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    RAM upgrade for older Sony PCG-7D2L?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Sean S, Dec 25, 2007.

  1. Sean S

    Sean S Notebook Consultant

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    Hello everyone,

    I have a Sony laptop that's a couple years old now. It's a PCG-7D2L (VGN-FS740).

    I'm not sure what kind of Ram this thing takes, and google searches haven't been all that informative. Based on This website, I think it takes PC-3200 400MHz DDR2 . Can anyone confirm this?

    My next question is, as I'm looking for ram for this thing, the older, slower PC3200 ram is way more expensive (twice as much) than the PC-5300 ram. Are these backwards compatible? I thought if you put in faster ram, it will just downclock to the system's specs. Will there be any problems with putting in a pair of PC-5300 sticks? I'm looking at these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231116

    just want to make sure it'll work before investing in the new ram.

    so, basically:

    1. does the PCG-7D2L take 200-pin ddr2-400 pc3200 ram?
    2. can I use PC-5300 ram instead?

    thanks,
    Sean
     
    Sean S, Dec 25, 2007
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    1) I'm not sure. Download and run CPU-Z to get the information on what type of memory you have exactly.
    2) DDR2 memory is not backwards compatible with DDR. So PC5300 will not work.
     
    Greg, Dec 25, 2007
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  3. Zahn1138

    Zahn1138 Notebook Consultant

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    Zahn1138, Dec 25, 2007
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  4. Kdawgca

    Kdawgca rotaredoM repudrepuS RBN

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    Faster DDR2 is compatible with slower DDR2.

    I have a Dell Latitude D410 with the same chipset(Intel Mobile 915GM) and I have both a stick of 512mb PC-3200(DDR2-400-factory installed) and stick of 1GB PC-5300(DDR2-667) currently installed so you should be fine installing DRR2-667 ram assuming your laptop takes DDR2 memory.Check with CPU-Z under the Memory or SPD tab as Greg mentioned


    Happy Holidays.

    -Kdawgca
     
    Kdawgca, Dec 25, 2007
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  5. Zahn1138

    Zahn1138 Notebook Consultant

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    I stand corrected. Go for it.
     
    Zahn1138, Dec 25, 2007
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  6. Sean S

    Sean S Notebook Consultant

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    thank you all for the help!

    I realized I have some PC-5300 ram in my laptop right now (Lenovo t60). I'll just swap this stuff in there to make sure it's compatible. I've been reading up on this and I'm getting some info that Sony's don't like a lot of ram. Hope it works!

    I can't possibly damage the computer or the ram if, for some reason, it's not supported, right? I should just get the 4 beeps that there's a memory problem if something goes haywire?
     
    Sean S, Dec 25, 2007
    #6