i have an insiron 6000 with ddr2 400. i was wondering if i could upgrade to maybe ddr2 533 0r 667 is this possible? also i've heard about latentcy penalties at ddr2's speeds of 400mhz and 533mhz. what does this mean and how will it affect performance?
Yes you can. Will you benefit from going faster? Not sure. That depends on how upgrade-able the 6000 is in terms of the CPU and if the laptop allows for a CPU with a faster corresponding FSB that can take advantage of the faster RAM. Latency: This is the delay between when an operation is requested and when it is performed. The shorter the delay, the less of a performance hit you take. Traditional DDR is easily made to go as low as CAS2, and usually can be had for a good price and found with ease. With DDR2, you have latencies that are typically CAS4-5, but we're starting to see them work toward traditional DDR CAS timings. Okay, why switch to DDR2? The design of DDR limits how high it can eventually go. DDR2 is supposed to raise that ceiling.
well even if it cant take advantage of maybe ddr2 667 would it run with it? (like at a 533 mhz speed)
Yes. RAM ratings are simply stating the maximum rated speed of the module. It's very similar to the speed rating of tires. For example, a tire rated for 150mph will work at 40mph just fine, but not vise versa.
I want to buy 2 gig of ram for my laptop and iwas wondering about who was the best place to buy ram? Whats your opinion?
First, make sure the laptop supports that capacity, but I tend to buy off Newegg or ZipZoomFly. Brands that are probably your best bet: -Crucial -Corsair -Kingston -OCZ -Patriot
