Upgrading the X40

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smygen · #1 Post by **smygen** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:37 am

I have a X40 that supports only 802.11b standard. I was wondering it is possible for me to upgrade to 802.11g? If so what is the IBM partnumber?

Also I have 512MB RAM and want to upgrade to 1024. IBM RAM is overpriced so I would rather buy f.eks. Corsair Value SO-DIMM. Is this ok?

ychandrani · #2 Post by **ychandrani** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:36 am

Go here: http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... source=cce

There are 3 a/b/g wireless network options listed. any one of them should work.

Corsair memory is good, but for the X40 I recommend that you either get RAM from www.crucial.com or buy the JEDEC compliant SODIMMS made by Corsair rather than their value line. For Crucial memory that will work with your system go to this web link below and select your machine type from the drop down menu and it will point you to the correct SODIMM.
http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodel. ... &submit=Go

#3 Post by **aamsel** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:24 pm

Who is a good vendor offering the Corsair modules you mention??

Thanks!
Andrew
Austin, TX

ychandrani wrote:...or buy the JEDEC compliant SODIMMS made by Corsair rather than their value line.

ychandrani · #4 Post by **ychandrani** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:30 pm

Try this: http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3895227.

I don't vouch for the vendor, but this one is outpost.com; owned by Fry's or vice versa; not sure which.

#5 Post by **aamsel** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:17 pm

Thanks, that looks fine, but...
I am looking for a 1GB module.
Crucial would normally be my choice by they are "kinda pricey" on the 1GB SO-DIMMS.

(my X40 will only have 256MB soldered)

If not the expensive Crucial stuff, Corsair does NOT make a 1GB module. Would you mind taking a peek at www.newegg.com at their 1GB SO-DIMMS and tell me if any are decent. They have Transcend, Kingmax and others.

The Kingmax is at: http://www.kingmax.com/product/pro_prot ... -38KB3.htm
and is "TinyBGA" series.

Thank you!

Andrew
Austin, TX

ychandrani · #6 Post by **ychandrani** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:24 am

Well, if cost is the concern then the question is answered by the kingmax from Newegg at:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=1

eriqesque · #7 Post by **eriqesque** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:36 am

So now.
I have the X40 with 512 onboard and according to
CPU-Z the onboard memory is 2.5, 3, 3, 7

I want to get another 512
newegg has Corsair XMS 512 stick running at 2.5, 3, 3, 6
this should work fine correct?

#8 Post by **aamsel** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:21 pm

Is this top quality memory???
Is it as good as Crucial stuff??
If not, what would make the Crucial stuff better than this???
(or, would you purchase this Kingmax ???)

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

ychandrani wrote:Well, if cost is the concern then the question is answered by the kingmax from Newegg at:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=1

ychandrani · #9 Post by **ychandrani** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:20 pm

yes, it should. you might save a few (13 to be precise) by ordering the part from outpost.com. the link is in my prior post.

eriqesque wrote:So now.
I have the X40 with 512 onboard and according to
CPU-Z the onboard memory is 2.5, 3, 3, 7

I want to get another 512
newegg has Corsair XMS 512 stick running at 2.5, 3, 3, 6
this should work fine correct?

ychandrani · #10 Post by **ychandrani** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:28 pm

I have no experience with kingmax memory to say its junk; nor can I say that its "as good as Crucial". Your choice to give it a try. Equally, you are the best judge of which brand you can afford.

When I buy memory for myself--I always go with Crucial or Corsair--and not once have I received a bum module from either vendor. So I guess my personal experience is what makes these two brands better. 2nd reason: both Crucial and Corsair have excellent tech support and they stand behind their products.

aamsel wrote:Is this top quality memory???
Is it as good as Crucial stuff??
If not, what would make the Crucial stuff better than this???
(or, would you purchase this Kingmax ???)

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

ychandrani wrote:Well, if cost is the concern then the question is answered by the kingmax from Newegg at:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=1

#11 Post by **aamsel** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 5:29 pm

Could you (please) answer my last post, regarding the Kingmax, and tell me if it would be inferior to the crucial.com 1GB memory, and why???

Your reply would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

ychandrani · #12 Post by **ychandrani** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:31 pm

I thought I answered your question in my post. But here it is restated differently: 1) I have no experience with Kingmax memory, therefore I cannot judge whether it is inferior or equal to the crucial product. For all I know it could be the best memory in the world, sold at a lower price than Crucial and therefore a steal. 2) I am not an engineer/chip designer/scientist, so I cannot speak to the technical merits or demerits of Kingmax memory. 3) My experience with both Crucial and Corsair has been very good. Other thinkpads that I have owned or used at work (T21, T40, and T42) have all been upgraded using Crucial or Corsair memory without a problem. 4) The X31 in my house right now was upgraded with one Crucial 512 MB SODIMM the day it arrived from IBM--in fact I put the memory in before powering it up for the first time. And: 5) No, I would not buy the Kingmax memory for myself because of my good experience with Crucial and Corsair memory.

You expressed an understandable reluctance to pay the premium for Crucial 1GB SODIMMS, therefore I suggested giving the Kingmax a try. However, if you want a technically well-informed answer before you purchase, then I am not the person to ask. I hope this answers your question sufficiently.

#13 Post by **aamsel** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:49 pm

Yes, I think that covers it quite sufficiently. <grin>

I have also had very good experience with Crucial memory, however it is about twice the price in this particular application, so I just thought I would investigate other alternatives before making a decision.

Still undecided.

I may just get a Crucial 512MB and bump it to 768MB and hope that is sufficient. I am not sure what difference 1.25GB would make vs 768MB for my needs.

Thanks a lot for your help!
I didn't mean to sound like a pest.

Andrew
Austin, TX

puco · #14 Post by **puco** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:03 am

You should monitor your memory usage in Task Manager, for some time. If your memory usage exceeds 768MB during some tasks, then I think it would be better to go for the 1GB SODIMM. I saw some on NewEgg that are only twice as expensive as the 512MB. But I'm not sure about the quality.

iamme · #15 Post by **iamme** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 am

also, you can stress test your RAM to make sure it is in good shape:

http://www.memtest86.com/

#16 Post by **aamsel** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:29 am

If anyone is using the Kingmax or other 1GB SO-DIMM module from newegg (or anywhere other than Crucial) please post with module information.

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

puco wrote:You should monitor your memory usage in Task Manager, for some time. If your memory usage exceeds 768MB during some tasks, then I think it would be better to go for the 1GB SODIMM. I saw some on NewEgg that are only twice as expensive as the 512MB. But I'm not sure about the quality.

richarddd · #17 Post by **richarddd** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:48 pm

I did a google search of Kingmax and the reviews I saw were very good. It comes with a lifetime warranty, which has to be helpful. Seems worth trying.

#18 Post by **aamsel** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:42 pm

Thanks a lot.
If anyone else has had experience with good 1GB modules other than Crucial or Kingmax please post.

Andrew
Austin, TX

richarddd wrote:I did a google search of Kingmax and the reviews I saw were very good. It comes with a lifetime warranty, which has to be helpful. Seems worth trying.

verktyg · #19 Post by **verktyg** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:06 pm

Intermittent problems with cheap memory is one of the most frequent causes of Windows crashes.

There are only a few manufacturers of memory "chips" who also produce finished Memory Modules (DIMMs SODIMMS, SIMMs etc.).

Micron is one of these. They market through their subsidiary crucial.com.

Just because a Memory Module has a certain brand of chips on it is no guarantee of anything.

Chip makers produces several quality levels of Memory Chips. The best Memory Modules use matched memory chips and undergo intensive testing.

Fabricators who produce low priced Memory Modules frequently use the lowest quality Memory Chips and fudge the settings on the EPROMs to make them report that they can perform at higher capacity than they actually can.

Corsair, Kingston and other Memory Fabricators sell 2 or 3 qualities of Memory Modules.

The real question is how much is your time worth and how important is the work you do with your TP.

You may be better off buying less premium quality memory from a known source than spending your money on an unknown vendor.

Do you really need 1g of RAM or is is just nice to have. If you wait for a while the price of memory always goes down (it may go up again).

Chas.

#20 Post by **aamsel** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:17 pm

How good is Mushkin ??

Andrew
Austin, TX

verktyg · #21 Post by **verktyg** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:00 am

[quote="aamsel"]How good is Mushkin ??

Muskin has been rated very high, especially by Desktop Overclockers. They have a number of different quality levels from good to great!

Kingston's ValueRAM, Viking and Corsair's economy RAM are nowhere as good as these company's premium products.

#22 Post by **aamsel** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:07 pm

Well, for notebooks, they only seem to have one quality of memory.
The module I was looking at is:
http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.s ... iew/991304

Is this good???
Or, better stated, would this be as "safe" and as high quality a module as the
one 1GB module that Crucial offers for the X40 I am going to have???

Thanks,

Andrew
Austin, TX

verktyg · #23 Post by **verktyg** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:36 pm

"Is it as good as Crucial?"

It should be. Mushkin specializes in selling memory to PC "Performance Enthusiasts", gamers and the like. Look over their site. How many memory produces have a Forum? They have an 800 number you can call.

I usually buy Crucial for most of my memory needs but I bought Mushkin memory for my then "Hot Rod" Asus A7M266 Athlon 1800+ system. I built a lot of AMD Athlon systems in the past and from the beginning, they've all been fussy about memory.

I've had problems in Athlon systems with Kingston, Corsair and Viking memory but never Crucial or Mushkin.

#24 Post by **aamsel** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:44 pm

Thank you very much for the good information you have provided me!!

I really, really appreciate it!!

Andrew
Austin, TX

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