Memory Compatibility R52 1858-CLG

[Cal Culater]

I am looking to max out my memory and know that I am supposed to need 2 x 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200 533Mhz chips. Non-ECC, unbuffered.

I did try some 512MB PC2-5300 667MHz chips once, as I saw lots of info that they were backward-compatible, but they didn't work.

I have also seen hints that not all manufacturers' PC2-4200 chips work with all IBM boards (e.g Kingston can be problematic).

What do I look for in chip datasheets to confirm whether or not a particular chip will be compatible with my R52?
Are there any makes of memory chip that are more or less guaranteed to work? (I know, "use Crucial", but I am actually hoping to pick up some used chips.)

Has anyone successfully upgraded a similar machine to this with Infineon HYS64T64020HDL-3.7-A chips please?
Or anyone able to tell me for certain that they will work (or not)?
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datashe ... ti9opy.pdf

Cheers in anticipation.

[Harryc]

Any name brand PC2-5300 should work if you stay away from the value lines ...like Kingston Value RAM...bad mojo on a Thinkpad.

[rkawakami]

"Name brand", in no particular order: Elpida, Micron/Crucial, Mitsubishi, Infineon/Qimonda, Samsung, Nanya, ProMOS, Toshiba, Hynix/Hyundai. These companies manufacturer the actual memory chips, in addition to putting them onto modules. Some of the aftermarket module houses are (again, in no special order): Kingston, PQI, Smart Modular, Corsair, PNY, Kingmax, Transcend, Geil.

P.S. Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Oh, and to answer your earlier questions:

What do I look for in chip datasheets to confirm whether or not a particular chip will be compatible with my R52?
PC2-4200 CL4 is a standard and manufacturers should test to that specification.
Are there any makes of memory chip that are more or less guaranteed to work? (I know, "use Crucial", but I am actually hoping to pick up some used chips.)
See "name brand", above.
Or anyone able to tell me for certain that they will work (or not)?
As the datasheet says it will run at PC2-4200 CL4 timings, then, yes it should work. Given that you are going to be buying "used" modules, just be sure that the seller has some sort of warranty/guarantee that they will work or it will be replaced or you will get refunded. The first thing you should do after getting the module is to run memtest86+ on it for at least three complete passes through the test suite. This gives it enough time to "heat up" and since the diagnostic generates some random data patterns, you will get better fault coverage.

[Cal Culater]

Thanks for the comprehensive advice.

The ones I tried that didn't work were pulled from ASUS machines and were definitely not named brands (one was Asint, the other anonymous) so no surprise there.

I take it that as long as I stick with the named brands, PC2-5300 is likely to be backward compatible and so I can go for either that or the PC2-4200 specified by IBM.

[Cal Culater]

P.S. Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Thanks . I've been lurking since before I bought my machine used a few months ago and found it to be an excellent resource.

A Thinkpad was a no-brainer for me as the R50e that we bought new for my daughter to go through Uni with 5 years ago, although now well worn, has never missed a beat. Now my brother is a convert too and has just got a T43 for himself and a T42 for his son to use for Uni.