What's the best RAM???

pip1123

Hello, I have been on here before and everyone was so much help. I appreciate that. :)I am not the most tech-savvy, but want to learn:D, and am doing so little by little, thanks to this sight. I have a question, and hopefully someone can help me. I don't have a lot of money to spend, maybe $50:thumbsdow or so on this, as I would also like to by an external hard drive. Here goes...

I have a Sony Vaio laptop, VGN-FS640. I researched a found that it has 512mb of DDR RAM. I want to upgrade more RAM, and found that the max for this laptop is 1Gb. So I can find a 512mb RAM to install into my computer. The problem I am having is there are DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 and PC whatevers for RAM cards when I search. What's the best for just school work, youtube, facebook, twitter, and fantasy sports use? We don't do any games and nothing real professional on the laptop. I just want to increase the speed. It's currently at 1.60GHz clock frequency. I know that even if I increase with a lot of RAM, it may not help the speed, so the max is acceptable for me. The one I am eyeing right now is:

Corsair Memory VS512SDS266 512MB PC2100 266MHz 200-pin SODIMM Laptop Memory



Is this a descent brand? Is it sufficient? What's the DIMM??? Please help, thanks.

Thrax

First off, it's important to know that DDR1, DDR2 and DDR3 are different types of memory. They're not compatible with one another. So, for example, if you have a laptop that takes DDR2, you could not use DDR1 or DDR3 and so on. Each type of memory just plain won't fit in a slot designed for one of the other types.

Therefore, we need to concretely identify what memory your PC is using. The easiest way is to use CPU-Z which can be downloaded from: Right here. When you run the program, click the memory tab at the top, and you'll notice it indicates what kind of memory your system uses. Here's a picture from my PC:



As you can see, my PC uses DDR2.

What does yours use? Once we know that, we can definitely pick the right memory out for you.

BuddyJ

You need two of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820172104&Tpk=N82E16820172104

You were on the right track, but according to the info I've seen you need PC2700 memory. If you get two of the same sticks you'll run into less problems. (memory likes to be in matched sets) The two I'm suggesting are a good brand with a lifetime warranty.

primesuspect

Crucial has a memory configurator that may help as well

jonfleck88

I would go with Buddy J. Kingston RAM has always worked great for me.

fatcat

OCZ

Cliff_Forster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145484

Crucial makes a good memory product, using Newegg's trusty memory configurator based on your model, this is about as good of a deal as you will find.

What Buddy J is saying about matching pairs is a valid point, but if your not in a hurry, you could order a single and try to match it with what you currently have installed. Its not going to harm anything, worst case you won't boot, and you have to order a 2nd to match it. Reason for this is the timings and voltages they are specked to run on. Laptop PC2700 is fairly cookie cutter though universally set to operate at 2.5 volts. Current models all have the same cas latency timing at 2.5 as well. I'f I'm a betting man, I say buy a single stick, pair it with what you currently have installed, it will boot fine, worst case you have an older stick with a slightly looser cas latency and the new stick will just run at a slightly looser timing, but if I'm wrong you can always order a 2nd matching stick using the provided link.

Now, as far as desktop external hard drives go, I have a Segate Free Agent drive that I am growing very fond of. They have a smaller set of drives that you can get a docking station for, great for portable data.