Whirlpool

I have been looking at increasing the RAM in my Compaq 6710b notebook and would like some advice please.
The notebook is running XP and has Dual Core 2.2 Ghz. The standard memory is 1 GB 667 Mhz (Hynix) but I ordered an extra 1 GB to be added before delivery which was 18 months ago. During my research though I have discovered that the second RAM stick in the expansion slot is a Kingston KTH-ZD8000A/1G. This is actually a 533 MHz card, not a 667 MHz.
I am thinking of installing 2 X 2GB cards although this I think will only take it up to 3.5 GB because of shared graphics.
Should I just replace the Kingston card with a 2 GB (667 MHz) card giving 3 GB RAM or replace both with a 2 X 2 GB upgrade? Will I notice any change increasing from 2 GB and if so does it matter if the two cards are different capacity (1 GB + 2 GB)? Would it matter which slot each card is in if 3 GB is installed?
The computer is used for office applications and web and emails which is not heavy work really. I am considering the upgrade to try and improve start up time which does seem to have increased recently.

I don't think I can answer all your questions there Scotty but a couple of things to keep in mind.

Your RAM can't run faster than your FSB (front side bus) so check this on your CPU and motherboard.

Some motherboards can run Dual-Channel RAM (which is faster) which needs to be identical size in each slot to work properly, once again you need to check your spec

If your not running Dual-Channel different size RAM in each slot is fine.

I believe if you have two different RAM speeds all your RAM will operate at the slower speed.

Best way to increase start up time is give your computer a good clean out and remove all redundant programmes that are opening on start-up. Google XP tweak guide.

is it easy to damage the seating for the ram?i have an eee pc i took the original ram out and put it back in. the thing is i was being abit roughin handling it. is there a change that the ram seating may be damaged? the computer started normally and reported the same old 1gb as before. thanks.

anyone?

Thanks for that Doomy – I'll have a closer look although I do try to keep things tidy. The FSB is 800 MHz so that is OK. How can you tell if the system is actually set to use Dual-Channel RAM? Dual-Channel is listed in the specs somewhere I think but I don't know if that means that it is actually running it as such. I'm also guessing that the RAM is being slowed to 533 MHz because of the off-spec Kingston card?

khmer I wouldn't say it's easy to damage your RAM slot but I guess it's possible. If your computer is reporting the RAM then you should be fine.

If it can't see it anymore you have a problem.

Sorry for the late reply.

If your motherboard is capable it should be automatic.
I wouldn't stress about this after doing some more reading the advantages in speed are not that great, 10% by some reports.

Yes all your RAM will be running at 533MHz due to the Kingston card, replacing it with a 2Gb 667MHz would be your best bet to start with.

The tweak guide isn't only about keeping your computer clean but also alot of windows settings your can change or disable to make it run and boot up much faster.

http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

Thanks again Doomy.
I have downloaded the Tweak Guide already and will have a closer look at it soon. I also think that rather a lot of old emails in Outlook could be slowing the system a bit so I'll dump some of these also.
If the two RAM cards are different sizes isn't this inefficient? Maybe not much better than running 2 X 1Gb 667 MHz cards?

Different sizes is not a problem as long as the speeds are the same.

1GB 533/1GB 667 as you have now will all be running at 533

So if you replace the Kingston 1GB 533 with a 2GB 667 you will gain a Gig and the extra speed.

buy 1 dimm of 2 GB and keep the one of 1 GB since if you don't have a 64bit system you can't use them entirely.