QIMONDA?).

I don't need 7200 rpm as they have higher power consumption than the 5400. I will be in a hotel room working oversea for the next few months so capacity is more important than the extra performance.

um... I guess I need to email WD and inquire the HDD they use inside passport 500gb

 

so any user reporting a RAM upgrade?

 

I upgraded from 3 to 4gb with Crucial. Performance is exactly the same when in full speed, but on stamina it is a significant upgrade. Dual channel seems to work perfectly and the memory matches on all counts according to CPUZ.

 

are u running a 64 bit version of windows? i thought the 32bit OS doesn't recognise anything above 3GB of RAM

 

does branding count when matching RAM sticks?? Say i got 3 gigs, with a 2 gig channel and a 1 gig channel...is it bad to put a different brand 2 gig stick with the 2 gig stick that is in there?

 

I think for dual-channel purposes, it is important that they match in terms of speed & latency, but in reality, I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference in performance.

 

does anybody know what brand and spec of ram the sony z came with?

 

The Z series come with Elpida DDR3 RAM (PC3-8500). I have upgraded my RAM to 4 GB. I prefer to keep both sticks of the same make. If anybody is interested, I am selling my original SONY (Elpida) 2 GB RAM stick. I will post a photo a bit later.