The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    What is the maximum amount of RAM you can put in an FW?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by Ghosthostile, Oct 2, 2010.

  1. Ghosthostile

    Ghosthostile Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    To my understand you can only add DDR2 not DDR3.
     
    Ghosthostile, Oct 2, 2010
    #1
  2. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    200-Pin DDR2 @800MHz at up to 8GB. The PM45 is the chipset in the last model FW with the HD4650.
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Oct 2, 2010
    #2
  3. Ghosthostile

    Ghosthostile Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    239
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thank you, I didn't think it could have up to 8 gigs :)
     
    Ghosthostile, Oct 2, 2010
    #3
  4. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Sure can... the only notebooks that can't handle that much memory are the ones with the GM/PM965 that are BIOS limited to 4GB or 6GB, and the GM/PM945 notebooks that are hardware limited to a maximum of 4GB with only 3.2GB being usable. The 945 boards use 32-bit memory addressing, and that's why they're so limited.
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Oct 2, 2010
    #4
  5. CarterTG

    CarterTG Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    33
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Judging from the lack of 4gig 800Mhz DDR2 (PC2-6400) modules in 2008, I think I was the ONLY guy shopping for them that year. When I finally found the only manufacturer that had them in-stock, they ended up being over $360 apiece!

    No issues with installation and each 4GB module was recognized by my VGN-FW290.

    With a total of 8gigs in the system, Win7 Ultimate x64's desktop widget reports my memory usage at 22%. When it previously had 4GB total, that meter was usually pegged above 38%.

    More importantly, 8GB versus 4GB made a night'n'day difference in editing HDV smoothly, so while it was a horribly pricey upgrade, the result was worthwhile.
     
    CarterTG, Oct 3, 2010
    #5
  6. Trixster101

    Trixster101 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    41
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Is the FW21-M 8gb capable then HAL?

    afaik it is the PM45 chipset, but I could have sworn they said max 4gb :(
     
    Trixster101, Oct 7, 2010
    #6
  7. J&SinKTO

    J&SinKTO Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    107
    Messages:
    767
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The 200 series can take 8GB also - have 6GB in mine currently.
     
    J&SinKTO, Oct 7, 2010
    #7
  8. CarterTG

    CarterTG Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    33
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    CarterTG, Oct 7, 2010
    #8
  9. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    The only limit with the FW is the BIOS. The PM45 chipset in any model FW is capable of addressing MUCH more than 8GB but with only 2 DIMM slots, and DRAM capacities currently, 8GB is the limit in the BIOS. 2x 4GB sticks. When single 8GB DIMM's become a viable market reality price wise, Sony MIGHT release a BIOS update, but with it being DDR2 and not DDR3, I don't see that happening.
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Oct 7, 2010
    #9