New RAM for HP

My computer runs a little slow, and I already scanned for spyware/registry errors and disabled many startup things, so don't tell me about that. Anyway, HP said that I could buy an extra 512MB RAM to bump my computer's ram to 1GB. They said that would really speed it up and make it so the loud fan won't run for high-memory programs anymore. I saw on amazon they sell these two items: HP - Memory - 512 MB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR II - 800 MHz / PC2-6400 and HP - Memory - 512 MB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR II - 667 MHz / PC2-5300. Will they both work? And what's the difference between the two?

Thanks ever so much to the people who answer.

 

check out crucial dot com their site will walk you through and guarantee the memory will work.

 

I bought some memory chips recently for a HP laptop. The different MHz speed of the chip cannot be greater than the those specified for your motherboard. The two that you listed is for different speeds - 800 and 667 MHz. It is best to check the memory specification for you model at HP.COM and that should list the corresponding HP replacement part that is suitable for your system. I also checked the CRUCIAL.COM site for my system and it indicated that I could use a higher speed memory chip than what was listed on the HP.COM site for my system. I did not buy from CRUCIAL.COM so I could not verify this. You can use slower speed chips (it just makes your system operate slower), however I am not sure what happens when you install chips that are above the speed limit for a particular motherboard.

 

Have not had consistent luck with Crucials` memory checker. It was way off for my lap top configuration in both slots detected and maximum memory possible. I sure wish it had been right as it stated a max of 1 gig. The Lenovo (Thinkpad) site stated a max of 512. Guess which one was right. Also know of one other instance from another Tech. Board where the Member trusted it, guess what? Wrong again. Go with the info. from the HP site and Tech. support. Once you have that, then shop around for the best deal. Side question. How new is this PC? Has it always been sluggish?

 

In most cases the worst thing is it will run at the slower speed dictated by the mobo. In some cases it will not run at all. Much depends on the mobo\bios.

 

Thanks everyone.

Ravin, thanks for the link.

Ccsito, thanks for the info. It seems from their site that if you use a faster speed, it will work at the slower speed, as ThunderZ said. I think they keep on making faster memories, so thats why they tell you to use the faster one.

Thank you, ThunderZ. I'll be careful now. But Crucials said they are the manufacturer for HP's memory. They have a money-back guarantee anyway, right?
My computer is only like a year and a half or so old. After scanning for registry errors and disabling another thing from the startup, my computer is running pretty okay, actually. But problems accumulate from time to time and the computer slows down again. Now I'm thinking, since I often have many high-drainage programs running at once which could lead to long stalls, that I would double the memory anyway.

 

Never heard of more of the proper memory hurting anyone. I believe you are correct about Crucials` guarantee so by all means go for the upgrade. You will notice it and enjoy it.

 

Everything seems okay according to HP, except that the computer requires the speed to be 333/266 MHz but the card says that it is 400. Does anyone know if that will be a problem or not?

 

My HP laptop uses DDR266 but Crucial's site said that I could use DDR333. I never got the Crucial part so could not verify if I could. Again, I can't say what will happen if the memory chip speed is greater than what is normal for your motherboard and BIOS. It might work or you might get odd system errors.

 

Thank you. HP helped me find the memory on Crucial's that matched the speed perfectly. So that takes care of that! Thanks to everyone who helped.