Memory Upgrade for the new T43 (266884M)

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sonoma · #1 Post by **sonoma** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:03 pm

I'd like to upgrade RAM in my T43 (266884M - Australian model) from 512MB (default spec) to 1GB in total.

I'm wondering if 512MB PC2-4200 CL4 NP DDR2 SDRAM SODIMM is suitable or not. Please refer to the spec below:

http://www-605.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... d=33075340

Prettey sure this is the one I should buy but I'm not sure if T43's originally contain a PC2-3200 DDR2 module or PC2-4200 DDR2 or even PC2700 CL2.5 DDR. PC2-4200 DDR2 should be backward compatible with PC2-3200 but I'd like to buy the same type of module.

Also, do you think it is worth upgrading RAM to 1GB in total by adding another 512MB in terms of performance boost? Not sure if it is HDD (5400rpm) or lack of RAM but I feel T43's response time is a bit lagging - especially when launching applications. Maybe I'm too subjective? or expected too much of the new Sonoma-ish platform?

Thank you in advance. Always good to hear what everyone else in this forum thinks.

BTW the price A$289 listed in the above link is of course in Australian dollars.

kimr · #2 Post by **kimr** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:47 pm

Yes, that's the correct part number, and matches the one that came with the T43. I had a T42 DXU that seemed sluggish with 512MB just launching apps. Upgrading to 1GB helped noticably.

I returned the T42 for a T43 (which announced the day I ordered the T42). The T43 was noticibly faster launching apps with 512MB than the T42 was. Both had the 7200 RPM 60GB hard drive.

What research I did for upgrading the T43 to 1GB suggested that you needed matched parts for some part of the "dual channel DDR2..." stuff to work optimally, so I ordered a 73P3842, which cost about $40 US more than other brands of PC2-4200.

Since then, I've seen reports that the T43 doesn't support "dual channel" mode, so it didn't really matter if the memory was an exact match or not.

However, I don't think you can put memory other than a PC2-4200 into a T43. I've never seen anything suggesting you could use PC3200 or PC2700.

Anybody have some more information on this?

Leon · #3 Post by **Leon** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:04 pm

If you want to go the "generic route", (I did with success on my T42 AND performance improved considerably), go to:

http://www.18004memory.com and select IBM, then T43.

$139US w/lifetime warranty.

mysbca · #4 Post by **mysbca** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:43 pm

Looks like 18004memory.com does not ship to outside of US and Canada.

Memory is cheaper at Crucial.com, 512MB for $122.99(US) with lifetime warranty. $20 to ship to Australia.

T43 memory at Crucial.com

Leon · #5 Post by **Leon** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:19 pm

Good find... last I looked Crucial was out of stock, but has it now. I'd rather buy from Crucial anyway!

craigg · #6 Post by **craigg** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:27 pm

I purchased memory from Transcend directly for my T43. I looked around and even though I usually buy Crucial, this was a much better deal. I paid $85.30 for a 512mb stick. This company offers free 2nd day air shipping for orders over $100, and no sales tax unless you are in CA. I originally saw this memory on Newegg yet it was priced $25 higher. I installed it and even ran the memtest utility for about 8 hours and did not have one error. I would highly recommend this memory to anyone with the T43. The item shipped the same day I ordered it and arrived 2 days later. They offer 30 day money back guarantee and a lifetime warranty. Here is the link:

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/Item ... 64MSQ64V5J

davidlg16 · #7 Post by **davidlg16** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:51 pm

craigg wrote:I purchased memory from Transcend directly for my T43. I looked around and even though I usually buy Crucial, this was a much better deal. I paid $85.30 for a 512mb stick. This company offers free 2nd day air shipping for orders over $100, and no sales tax unless you are in CA. I originally saw this memory on Newegg yet it was priced $25 higher. I installed it and even ran the memtest utility for about 8 hours and did not have one error. I would highly recommend this memory to anyone with the T43. The item shipped the same day I ordered it and arrived 2 days later. They offer 30 day money back guarantee and a lifetime warranty. Here is the link:

http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/Item ... 64MSQ64V5J

that's a great price!

is this the brand IBM uses?

Leon · #8 Post by **Leon** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:55 pm

IBM sources several manufacturers depending on the changing market....

craigg · #9 Post by **craigg** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:33 pm

I can't say if this is the specific brand that IBM uses but it works perfectly for me. This company was very professional, sent nice marketing materials, a pen, key chain, and the service was exceptional. I have never been a big fan of generic memory but decided to take a chance with this company as there are not a whole lot of vendors selling this DDR2 533 200 pin sodimm yet. When I saw it on Newegg priced 20% higher I figured it was worth a chance as Newegg doesn't usually sell junk and they have a fair return policy. Buying direct from Transcend is an even better deal and with their money back guarantee one has little to lose. This price is about $25 less than the IBM EPP delivered price!

#10 Post by **aamsel** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:32 pm

The 512MB module that was in the T43 I got looked pretty generic, at least it had a brand label on it that I had never heard of.

Not that it matters...I am quite certain that whenever IBM qualifies a memory vendor's product, it goes through extensive testing.

Whatever memory upgrade you buy...get a USB floppy drive, make a Memtest boot floppy and run it for several hours or more, before and after you upgrade the memory.
(that way, if the base memory were to have errors, you wouldn't blame the errors on the upgrade.)

Andrew
Austin, TX

sonoma · #11 Post by **sonoma** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 5:06 am

Thank everyone for your kind reply. Always thankful

plinius · #12 Post by **plinius** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:07 pm

By the way, usually how long should we run the ram test?

thanks!

rgds

aamsel wrote:

Whatever memory upgrade you buy...get a USB floppy drive, make a Memtest boot floppy and run it for several hours or more, before and after you upgrade the memory.
(that way, if the base memory were to have errors, you wouldn't blame the errors on the upgrade.)

Andrew
Austin, TX

Leon · #13 Post by **Leon** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:48 pm

Overnight is best......

JHaislet · #14 Post by **JHaislet** » Sat May 21, 2005 11:13 am

http://www.memtest86.com/

Memtest86 is also available as a CD .iso image, so no floppy drive needed

I ditched all my floppy drives a couple years go in all my desktops & use CDRW's for bios updates & memtest.

Cheers

CoolDragon · #15 Post by **CoolDragon** » Sat May 21, 2005 12:56 pm

Looks like Kinston's memory is pretty cheap:

http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/p ... total,#abc

kanate · #16 Post by **kanate** » Sat May 21, 2005 1:17 pm

how about this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820208024

cheap

emorphien · #17 Post by **emorphien** » Sat May 21, 2005 2:38 pm

You can get 1GB kingston sticks for $125 and newegg or $120 at Mwave.

Memory Upgrade for the new T43 (266884M)

Memory Upgrade for the new T43 (266884M)

Thanks

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