Korean Job Discussion Forums

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

I am in Japan on holiday and was thinking about upgrading from 2GB SDRAM to 4GB on my Vaio laptop. The Vaio is a US version (if it matters) not purchased in Asia. Many shops won't do the upgrade because they say the memory modules aren't compatible even though the specs are identical: DDR2, PC2-5300, 667MHz, 200 pin. One shop said the Japanese modules (Buffalo brand) operate at 1.5v. while the US modules operate at 2v. I have no idea. The Vaio tech I chatted with said any modules with the same specs would be ok but he didn'y know I was in Asia. Any info you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated.

SeoulFinn · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: 1h from Seoul

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

I have since sorted this problem out by contacting Buffalo, the maker of the memory I want to buy. Buffalo, regardless of where their product is sold, only makes 1 variety of each product. While the packaging may be different, the product must meet JEDEC standards. Also, their memory modules operate only at 1.8v. The guys here are just as ignorant of this as I am so it's all a learning curve... But I am now floundering on whether I actually want to upgrade. I am operating on a 32-bit Vista and already have 2GBs. Will 4GBs actually show any performance increase on my computer? I spoke with Sony and the tech said it would although, only 2.9-3.11GBs would show up due to the 32-bit system, although the computer would have access to all 4GBs performance wise... Should I do it?

SeoulFinn · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: 1h from Seoul

Will you notice a difference between 2 and 4 gigs? It kinda depends on what you're doing with your laptop. If you don't do anything memory intensive, I don't think that you will notice that much of an improvement. For sure, some software might run a bit faster as the need to access slow HDD becomes less frequent.

As for 32bit OS, your OS might have some difficulties utilizing all RAM. Vista does like RAM, thouh, but for Average Joe Cangel 2GB is plenty enough.

BTW, I'm curious to know what is the model you got.

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But here's what I'd personally do. I'd upgrade to 4GBs because RAM is cheap. And if my laptop was relatively new (Santa Rosa) I'd buy "1GB Intel Turbo Memory" module and pluck that in too just for the fun of it! Hey, I might even get a fast USB stick and use that to speed up things as well! But that's just me. I want my laptop to run as as fast as possible.

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-CR290 Intel Duo Core 2.4GHz (Santa Rosa) with the 2GB DDR2 SDRAM. Do you think there is much difference between that Turbo Memory and regular? Never heard of turbo memory but then again I am a computer novice.

SeoulFinn · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: 1h from Seoul

You seem to have pretty nice laptop! Anyway, Intel Turbo Memory (ITM, aka. Robson Memory) is just another type of memory that Vista at least in theory can use to boost up the performance a little bit. It functions as a cache between the slow HDD and CPU.

Since you already have 2 gigs don't worry about ITM. I remember reading that machines with 2GB don't gain that much performance boost with ITM.

If you run many programs at the same time, edit a lot of pictures, or do some other memory intensive work, get the 4GBs.

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

Interesting, I understand that vista only sees 3.2GB unless you have the 64-bit Vista.

On a laptop does the Video steal the memory from the OS or from the hardware?

In other words in a laptop with 4GB installed does the video ram come
from 3.2GB that the OS recognizes or from the BIOS and the remaining
800MB?

Demophobe · Joined: 17 May 2004

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

The memory I was looking at here in Japan: Buffalo DDR2, PC2-5300, 200-pin, 667MHz, is about W250,000 (2GB x 2). This price is about 3x higher than most online prices I have seen. I will definitely be giving these modules a miss. Can anyone tell me, if they happen to know, how much 2GB x 2 modules with the above specs cost in Korea. Thanks

SeoulFinn · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: 1h from Seoul

That much? I just upgraded my Macbook Pro (SR) with 2x 2GB sticks and paid something like 120 000 KRW and that was including delivery. I went for "basic" Samsung DDR2 with the same specks you are looking for (model number: M470T5669AZ0-CE6). I chose this model because one site mentioned that it _will_ work with Mac.

I ordered mine through danawa.co.kr but you might find even cheaper options if you are lucky. No need to pay 250K for RAM!