A1120n trying to get 2.5gb

[lilkidz]

Well I was going to buy VS2GBKIT667D2, the Consair 2gb ram kit PC2 5300 and currently i have two 256mb PC2 3200 ram and so, i was wondering if it would be compatible as this is the first time i buy ram

[RJLeong65]

Well I was going to buy VS2GBKIT667D2, the Consair 2gb ram kit PC2 5300 and currently i have two 256mb PC2 3200 ram and so, i was wondering if it would be compatible as this is the first time i buy ram

 

It is not recommended to mix different-sized modules, especially if the IC chip densities are different. You see, most 1GB DDR2 modules are configured in a double-sided 64Mx8 configuration, while most recent 256MB modules are in a single-sided 32Mx8 configuration. The use of mixed IC densities on memory modules in the same system will likely result in the development of major problems down the road.

 

In addition, some OEM systems will not downclock faster memory to a slower speed automatically if the chipset cannot run the faster memory at its full speed. And OEM systems like yours have no provision at all whatsoever to manually set even the memory speed, let alone memory timings or DIMM voltage. This means that the OEM systems require a properly programmed, properly functioning SPD or they won't even POST.

 

Third, it is also not recommended to mix different SPDs in the same OEM system. This is because many BIOSes in OEM systems will get confused as to which settings to use with mixed SPDs, resulting in (once again) a no-POST.

 

In your case, your system's chipset only supports up to PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) memory. There is currently no VS2GBKIT533D2 kit in existence since the current memory standards are faster (PC2-5300 and PC2-6400). And the 1GB Value Select DDR2-533/PC2-4200 modules are currently available only as single sticks. You could try just the VS2GBKIT667D2 kit (and completely remove your system's existing 256MB PC2-3200 sticks while you're installing the 2GB kit), but your system (if it even POSTs with the higher-speed modules) should automatically downclock to DDR2-533 (PC2-4200) speed.