Once your laptop seems to lose oomph, it’s that the cause is low system memory. You’ve likely heard that modern laptop memory improvements come in the form of a laptop SODIMM, but just what are they, along with perhaps most importantly, how can you buy the one right for your laptop? To save you confusion, let’s go over the vital aspects you should know before clicking the order button!
A laptop SODIMM is the shorthand term for laptop Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Component. Quite a mouthful wouldn’t you think? Fortunately hp 15s du3047tx a SODIMM is pretty small and is the name fond of the PCB (Printed Enterprise Board) on which modern laptop memory is sold.
Consequently, any time you bumble across a laptop memory upgrade, it’s very likely to end up a laptop SODIMM of some type. Does this mean all laptop SODIMM’s are identical? Unfortunately not, but luck has it that it’s significantly less complicated as it sounds.
Laptop SODIMM’s differ depending on what type of memory they feature. Older SDRAM SODIMM’s for example are 144pin, slightly newer DDR and DDR2 SODIMM’s are 200pin while the currently latest DDR3 SODIMM’s are 204pin. Their physical dimensions also vary but extremely slightly.
One mandatory thing to remember is that laptop SODIMM’s of varying types are not mixed together in the same laptop. For example, if your laptop uses DDR3 memory then there’s no use trying to put in a DDR2 SODIMM within. It’s not merely the number of pins that vary but also the pin layout, operating voltage, timings and addressing etc.
While you can’t really mix and match SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 SODIMM’s (any combination) together it’s usually just fine to mix and match the same types of SODIMM’s together, even if the model of memory differs. Let’s put this into perspective.
For example, say you have a DDR2 laptop that shipped with a single DDR2 SODIMM. Its capacity is pretty much immaterial but let’s considers its 2GB. You now want to upgrade to 4GB but the DDR2 laptop memory upgrade you purchased is of a different brand than the one currently installed (i. e. Samsung Versus Hynix). Will this work? In 99% of cases yes! You see, the brand is for most part a non-issue, what’s relevant however is that both adventures are DDR2 thus follow the DDR2 SODIMM specification.
Even if the memory timings differ between the adventures then this is also acceptable (unless you want every ounce of performance you can get). The only aspect you should pay attention to when purchasing is the memory speed. For example, if that current 2GB RAM is of the PC2-5300 (667MHz effective) variety, you want to make sure your new DDR2 laptop SODIMM is also at least PC2-5300, otherwise the memory controller within your laptop will be required to run both SODIMM’s at the speed of the lesser (i. e. slower) SODIMM. To extrapolate this further, PC2-5300 and PC2-6400 DDR SODIMM adventures will work together albeit at 667MHz and not 800MHz (effective).
So just why will mixing different brands of laptop SODIMM’s only work in 99% of cases. The short answer is incompatibility. The long answer can be as follows, some lesser brands of laptop memory do not always 100% follow the JDEC (the organisation what devises memory specifications) specification, at other times BIOS’s (Basic Input Out System) found in laptops aren’t without bugs. The internet result is a laptop that will continuously beep when started up while displaying a black screen.
Is there a way to upgrade without potentially facing such problems and downsizing performance? Nothing will 100% guarantee you escape from laptop SODIMM incompatibility issues, after all it’s you who clicks the order button, however as long as you stick to some key recommendations then we’re almost certain you’ll be smiling in no time at all.
We’ve put together the below active check-it-out of aspects you should pay attention to when seeking to buy a laptop SODIMM. For peace of mind we advice that you:
A) Where possible try and buy the same model of memory as to the you already have installed OR buy a laptop memory upgrade from a respected brand
B) Buy the same speed of memory to what’s currently installed, i. e. if PC2-5300 is installed then buy a PC2-5300 laptop SODIMM as it’s very rare that the memory controller in your laptop can run at a higher memory specifications, and even if it can, the currently installed slower memory will prevent this (unless you change all SODIMM’s to the new faster spec)
C) Where financially feasible to do so, always try and buy SODIMM’s of the same capacity as to the you already have got installed (see below as to why)
D) If the laptop memory upgrade you propose to buy doesn’t have a lifetime warranty then it’s best to avoid it altogether, respected memory brands offer lifetime warranty specifics because they believe in their products, so should you (for peace of mind)
E) Simply buy mainstream laptop SODIMM’s rather than performance laptop SODIMM’s. The latter will feature faster memory timings, which provide a modest performance boost. For them to run at these timings however all installed memory adventures must meet this specifications. As your currently installed laptop will likely feature somewhat slower timings, your laptop’s BIOS uses these, and not the faster timings.
The vast majority of modern laptops support what is known as dual funnel mode. In procedure, this means two laptop SODIMM’s are accessed in parallel for enhanced performance (bandwidth).
When dual funnel mode was introduced (in DDR memory laptops) it only managed in what’s known as synchronous mode. Newer DDR2 and DDR3 memory laptop support both synchronous and asynchronous mode.
Synchronous mode only works when two identical SODIMM’s are installed. In this case identical also reaches to mean two adventures of the same capacity, for example, 2x 512MB = 1GB.
Asynchronous mode on the other hand only works when two non-identical SODIMM’s are installed, non-identical in the sense that they vary in capacity, for example 1x 1GB and 1x2GB = 3GB.
Regardless whether you have an adult DDR memory laptop or newer DDR2 or DDR3 laptop, always try and install SODIMM’s of the same capacity. Doing so will ensure your memory (where your laptop supports dual funnel mode) runs in synchronous mode.