Would 256mb ram help a 333mhz laptop? and is PC66 so-dimm rare?

T

TSx

Gawd
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Jan 11, 2004
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It is a rather old laptop, a 333mhz with 64mb ram right now, and I figured I should try doing what I can to increase its speed before resorting to buying a whole new laptop. All it's used for really is word processing, internet browsing, outlook, and AIM. It's got win2k on it and with a basic load...AIM and maybe two IE windows open, about half its resources are used up.

After a bit of searching, I found that I need PC66 so-dimm sdram for this board...and that it can take up to 288mb. So I was wondering if 256mb would help this comp out a lot?

After doing a little searching, I found 128mb sticks of pc66 so-dimm sdram on gateway's site at ~$70, ewiz.com @ $46, and almost nowhere else. I'm not sure if this stuff is really hard to find due to being so outdated, or if I'm just not looking in the right places.
 
When I installed Win2K slimmed all the way down, with only NAV 7.6.1 running (while ago), it used about 45MB of RAM, so you'll be hitting the swap file constantly. I would recommend a 256MB stick if you plan on using the laptop, plus you don't need to use PC66, any PC66/100/133 will work as long as it uses the same package - 144Pin SO-DIMM. That's the reason you are having a hard time finding a dedicated PC66 SO-DIMM.
 
i reccamend u using windows 98se, 128mb will be good but if u want u can buy more.
yeah it will show a BIG proformance
 
I was using 98se but had to upgrade a few months ago so the infrared port would work better. That's the only real change I've made on the laptop since I got it, like 8 years ago. I've built numerous pc's and have no problem with them, but I'm very reluctant to mess with my laptop, as I know virtually nothing about it.

It's a gateway, so I went to the gateway's site and did a 'look up' for upgrades on ram, and it listed a pc66 128mb stick, x2 for 256mb. I don't know anything about so-dimm at all, so I was only looking up pc66. Even though the laptop is that old, it will still support pc100/133?
 
Originally posted by TSx
I was using 98se but had to upgrade a few months ago so the infrared port would work better. That's the only real change I've made on the laptop since I got it, like 8 years ago. I've built numerous pc's and have no problem with them, but I'm very reluctant to mess with my laptop, as I know virtually nothing about it.

It's a gateway, so I went to the gateway's site and did a 'look up' for upgrades on ram, and it listed a pc66 128mb stick, x2 for 256mb. I don't know anything about so-dimm at all, so I was only looking up pc66. Even though the laptop is that old, it will still support pc100/133?
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that's a can of worms on a laptop. Some can run the faster memory at the slower speed, some just choke because the SPD rating wasn't what it was looking for.

My personal recommendation, what I would tell one of my customers, is to stick with 98. Upgrading to 256MB would make 2000 usable but 98 would still be *much* faster than 2000 on that machine. You could run 98 with 128megs and it would be faster than the same system with 2000 and 256. It depends on how much you need Windows 2000 features.
 
Unfortunately my infrared port wasn't working with 98, so I had to upgrade to 2000 to get it to work. I know it did slow down a lot by just doing that, since the system only has 64mb ram currently. And I'm sure upgrading, regardless of 128mb or 256mb, and of pc66/100/133, it will increase performance...I'm just very unsure as to whether it will be a worthwhile upgrade, and if it will work. As in, if I get 256mb of pc66 so-dimm, it'll run me about $92...it's just a matter of if it would make it more usable. I don't need it to run power apps or games, just basic stuff with preferably under 60 second load times.

I don't really know much about ram at all, so I'd probably stick with the pc66 since that's what was recommended and what it currently uses, rather than trying to go with pc100/133 and either hoping it would work or having to reconfigure it.
 
2000 will run fine, my girl used a GW PII266 with 2K and 256MB and I used it and it was plenty fast for web browsing aim, music and all her stuff. I set up a couple of 333MHz models too, they were just as fast or faster.
 
Originally posted by TSx
Unfortunately my infrared port wasn't working with 98, so I had to upgrade to 2000 to get it to work. I know it did slow down a lot by just doing that, since the system only has 64mb ram currently. And I'm sure upgrading, regardless of 128mb or 256mb, and of pc66/100/133, it will increase performance...I'm just very unsure as to whether it will be a worthwhile upgrade, and if it will work. As in, if I get 256mb of pc66 so-dimm, it'll run me about $92...it's just a matter of if it would make it more usable. I don't need it to run power apps or games, just basic stuff with preferably under 60 second load times.

I don't really know much about ram at all, so I'd probably stick with the pc66 since that's what was recommended and what it currently uses, rather than trying to go with pc100/133 and either hoping it would work or having to reconfigure it.
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I'd order 256 from Crucial then. Guaranteed to work.
 
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