Doubling Ram

[Riley'sLife]

Two years ago I bought an Asus laptop for 44,000 Baht. At the time of purchase I asked how much to double the RAM to 2 GB and was quoted 13,000! I was told that the RAM should be the same proprietary make as the original RAM when doubling up and that’s why it was expensive. I didn’t upgrade.

I now have a program that alone requires 1.5 GB of RAM and definitely need to upgrade to 2GB minimum.

How much should I be paying at say, Pantip or Fortune to get 2GB?

Should I go to 4GB?

Do I need to have a matched pair of RAM or not?

[d0ndela]

Without knowing your model it's hard to say exactly, but most laptops have 2 RAM slots, and yours probably have that as well. Putting in 2 x 1GB blocks is the cheapest, so that's probably what's in your computer.

So if you want 4GB you need to replace both blocks with 2GB blocks. Note that if you are using Windows XP your system will not be able to take advantage of all 4GB.

A 2GB SODIMM RAM block will cost around 1200 baht or so (unless your computer model is very old), so you would pay around 2400 baht today for an upgrade to 4GB RAM.

[lopburi3]

I upgraded a 3 year old Toshiba last week. New 2gb DDR2 card installed was 1590 baht at Toshiba Service Center. As there MB's are known for being fussy about type of RAM was happy to pay for the authorized service

[Riley'sLife]

The laptop is an Asus A8 SC model 2yrs old, and came with two 512mb RAM total 1GB, The only changes I have made is to replace the OS from Vista to XP. Thanks for the replies, that gives me some guidance on price for sure. Prices seem to have come down then. I must say I was shocked to be quoted 13,000 baht by the Asus dealer in Hat Yai 2 yrs ago.

[stolidfeline]

They were trying to rip you off.

[d0ndela]

Have a look here for more details on which exact memory your computer takes.

DDR2 PC2-6400 your model can take, and if they try to charge you more than 1500 THB for that they are ripping you of, at least if it's in BKK, outside BKK the prices might be a bit higher.

Edit: The exact model of the RAM you want is: KVR800D2S5/2G (Kingston)

Edited September 10, 2009 by d0ndela

[givenall]

They were trying to rip you off.

Unless your program requires more than 2GB, don’t waste your money to add more than 2GB. I have never seen my laptop use more than 2 GB running any program

[d0ndela]

My laptop runs 3+ GB RAM pretty much all day every day. When running Visual Studio, Photoshop, Illustrator and more it takes some juice.

But true, you should think about that you actually need. Because if you have 1GB now, stepping up to 4GB might be overkill.

[ignis]

But true, you should think about that you actually need. Because if you have 1GB now, stepping up to 4GB might be overkill.

You could just replace one of your 512MB and add a 2GB so you have over 2GB.... There again if your going to keep the laptop for some time, or you may upgrade to Windows 7, so would be worth while to put 2x 2GB in now.

[Riley'sLife]

Yep they TRIED to rip me off for sure! (But no-one ever succeeds). The "reason" they gave for the 13,000 Baht price was that I must use a certain imported RAM otherwise I could have problems. I didn't believe them so didn't have the upgrade. They also told me I MUST use two RAM units of the SAME make and SAME size.

I had my previous Asus laptop for over 7 years, so I suppose I will be keeping this one for a while.

I want to run a VSTi program called Vir2 by Virtual Instruments for music production which recommends 2GB RAM, in conjunction with Ableton Live 8 which is a music production application.

So, 2GB is what I need right now. As I don't like people messing with any of my stuff, especially in Thailand, I thought it may be worth going to 4GB even though I don't actually need it today, but with a view of future-proofing and also to limit the tampering by service staff. Every time I have ever had work done in Thailand, whatever the item, it has always been returned with the problem fixed but another one added. I get bored with it all frankly.

Thanks guys for all the helpful replies, and thanks for the specific info on my model and the link d0ndela.

[d0ndela]

Your welcome, if you really don't want anyone to mess with your stuff, just go buy the model I posted and install it yourself.

is a great instruction video (it really is very easy).

Or if you get the shop to install it for you, make sure you watch them do it so you know that you actually get the RAM blocks you paid for. I always install the RAM our customers buy at the counter so they can see what they get put in. We so often hear stories about shops putting in old RAM blocks, or slower RAM than you paid for etc. So make sure you see them put it in.

[filingaccount]

The laptop is an Asus A8 SC model 2yrs old, and came with two 512mb RAM total 1GB, The only changes I have made is to replace the OS from Vista to XP. Thanks for the replies, that gives me some guidance on price for sure. Prices seem to have come down then. I must say I was shocked to be quoted 13,000 baht by the Asus dealer in Hat Yai 2 yrs ago.

I have an ASUS A8 model as well (although it is a JP).

They take any old regular DDR2 RAM. However, I think the max you can insert is 2 GB modules. It has 2 slots for a total of 4 GB.

I also bought mine about 2 or so years ago and upgraded immediately (with a generic module) from 1 to 2 GB... that cost me around 2,000 Baht at the shop. 13,000 is a rip-off price and the explanation they gave about the same modules etc is bogus. I use 2 different makes, with different rated speeds. As long as the RAM ratings matches or is higher than the mainboard requirement then you are fine.

Or use the tried and true way. Bring the laptop, ask around for pricing until you are happy with what you get, buy it with the condition that they install it at the shop and test if the laptop boots up. If it does, and the RAM totals match up you are good to go.

[Riley'sLife]

Really appreciate the help and advice you guys. The video link is great d0ndela thanks for that, very kind of you. Maybe I should have a go and install it myself as you say, looks pretty straightforward.

My A8 has a silver spray finish which can scratch very easily and also looks dirty and is very difficult to clean which is a big disappointment as I like to keep my stuff in pristine condition. Apart from this I am very pleased with it.

[astral]

My laptop runs 3+ GB RAM pretty much all day every day. When running Visual Studio, Photoshop, Illustrator and more it takes some juice.

But true, you should think about that you actually need. Because if you have 1GB now, stepping up to 4GB might be overkill.

Good advice here.

Cntrl/Alt/Delete all pressed together, then Task manager/Performance

The Physical Memory info will show you what you are actually using.

I have 2Gb under Windows XP and rarely use the second Gb.

[NUMBNUTTS]

Take ya NB to the store, let them install it - means test it, get receipt and leave.

Kingston carries a lifetime warranty.

Get the 2 x 2GB for your apps

Easy.

Edited September 11, 2009 by NUMBNUTTS

[prallo]

If you want to use 4 GB you must have a 64 bit operating system.

So you use Windows XP. Is it 32 or 64 bit ?

If it is 64 bit it is ok. If it is 32 bit your Windows Vista could only use around 3 GB of it.

[MrWiggle]

Sorry, thought this was a kiwi story.

[Carmine6]

Yep they TRIED to rip me off for sure! (But no-one ever succeeds). The "reason" they gave for the 13,000 Baht price was that I must use a certain imported RAM otherwise I could have problems. I didn't believe them so didn't have the upgrade. They also told me I MUST use two RAM units of the SAME make and SAME size.

I had my previous Asus laptop for over 7 years, so I suppose I will be keeping this one for a while.

I want to run a VSTi program called Vir2 by Virtual Instruments for music production which recommends 2GB RAM, in conjunction with Ableton Live 8 which is a music production application.

So, 2GB is what I need right now. As I don't like people messing with any of my stuff, especially in Thailand, I thought it may be worth going to 4GB even though I don't actually need it today, but with a view of future-proofing and also to limit the tampering by service staff. Every time I have ever had work done in Thailand, whatever the item, it has always been returned with the problem fixed but another one added. I get bored with it all frankly.

Thanks guys for all the helpful replies, and thanks for the specific info on my model and the link d0ndela.

Not sure about newer memory, but DDR memory does work faster if paired with a matching module. This Wikepedia article mentions newer memory types and says not required, but then says some motherboard manufacturers only support matched modules for dual channel data.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture

Also, 13,000 baht doesn't sound too out of line for two branded 1 GB notebook modules 2 years ago. I was thinking those would have run $140 each in the US, but much higher if installed at a store. I paid $90 late last year and installed them myself, and I recall them being $140 to $150 for a long time before they finally dropped. They literally were half the price of a brand new laptop for a while so I didn't bother buying.