T61 Memory Upgrade

[Shuk]

Hi,

I ordered a T61 and want to upgrade the memory with another 1GB stick.

I found this one:
Kingston 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Notebook Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... TC-dealram

Will this one fit into my system and work without problems? Are there other offers you would recommend?

Thanks,
Shuk

[gator]

It should work fine ... post some pics of the T61 after you get it!

[Shuk]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I can definitely post some pictures and opinions when I get it. Unfortunately the shipping date is scheduled for 5/30 but I still hope that it comes earlier...

[milstein]

how about wait for the 800 FSB RAM?

[gator]

how about wait for the 800 FSB RAM?

It'll be very expensive.

[Shuk]

I thought about waiting ,as gator said, they will be quite expensive. And since the 667-memory is really cheap at the moment I think the money is not wasted.

Is there a brand that is most compatible with Thinkpads? I remember reading a topic where people had problems with additional memory.

[gator]

Is there a brand that is most compatible with Thinkpads? I remember reading a topic where people had problems with additional memory.

Crucial.

[Shuk]

So should I take this one instead of the Kingston then?

http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs. ... 12864AC667

Crucial also has life-time warranty, right?

[ryengineer]

So should I take this one instead of the Kingston then? Crucial also has life-time warranty, right?

Go with Crucial, I've seen some people if not all having bsod with Kingston's module.

I think most memories today come with life time warranties.

[Shuk]

Alright, then I will order the Crucial stick today. If I am lucky my new T61 arrives tomorrow

[pianowizard]

Alright, then I will order the Crucial stick today. If I am lucky my new T61 arrives tomorrow

Then it's probably better to order the RAM tomorrow, after confirming that the machine is in perfect working condition, and that you need more RAM.

[Shuk]

Well, I definitely want to buy more RAM since it is really cheap at the moment and should give a good performance boost (I don't have the turbo memory card and only a 5400rpm hdd).

I really hope the machine works fine and doesn't have any defects or errors. But even if, I would need/want the RAM for the exchanged machine as well.

So I think I will just order it today. Just wanted to be sure that the selected stick has the right specs and fits into the system...

[patch]

how about wait for the 800 FSB RAM?

It'll be very expensive.

It's actually only $20 more then the ram in the link posted. For around $130 I would be tempted to replace the current given DDR2-667 stick for a pair of 1 gb DDR2-800 ram for a total of 2 gigs.

edit: I thought I should also mention that I would not recommend the use of one DDR2-667 stick and one DDR2-800 stick.

[Shuk]

Thanks for the information, patch! I didn't know that the price difference is so small. It is definitely worth to think about buying the faster ram.

Are the DDR-800 significant faster or wouldn't someone who is using mostly normal applications notice the difference to DDR-667?

Edit:
Another thought: could the DDR-800 have bad influence in terms of stability. I know that theoretically the system is designed to support DDR-800 but since the notebook it is quite new and the memory as well, are there possibly problems to expect?

[patch]

I have been looking around the web and it seems every site has their own (differing) opinion about DDR2-800 ram. I have not found any conclusive information yet. I cannot, in good faith, still recommend you go for that ram. Maybe given some more time a more definite answer will come around.

[brentpresley]

Thanks for the information, patch! I didn't know that the price difference is so small. It is definitely worth to think about buying the faster ram.

Are the DDR-800 significant faster or wouldn't someone who is using mostly normal applications notice the difference to DDR-667?

Edit:
Another thought: could the DDR-800 have bad influence in terms of stability. I know that theoretically the system is designed to support DDR-800 but since the notebook it is quite new and the memory as well, are there possibly problems to expect?

Sorry, but this assumption is erroneous. DDR2-800 is going to be made to JDEC standards, and has been on desktop RAM for a while now. The RAM will work, and work as described.

Re: mixing DDR2-667 and DDR2-800 - if you do this all of the RAM will run at the slower DDR2-667 speed. Big no-no.

[Shuk]

So would you go for the DDR2-800 then, brentpresley?

The price difference is not that much. But would it really give me a significant performance boost or would I rather not notice it at all while working with normal applications?

[pianowizard]

But would it really give me a significant performance boost or would I rather not notice it at all while working with normal applications?

For most situations and for most people, the difference would be very subtle. However, psychologically speaking, it's good to know that you're utilizing the laptop's full bus speed. Also, these 800MHz modules would be more useful for your future laptops. The next generation of laptops will probably use 933MHz modules, and you definitely wouldn't want to use 667MHz modules in those whereas 800MHz would be okay.

[Shuk]

Well, I don't know if I would use the older memory when I buy a new laptop since in the new one would probably be the faster memory already.

I just tried to find some DDR2-800 sticks but could only find the one that patch posted before:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820134342

It seems to me that there aren't so many sticks on the market right now. I guess I will wait a little bit and then decide later if I buy another DDR2-667 stick or two new DDR2-800 sticks.

[pianowizard]

Well, I don't know if I would use the older memory when I buy a new laptop since in the new one would probably be the faster memory already.

That's obviously not guaranteed, because your T61 has 667MHz memory instead of 800MHz.

But I think it's wise to wait a little bit to let other people test 800MHz modules in their T61's.

[boyAfraid]

my understanding is that santa rosa is not meant to run with 800mhz ram.

see also wikipedia.

-bA

[patch]

my understanding is that santa rosa is not meant to run with 800mhz ram.

see also wikipedia.

-bA

It's still full of doubt. In the engadget post (and another blog I saw) they say that there are no ddr2-800 notebook memory chips out yet so they do not know. and In wikipedia the source that they CITE the spec's from explicitly says "FSB has been increased to 800 Mhz (from 667 MHz), supporting DDR2-800 memory.". That appears to be an assumption though, much like the one I previously made. Also of note, one manufacture(Zepto) has their santa rosa notebook listed with DDR2-800 memory.

However! the chipset that is believed to be on the mother board, pm965, says it only supports DDR2-667 in dual channel despite having a 800 mhz FSB. It is unclear whether there will be a future update to give it DDR2-800 dual channel support.. But it does not do so right now(it appears). So that's all I know..

[Dead1nside]

I hope that Lenovo when JEDEC ratifies it, and there is greater availability that Lenovo will offer that speed as standard, or at least as an option.

[boyAfraid]

It's still full of doubt. In the engadget post (and another blog I saw) they say that there are no ddr2-800 notebook memory chips out yet so they do not know. and In wikipedia the source that they CITE the spec's from explicitly says "FSB has been increased to 800 Mhz (from 667 MHz), supporting DDR2-800 memory.". That appears to be an assumption though, much like the one I previously made. Also of note, one manufacture(Zepto) has their santa rosa notebook listed with DDR2-800 memory.

However! the chipset that is believed to be on the mother board, pm965, says it only supports DDR2-667 in dual channel despite having a 800 mhz FSB. It is unclear whether there will be a future update to give it DDR2-800 dual channel support.. But it does not do so right now(it appears). So that's all I know..

my guess is that if anything beyond ddr2-667 is installed, it will only run at 667mhz. i've read numerous articles (can't find any links other than what i provided above) stating that intel is planning a 'refresh' later in '07 to address the issue. perhaps similar to the release of napa64 to bridge the gap before santa rosa. let's call it santa rosa-800, shall we?

-bA

[Shuk]

Hm, after reading through all this I think I will either wait a while until all facts about the DDR2-800 are clear or will just go with the DDR2-667. Since they are not very expensive it is not a great risk to buy one I guess.