# Request for advice on ram memory upgrade



## john2004 (May 29, 2004)

Hello,

I want to upgrade the memory in my HP Pavilion a1520n computer. I have two 512 mb cards in two slots with a maximum of four slots and about 4GB of memory. I was thinking of getting two more Crucial 1 GB cards so I would be adding 2 GB of memory to the system, for a total of about 3 GB. I know that they say to not mix memory and use the memory cards in pairs. Can I keep the two 512 MB Hyundai cards I have now and use them with the two new Crucial cards, or do they recommend to not mix brands at all ? Can you guys recommend a brand of memory and a place where I can buy it at a good price ? Perhaps crucial is the best best overall, I think I have used them before along with Kingston. Best-Buy sells a 2 GB kit packaged by "PNY" but I don't know much about them.

Here is my current memory specs as found by the freeware program "system information for windows" by Topala Software Solutions. I have also listed the memory recommended by Crucial via their system scan software, and the best buy cards.

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
John

*Memory Summary for HP computer*

Maximum Capacity	4096 MBytes
Maximum Memory Module Size	1024 MBytes
Memory Slots	4
Error Correction	None
DRAM Frequency	200.4 MHz
Memory Timings	3-3-3-8 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

*Device Locator	Slot 1*
Manufacturer	Hyundai Electronics
Part Number	HYMD564 646CP8JD43
Capacity	512 MBytes
Memory Type	DDR (PC3200)
Speed	200 MHz
Supported Frequencies	133.3 MHz, 166.7 MHz, 200.0 MHz
Memory Timings	2-2-2-6-0 at 133.3 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Memory Timings	2-3-3-7-0 at 166.7 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Memory Timings	3-3-3-8-0 at 200.0 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Data Width	64 bits
Manufacturing Date	2006, Week 36
EPP SPD Support	No
XMP SPD Support	No

*Device Locator	Slot 2*
Manufacturer	Hyundai Electronics
Part Number	HYMD564 646CP8JD43
Capacity	512 MBytes
Memory Type	DDR (PC3200)
Speed	200 MHz
Supported Frequencies	133.3 MHz, 166.7 MHz, 200.0 MHz
Memory Timings	2-2-2-6-0 at 133.3 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Memory Timings	2-3-3-7-0 at 166.7 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Memory Timings	3-3-3-8-0 at 200.0 MHz, at 2.5 volts (CL-RCD-RP-RAS-RC)
Data Width	64 bits
Manufacturing Date	2006, Week 36
EPP SPD Support	No
XMP SPD Support	No

*Memory card recommended by Crucial:*

2GB kit (1GBx2) DDR PC3200 Unbuffered NON-ECC 2.6V 128Meg x 64
Image for 2GB kit (1GBx2) DDR PC3200 Unbuffered NON-ECC 2.6V 128Meg x 64 from Crucial USA

Brand: Crucial
Module Type: UDIMM
Module Size: 2GB kit (1GBx2)
Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Specs: DDR PC3200  CL=3  Unbuffered  NON-ECC  DDR400  2.6V  128Meg x 64 
Series: Crucial
Part number: CT573448

*PNY Memory card sold at best buy:*

PNY - 2GB DDR SDRAM Memory Module

Model: MD2048KD1-400
SKU: 9994764

Speed: Up to 400 MHz
UPC: 751492292342

Memory Size: 2 GB

Memory Technology: DDR SDRAM

Number of Modules: 2 x 1 GB

Memory Speed: 400 MHz

Memory Standard: DDR400/PC3200

Signal Processing: Unbuffered

Number of Pins: 184-pin

Form Factor: DIMM

Limited Warranty: Lifetime


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

While it's not advisable to mix RAM, most people do it and it usually works. PNY is a good brand too and should work. The Crucial stuff should be guaranteed to work, so it has that advantage as well as being a good brand, not that occasionally it may still not work. 3GB would be better than 2GB even for XP if you have a lot of programs open.


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## john2004 (May 29, 2004)

Thanks for your reply Triple6,

Just to clarify, do you think I would probably get better performance leaving the two 512 MB cards in and using them with the two new 1 GB cards, for a total of about 3 GB Memory (using two pairs of the different brand cards) or would I likely get better performance if I took the two old 512 MB cards out and installed the two new 1 GB cards for a total of 2 GB total memory ? I had read before that when using differnt speed memory cards the system defaults to the slower cards, but I do not know if that would apply here.

I suppose I could try it both ways if it will not hurt anything. I thought I read that XP can only utilize about 3GB anyway, so would it likely be a waste of money to upgrade to the full 4 GB, i.e., a 1 GB card in each slot ? Could I go with three 1 GB cards or would I really need to use four 1 GB cards to really max everything ?

I think the only other thing I could do do help performance is upgrade the video card. I remember with an old Windows 98 computer I had, the computer got slow (as they all seem to when they get older) and I maxed out the RAM memory and upgraded the video card and it seemed to make a big difference. I'm not sure when it will get to the point where I would be spending so much on this computer that it would make sense to just get a new one. I have always liked XP and if I could just make this computer faster it would be fine for me. 

Thanks again for your feedback, I appreciate it.

John


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

By all means use both sets.
The warning about mixing memory is half correct. You should not mix memory in the same bank, but you have two banks.
Yes you should put the slower memory in the lower bank as it will use the speed of that for all memory and over-driving the lower rated memory is not to be recommended for a stable system. The extra memory is more important than the small difference in speed
If you look at your motherboard manual you will probably see that the memory banks are arranged as 
Slot 1 & 3 bank one
Slot 2 & 4 bank two


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Realistically it's a Windows XP computer that uses DDR RAM, I personally wouldn't spend a penny on it.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

John:

You appear to have a *HP Pavilion Media Center a1520n* desktop which came with 2 - 512 MB modules of DDR PC3200 (DDR400) RAM.

Remove the 512 MB modules from the DIMM 1 and DIMM 2 slots.

Install the 1 GB modules in the DIMM 1 and DIMM 2 slots.

Install the 512 MB modules in the DIMM 3 and DIMM 4 slots.

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## john2004 (May 29, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback guys,

If I can get the computer running fast enough spending 60 bucks or so on Memory cards, I would rather do that than spend $400.00 or more on a new computer. I mainly use the thing for email, internet surfing, youtube, listening to music, etc.., it basically does everything I need, I just need it to do things a little faster. Plus, I am tired of spending a lot of money on computers only to have them slow down and be outdated in a fairly short time. It seems like all the new stuff is never as good as they make it out to be anyway, then in a few years it's outdated and everyone wants the next best thing. I'm just tired of that game and do not want to get anything I do not really need. 

Anyway, I really appreciate the help guys, hopefully adding the 2GB of memory will speed things up for me.

Thanks,
John


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

> I mainly use the thing for email, internet surfing, youtube, listening to music, etc.., it basically does everything I need, I just need it to do things a little faster.


Between its AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.00 GHz dual-core processor and 3 GB of RAM, normal computing functions should run fine.

There are several reasons for slowest in a computer, so we may need to investigate further after the additional RAM is installed.

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## john2004 (May 29, 2004)

I added 2 GB of ram, I followed Flavalee's advice and put the new ram set in the 1 and 2 slots, and the old ram set in the 3 and 4 slots. I now have 3 GB of ram and about 2.93 shows up in system properties. The computer is running much faster and I think it will be fine, at least until things like browers and such start taking even more RAM than they do now. I also blew out all the dust with some canned air while I had the panel off. I went with the Crucial RAM 2 GB set or kit.

Just out of curiosity, does it matter if I would have put the new ram in the 3 and 4 slots, and left the old ram where it was in the 1 and 2 slots, or is it just important to have the paired memory cards in the same paired bank ?

Anyway, thanks for the help guys, hopefully the speed increase will last for awhile. 

John


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

> I added 2 GB of ram, I followed Flavalee's advice and put the new ram set in the 1 and 2 slots, and the old ram set in the 3 and 4 slots. I now have 3 GB of ram and about 2.93 shows up in system properties. *The computer is running much faster* and I think it will be fine


I'm glad to hear that.  :up:



> does it matter if I would have put the new ram in the 3 and 4 slots, and left the old ram where it was in the 1 and 2 slots, or is it just important to have the paired memory cards in the same paired bank ?


I don't know if the same recommendation applies to newer computers that does to older computers.

It's advisable to install RAM modules all with the same capacity, but it's not mandatory.

If 2 of the 4 modules have a 1 GB capacity and 2 of the modules have a 512 MB capacity, you should install the 1 GB modules in the DIMM 1 and DIMM 2 slots and the 512 MB modules in the DIMM 3 and DIMM 4 slots.

Depending on the motherboard, the slots will be numbered or color-coded so you know which slots to occupy first.

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