Another computer dork question.

[pickardracing]

Went looking to get some more memory for my laptop.

right now it has 2 sticks of ddr2 (?) 512MB ram. Went looking for 2 sticks of 1gb.

Newegg has them for less than 20 a piece, and when i went around locally I couldnt find any for under 75 for one. Is this normal? Is there something odd about Neweggs stuff?

Also, this is 533? memory and the guy at MPC said I could put faster 675 memory in it or some crap?

Edumacate me puleez.

[wikked]

Where were you shopping? Rape 'R' Us?
Best Buy has three 1gb or better sticks for under $55.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d3031 2d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat05060 00%23%230%23%2318~~ncabcat0506002%23%230%23%23i&usc=abcat0500000&nrp=15&type=category&lcn=Laptop&sp=%2Bcurrentprice+skuid&id=abcat0506002


The 2nd on that list, Corsair, is one of the best brands you can buy.
Lower quality ram can, and will error-out, and give you the blue screen of death, make Windows not load, etc.
I would not buy $20 ram, it will work great at first, but you'll just end up replacing it sooner than later.

(guessing you need 200-pin also)

[ND4SPD]

Local stores don't deal in the volume that most of the online places do, hence their prices are higher (even Best Buy). Also some brands are slightly better than others (Kingston, Crucial, Corsair, OCZ, Team, etc...) You can *usually* run faster memory (and sometimes slower memory) in your computer than is specified. The performance difference for the average user is not significant. For example you can run 533 in an 800 board or 1333 in an 1066 board. The higher the number just means it's rated for that higher speed (better). Usually the higher rated memory only really matters if you're overclocking, but if you're not... anything equal (just to be safe) or faster will work just fine as long as it's the same spec (ddr, ddr2, ddr3, etc...)

[ND4SPD]

One other thing, it's often best to buy the memory in "kits" if you're replacing both sticks (i.e. a 1GB kit of 2x512mb) instead of buying 2 separate 512 MB sticks. Also, have you visually verified that you can get at both sticks of memory. Frequently the Laptop manufacturers will only make one slot accessable and the other will be buried in a spot where you have to disassemble the entire damn thing to get at it. So, be sure you can get at them both before you buy both.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010260381+1052910525+1309121117&name=2GB+(2+x+1GB)

Any of these will work just fine... the ones at the top (the $39.99) ones from G.Skill, Corsaid, and Crucial are fine, they are quality manufacturers.

[pickardracing]

So this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145157

would be a good buy?

I can get at both sticks easily, its one on top of the other.

[wikked]

i'd hit it.