SZ Upgrading Memory to Vista 4GB

I found 2 x 2gb ram for $64 at Frys after $20 MIR. I have been reading and can't find anything that says the SZ260p would recognize 4gb or ram. I see people saying 3gb is all the system will see here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=74959

Any advise like whether the SZ260p can be flashed with 6xx bios or if there is any way to configure this laptop to see 4gb of ram?

Thanks in advance for the help.

LINK: Frys sale

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5456279

 

Your SZ should be able to recognize all 4GB with a 64-bit OS like Windows XP 64-bit or Vista Ultimate 64-bit. A 32-bit OS will only recognize about 3.2 something GB...but physically the computer architecture of your SZ should handle two 2GB sticks.

 

Thanks. I have been doing a bunch of reading and was just wondering if there is anything I need to do to take full advantage? I was reading about this switch here..

http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=989

The link talks about how to enable PAE mode....?

PS> I am only running 32 bit Vista

 

I saw that link in a previous thread, however someone who actually tried it said it doesn't work: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=193303

 

Yes, I read that thread thank you. I was kind of looking for others that may be able to comment. Thanks for passing the info.

 

You can install 2x2GB RAM but the BIOS of all Sony SZ models limit the accessible RAM to about 3GB. An SZ 6xx owner posted a question about 1 or 2 weeks ago and asked why the BIOS screen only showed 3GB out of 2x2GB RAM that he installed. Do a search.

Nevertheless, $64 for 2x2GB RAM is a very good deal. I would buy it if I were you.

 

Thanks Hendra. I was kind of hoping to hear from people who actually have the ram in their SZ and can comment. I hope you can see by the number of links I provided in this threat that I did some searching.....

1. Is there any improvement in speed going from 2 to 4 gigs of ram.
2. Do we have to use the switch mentioned above to take full advantage of this ram.
3. Anyone using the extra ram to create a ramdrive for the swapfile?

EDIT: I am still reading up and here is something I just found on the Crucial.com website. I hope it helps. And for those that have experience with the SZ or Sony brand notebook with Northwood and 4gig please share.

http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.aspx?qid=4251

 

1. You can run more program simultaneously without slowing down the system but remember you actually only going from 2 to 3 and not 4.
2. No, you don't. My SZ381P recognizes 3GB RAM without any modification.
3. Never tried it before.

 

I am running 3 gb in SZ260P right now.
I just ordered another 2gb so I will see what the diff in speed if any with 4 gb.

 

PAE is not recommended for a desktop versions of Windows, but is rather intended for 32-bit server use. Typically with PAE you will see performance actually decrease, not to mention other potential issues. PAE is a hack which gets around the hard 4GB memory limitation by using a few additional address lines supported by modern BIOSes and then paging sections of memory in and out as needed. Simplistically speaking, it implements the RAM equivalent of your Windows virtual memory page file, and thus incurs a similar (although less severe) performance penalty. It's more critical for 32-bit servers who benefit more from massive amounts of RAM than from CPU performance. Due to desktop OS usage patterns, where CPU performance is of greater importance, it is not advised. I've also heard of possible stability issues from enabling it in consumer Windows versions. I'm surprised that notebook BIOSes even bother to offer it, since nobody should be using a notebook for such heavy duty server loads. And yet a lot of manufacturers (like Sony and Acer) disable useful features like VT and AHCI while leaving in support for PAE. Go figure...

As far as the reason for the missing RAM, you can Google for detailed explanations, but I'll try and sum it up: A 32-bit architecture can only address 4GB (the largest 32 bit integer) total of RAM. The OS must setup protected, virtual memory assignments in the upper address range for things like hardware I/O, AGP aperture, and kernel relocations. Normally, with less than 3GB of RAM, you won't notice because these virtual assignments are mapped starting at 4GB and working down, occupying only about half a GB or so. But when you actually occupy that area with real RAM, then it must be disabled for RAM use. Otherwise the OS would have nowhere to put these virtual mappings and still be able to address them, since it would conflict with real RAM addresses. Therefore any 32-bit OS will require the "hiding" of a sizable chunk of addressable RAM from the OS's upper memory range. The actual amount can vary from system to system, depending on things like installed hardware, drivers, BIOS settings, and OS versions.

Running a 64-bit OS will get around the 4GB "missing memory" issue, because memory address space is increased greatly (but NOT to a full 64-bit range, current x86-64 architectures use a 48-bit address space).

 

Search is your friend. Covered numerous times. I'm the one that actually tried 3GB first on the SZ back last year.

Now, having said that, no 32-bit OS (XP or Vista) will get 4GB. Depending on switches, etc., at most you may get 3.2 - 3.5GB usable.

 

Fender, I read all your threads even the one about you paying $604 to buy the 2 gig ram from DELL. After all the reading I still wanted to hear from other folks. Since 4 gig of ram is now so cheap I can't see passing it up. I want to thank Dmorris68 for the detailed explanation. I read so much but nothing helped me understand better than reading the Dmorris68 post.

 

I do have two more questions. I will be using 4 gigs of ram and a 4 gig ms duo pro readyboost drive. Realizing 3gig of ram, how should I set the swap file? With 2 gig of ram I have it set to FIXED at min / max 4gig but my thinking is to eliminate it or make it 6 gig fixed min/max. Also, should I use any other tricks like ram drive? Thanks in advance for the answers. I hope they Sticky this one .