R61i Memory Upgrade Question

[flamenco]

Hi,
I have been having trouble with my system, getting BSOD repeatedly. I thought it was software-related and I did a recovery, but eventually, the problem started again, and then running Memtest indicated memory problems.

At this point I'm willing to try a memory upgrade. I have 1G now, and I thought, why not go up to 2G if I'm going to go to that much trouble. I went to crucial.com, which was recommended to me, and they have a nice interface for choosing memory. Their first recommendation is indeed a 2G stick.

Here is what they're saying as their top recommendation, they call it "max it out", basically hot-rodding it, I guess.
2G SODIMM PC2-6400 NON-ECC DDR2-800

This is what I have now, for comparison:
1G SODIMM PC2-5300 DDR2-667 SDRAM

They do offer a 2G with PC2-5300 DDR2-667, which sounds more like mine.

Any thoughts about which one I should choose? Being conservative and not a hot-rodder, I'm tempted to take the one that's more like mine. Any opinions on that scenario (or the vendor) welcome!

Thanks, Dave

[craigmontHunter]

Either one will work,the 800 will downclock to 667, but the 800 may actually be cheaper. All you need is to find the cheapest DDR2 667+ ram. I use the cheapest ram I can find, and I have never had a problem with it.

[flamenco]

Hi,
Thanks very much for your reply... I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy, so every bit helps!

As it happens [there's a phrase I bet you're familiar with in lovely Ottawa!], I found a source for memory right here, so I didn't go with Crucial, although I may use them for another machine.

In fact, I did end up getting a 2G 667 stick. It's running like a charm now - fingers crossed! Replacing RAM on these machines is actually very easy, especially compared to the fan replacement I did a couple months ago, which was a very tricky and slightly scary job for a non-hardware person.

2G is impressive to me, compared to the 1G I had... it seems very comfy.

I've learned a lot about hardware the past couple months! I also did a bunch of laptop shopping, just in case, and am somewhat conversant in current features and prices. So some good has come out of it!

Thanks! Dave

[RealBlackStuff]

If you are happy now, you could try adding another 1GB or 2GB PC2-5300 Sodimm.
It'll add a little more "oomph".