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Crucial Laptop Memory

post #1 of 19
9/5/10 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-CT2KIT51264BC1067-204-PIN-PC3-8500-SODIMM/dp/B001MX5YWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283715976&sr=8-1

 

http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=RZGwDN2NnWZ7NhbH

 

I plan on purchasing these two SODIMM SDRAM sticks, but I wanted to ask the community if anyone here already owns them. I am getting myself up to speed with RAM technologies, but I find it a steep learning curve and I need help with more learning resources too.

 

Price is my last consideration. I need more physical RAM to run Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 bit edition with more gusto. The same is true with running Ubuntu GNU/Linux Lucid Lynx 10.04 LTS. I own an ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC and I verified that it can take up to 2 X 4 GB of 204 pin SODIMM 1066 MHz PC-8500 SDRAM.

 

So, I am asking the community to help me with two specific requests:

 

1. MORE articles that explain up to date RAM technologies

2. Should I buy this Crucial memory or not?

 

I will place my order by the end of September 2010 which is only a few weeks away.

 

I do not want to make a mistake by purchasing unstable RAM that will ruin my new laptop.

 

Thank you.


Edited by Welly Wu - 9/5/10 at 12:48pm
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post #2 of 19
9/5/10 at 12:56pm

I have no experience with the RAM you're buying, but I have bought RAM from Crucial for many years.  I've never had problems with it - nothing has ever died and they've never sent me the wrong RAM.  My brother-in-law also buys from Crucial and has never had a problem, either.

 

Can't comment on your programs, either, but I always max out the RAM on every machine I own.

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post #3 of 19
9/5/10 at 1:10pm
Thread Starter 

Based upon my ongoing research, this seems to be the consistent trend for Crucial customers.

 

I plan on running VirtualBox-OSE on Ubuntu and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows 7. I also have to run Microsoft Studio 2008 and 2010 Professional for my C++ programming course. In my IS431 Database course, we will run Oracle, Microsoft Access, and Aqua Data Studio along with some custom utilities provided by Professor Scher.

 

In Windows 7 Ultimate x64, the system says that I am utilizing 72% of my physical RAM which is only 4 GB right now. NJIT recommends that Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit computing requires a minimum of 6 GB of RAM. My ASUS N61JV-X2 can take 2, 4, and 8 GB of SDRAM in matching pairs.

 

I think that I am making a wise choice to max out on my RAM because I will be taking my masters level graduate courses at NJIT in January 2011 onward. I expect to be there for a total of about 1.5 years.

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post #4 of 19
9/6/10 at 3:47am
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 NJIT recommends that Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit computing requires a minimum of 6 GB of RAM.

 



 Microsoft says 2gb for Win7 64. I find this amount entirely satisfactory on my own computer.

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post #5 of 19
9/6/10 at 4:26am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the tip. I will stick with NJIT's requirements for Windows 7 64 bit computing requirements since it pertains to my course work.

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post #6 of 19
9/6/10 at 6:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Welly Wu View Post

Thanks for the tip. I will stick with NJIT's requirements for Windows 7 64 bit computing requirements since it pertains to my course work.



Wise decision. I just play games with my computers.

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post #7 of 19
9/6/10 at 8:43am

I have 4GB of the same RAM (DDR-3 1066, CAS 7) in my own laptop and it's never given me issues. Before buying I'd check to see if your existing 4GB of RAM was installed as one stick or two- if you have a single 4GB stick you should be able to get away with buying a second 4GB stick with matching voltage, CAS latency and clock speed numbers. Modern dual-channel tech seems to be quite tolerant of different but same-specc'd RAM.

 

Edit: RAM prices are currently very high. I paid $45 for my RAM in the spring of '09. The same RAM goes for exactly twice that now. I have no idea if they're going to go down any time soon though.


Edited by MCC - 9/6/10 at 8:45am
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post #8 of 19
9/6/10 at 9:25am

Crucial RAM is awesome, because they get first choice of decent chips from the fab (Micron).  The lower bin chips get sold off to other RAM manufacturers as commodities.  Thus, Crucial RAM always exceeds spec, and it should be no surprise that it works as advertised, while often being slightly more expensive than the commodity stuff.

 

I recently got burned by bad RAM.  I built a new machine about 6 months ago, and was in a hurry so I bought some fancy OCZ RAM that had a nice rebate.  I thought "I'm probably in for trouble, but it is cheap, and I'll just underclock it and it should be ok."  Nope.  After several really odd crashes, I decided to stress-test my system and it looked like I had a memory problem.  Sure enough, bad RAM.  Now I'm running on a backup stick, waiting for my RMA from OCZ (not holding my breath).  Next time, I buy Crucial or Corsair.  The (significant) rebate still wasn't worth my time.

 

To your other question, I find that Windows 7 works well with 4-6 gb of RAM.  I run a fair number of simultaneous web browsing sessions (typically ~20 Firefox tabs + ~100 Chrome tabs) at a time, and do scientific computing in various programs (puts good stress on processor, memory, and video card).  4gb of RAM is usually sufficient until I start opening large data files.  2gb is not enough for snappy Windows 7 performance...now that I am running on 2gb (waiting for RMA!), my disk is constantly being hit for swap, and multitasking performance is significantly worse.  Windows 7 is decent about using memory if you have it, but beyond 4-6 GB, you're spending money on memory from which you will rarely see benefit.

 

NJIT's recommendation of 6 gb minimum is stupid for any desktop user, save graphic/video editors.  They are inflating their estimate in order to hedge against the future, but they have erroneously extrapolated that curve.

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post #9 of 19
9/6/10 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 

There are two memory banks on my ASUS N61JV-X2 laptop. I can only install 2 GB, 4 GB (standard configuration), and 8 GB of DDR3 SODIMM SDRAM at 1066 MHz. I am going to max out with Crucial RAM pretty soon as I find that I am utilizing about 75% of my physical RAM and I really can not remove any more background services or applications from startup in Windows 7 Ultimate x64 bit. I thought that the NJIT guidelines are a bit off, but I am going to comply and exceed their recommended configuration for Windows 7 64 bit computing requirements.

 

I trust that the Crucial RAM will work right out of the box with no problems after doing Memory Test 86+. I do not mind paying more money for a product that is almost guaranteed to work for good.

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post #10 of 19
9/6/10 at 12:02pm

U can buy DDR2 at 1066, and it will be cheaper. DDR 3 is only worth it for speeds above 1066. I use DDR2 1066 in my 2 1/2 year old laptop. See if ur motherboard can go DDR2 instead of DDR3. Many times it can handle both DDR2 and 3


Edited by Scott_Tarlow - 9/6/10 at 12:04pm
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post #11 of 19
9/6/10 at 12:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott_Tarlow View Post

U can buy DDR2 at 1066, and it will be cheaper. 



Her laptop requires DDR3.

Shouldn't complain about price though. $200ish for 8gb? Can't beat that unless you don't need it.

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post #12 of 19
9/6/10 at 4:21pm
Thread Starter 

I am not a her. I am a him. Ha ha ha! This always happens to me on discussion forums.

 

Anyway, both of my professors told me to max out on RAM if I can afford it because the coursework is going to get more complex and we will be installing more software applications as we progress along with the course syllabus. I already asked them.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moontan13 View Post





Her laptop requires DDR3.

Shouldn't complain about price though. $200ish for 8gb? Can't beat that unless you don't need it.

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post #13 of 19
9/7/10 at 8:29am

 

Sorry about that, Sir.

I had to take my Toshiba netbook back to the store as the display died on it. I was checking out the RAM prices. For my DDR2, I could get 8gb for $160, which has to be some sort of record, $20/gb. The only reason I didn't buy then and there is that I wasn't sure what the capabilities of my P5N-E motherboard are, and I had to check online prices.

 

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post #14 of 19
9/9/10 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 

I am going to use my first paycheck from NJIT to buy the Crucial RAM from Amazon with expedited shipping. My professors told me to get it soon before we get further into the course when we have to solve more complex problems. I hope that my research is up to date on RAM because it seems that Crucial and Kingston make the most reliable RAM products in the industry.

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post #15 of 19
9/9/10 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega View Post

Crucial RAM is awesome, because they get first choice of decent chips from the fab (Micron).  The lower bin chips get sold off to other RAM manufacturers as commodities.  Thus, Crucial RAM always exceeds spec, and it should be no surprise that it works as advertised, while often being slightly more expensive than the commodity stuff.

 

I recently got burned by bad RAM.  I built a new machine about 6 months ago, and was in a hurry so I bought some fancy OCZ RAM that had a nice rebate.  I thought "I'm probably in for trouble, but it is cheap, and I'll just underclock it and it should be ok."  Nope.  After several really odd crashes, I decided to stress-test my system and it looked like I had a memory problem.  Sure enough, bad RAM.  Now I'm running on a backup stick, waiting for my RMA from OCZ (not holding my breath).  Next time, I buy Crucial or Corsair.  The (significant) rebate still wasn't worth my time.

 

To your other question, I find that Windows 7 works well with 4-6 gb of RAM.  I run a fair number of simultaneous web browsing sessions (typically ~20 Firefox tabs + ~100 Chrome tabs) at a time, and do scientific computing in various programs (puts good stress on processor, memory, and video card).  4gb of RAM is usually sufficient until I start opening large data files.  2gb is not enough for snappy Windows 7 performance...now that I am running on 2gb (waiting for RMA!), my disk is constantly being hit for swap, and multitasking performance is significantly worse.  Windows 7 is decent about using memory if you have it, but beyond 4-6 GB, you're spending money on memory from which you will rarely see benefit.

 

NJIT's recommendation of 6 gb minimum is stupid for any desktop user, save graphic/video editors.  They are inflating their estimate in order to hedge against the future, but they have erroneously extrapolated that curve.


+1,  I study  in university using oracle, vmware, eclipse, etc working with 4gb ram its well enough for me, if Im right you are studing Computer engineering like me, I  think you are ok with what you have.


IMHO first try with what you have and second decide, you always have time to buy it =)


...and always you can use a pendrive as ram :P

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