[SGVLUG] Laptop memory question...

[Bryan Backer]

--- Tom Emerson <osnut at pacbell.net> wrote:

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> Last week I installed SuSE 10.1, but something seemed a bit
> "sluggish"
> about it that didn't match up with what I expected (while I expected
> /some/ slowing due to an ever-bloating KDE, this was more than I
> expected...)  It turns out one of my memory modules is "going bad",
> so I
> was only running on 1/2 of the memory (effectively, 256 meg)
> 
> This got me to thinking -- while I remember some time back it seemed
> every laptop manufacturer had their own proprietary memory scheme
> (thus
> forcing you to buy your upgrades from them), I got this about the
> time
> when laptops were starting to "standardize" on their memory, and it
> /looks/ like it has 144-pin "SO-DIMM"s.  I checked with the folks I
> bought the laptop from, and they pointed me to a spec page that says
> the
> max memory for this system is 512, but I wonder about that.  512 may
> certainly have been "the largest" SO-DIMM available at the time, but
> a
> quick check at Fry's shows that I can get 512 meg modules now (or,
> rather, two for a total of 1 gig)
> 
> BUT... the guys who sold the laptop are adamant that the laptop will
> NOT
> support more than 512 meg -- "that is all it was designed for". 
> Again,
> I'm thinking that may have been the case when they sold it, but
> things
> may have improved since then.  The only other factor here is that the
> motherboard uses the bx440 chipset -- can anyone confirm or deny that
> 512 is the max that this chipset will support?  Or can anyone confirm
> these guys are blowing smoke about how much memory it will support?
> (or
> that perhaps 256 meg modules really are the largest that this system
> might recognize...)
> 
> Of course, it may simply be time to consider a new laptop, but I
> think
> there is still some life in this one yet...
> 
> 
> Tom
> 
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I have had excellent luck with crucial.com, both
in ordering memory and in using their website and
tools to figure out which types, speeds, and sizes
a given system could support. You might get the
stats on your system around and visit their site
to see if there is info on memory limitations.

-- bbacker at mail.yahoo.com