Page 1 of Upgrading RAM

Got a laptop as an insurance replacement a month or so ago and am looking to upgrade the RAM from 256Mb to ideally 1Gb. However the info I have regarding the PC itself is somewhat vague in terms of how much I can expand to, all in all its a bit basic.

All I know is that the model is a Packard Bell EasyNote J2301 and its currently 256Mb DDRAM. Had a quick look at www.crucial.com but from the EasyNote models they have I don`t see an option for the J2301. Anyone able to shed some light on what I need to do or what kind of RAM I need? Don`t want to buy something off of Dabs and find out its useless in my PC!

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"Hmm, new teeth, that`s weird. So where was I? Oh that`s right, Barcelona..."

Doctor Who will return in... ooh, Spring sometime.

Have you tried the packard bell website? laptop manual usually states how much your m board will handle.

mmm chocolate

Nothing in any of the literature I got with the laptop - the manual is a generic Quick Start & Trouble Shooting Guide so useless - and the Packard Bell website gives me a lovely basic spec of my laptop but no option to register seemingly anywhere on the site even though I have my serial number to hand (try typing it into the relevant field for support and it comes up that the number does not exist).

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"Hmm, new teeth, that`s weird. So where was I? Oh that`s right, Barcelona..."

Doctor Who will return in... ooh, Spring sometime.

Your insurance company purchased the laptop thru PC World as the J3201 is specific to PC World as a model number hence it not being on the Packard Bell website.

Here is the spec I suspect you can go upto 2gig but phone your insurance company and ask where they got it from as you have free support from PC World.

Features & Specifications

Features for this PACKARD BELL J2301

- Intel Celeron M 360 Processor 1.40 GHz
- 400 MHz FSB
- 1 MB Cache
- 256 MB RAM
- 50 GB Hard Drive
- DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
- 15" LCD Display
- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
- 64 MB Shared Graphics
- 1 Year FREE Warranty

Specification for this PACKARD BELL J2301

Processor Type Intel Celeron M 360
Processor speed 1400 mhz
Memory Size 256 mb
Memory Type DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 50 Gb
Optical Drives DVDRW+R9
Floppy Disk Drive No
Screen Size/Type LCD 15" XGA
Graphics Card Type SIS M661MX
Graphics Memory 64mb shared mb
TV-out No
Sound Type AC97
Modem Type 56k
Wireless Enabled No
No. of USB Connections 4
No. of Firewire Connections 0
Infrared Port Included No
Other Interfaces None
Battery Type Li-ion
Software Titles Included Norton Int. Security
Operating system Win XP Home
Weight 2.8 kg
Height 36 mm
Width 330 mm
Depth 268 mm
Colour Silver / Black

Hope this helps and good luck :D




mmm chocolate

Much obliged chaps!

Now one more question, looking at Dabs there seem to be a confusing variety of DDRAM chips available - whether DIMM or SODIMM, what speed, data integrity, buffered or unbuffered, CAS latency... what should I go for?

Getting a headache already. I just want another 512Mb!

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"Hmm, new teeth, that`s weird. So where was I? Oh that`s right, Barcelona..."

Doctor Who will return in... ooh, Spring sometime.

I`ve always bought Crucial Memory, as it`s what a lot of factory spec PCs use, reasonably priced, and has a lifetime warranty. My Medion PC wasn`t listed on their list of Pcs either when I got another gig for mine a couple of weeks ago, but I used the new System Scanner tool, have you tried that?

It scans your system, then brings up the recommended upgrades tailored to your PC, they guarantee compatibility. See here:

Crucial System Scanner

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May have found what I need to know - digging about I found a Packard Bell InfoCentre thingy which gives my RAM as follows:

Quote:
Random Access Memory (RAM)

- 2 slots for 200-pin DDR SO-DIMMs
- Supports PC2700 DDR333 (non-ECC)
- Maximum memory capacity 2048Mb (2 x 1024Mb)

One or 2 256Mb or 512Mb modules are already installed, occupying one or both slots.

Also says my memory is
Quote:
shared with graphics controller
Does that make a difference?

Looking through it, it also gives a very handy step-by-step guide to fitting new memory, plenty of idiot-proof photos which helps! :)

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"Hmm, new teeth, that`s weird. So where was I? Oh that`s right, Barcelona..."

Doctor Who will return in... ooh, Spring sometime.

If you download CPU-Z from here http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php then click on the memory tab then list the setting here, I can tell you what memory you need to buy. You don`t have to buy from Crucial (although they do offer excellent service). Cheaper RAM can be had from elsewhere if you know what type you are looking for.

A quick explanation of the memory:-

1. Speed rating is measured by memory clock, dual transfer rate and bytes per transfer, so for example on a 400 MHz FSB bus, the speed rating of the memory is 400 multiplied by the number of bytes per clock cycle for the processor (which is 4) so that equals 1600. Then multiply by 2 (if it is DDR) and you get 3200 hence PC3200 is the memory you need for a board with a 400MHz bus speed.

2. Buffered memory won`t be relevant to you as it is only used for high capacity systems where there is onboard buffer to stream the data. Most home PCs use a controller on the motherboard to perform this job.

3. CAS latency is the number of clock cycles before data is fetched from the memory. The data from memory is not sent straight away - there is a latency (or a delay) and the lower the latency, the quicker the memory will be transferred. The latency is only applicable on the first access of a block of data from memory so CAS2 latency means that it will access the memory initially quicker than CAS3 but once the memory but once the memory is accessed then the transfer rates will be the same whether it`s CAS2 or CAS3 assuming they have the same speed rating.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 1st March 2006, 20:24

Right looks like you need to just buy PC2700 RAM. Anything listed as PC2700 WITHOUT ERROR CORRECTION will work. If both slots are taken up by memory you will have to discard one of your sticks of RAM to fit a higher capacity one.

No, your shared memory does not affect the type of RAM you buy. It means your graphics card will take some of your RAM for its own use (texture mapping, for example).

Again, much obliged for the help guys - virtual drinks all round!

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"Hmm, new teeth, that`s weird. So where was I? Oh that`s right, Barcelona..."

Doctor Who will return in... ooh, Spring sometime.