Which RAM to use? I've found conflicting suggestions

[ashers67]

How do I know which RAM to use? I currently have 2 512mb sticks that came with the PC

I've RTFM and read the thread by Tedster about updating RAM and troubleshooting found in the sticky of FAQ's that should be read (can not post a link as I don't have 5 posts yet) and
I've searched here and across the internet and used everest that I already had installed been on crucial.com and cpuid to get PC Wizard 2008 and I already had SiSoftware Sandra lite and have found conflicting results.

I have a Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo P which when I told crucial.com I clicked on 2 DIMM opposed to 3 DIMM, 4 DIMM or DDR2 as I have 2 DIMM slots I believe, from what I've seen in in my PC and what the aforementioned programs have said and it said that I could have DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot, whereas the 3 programs say I can have 4GB in total. When I change it to say I have a Scaleo P DDR2 not 2 DIMM, it says I can have DDR2 PC2-4200,DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot and that I have 3 slots and my maximum memory is 3GB because of the 3 slots and I have a 32 bit OS (Vista Ultimate)

Everest says I have 2 of these in each DIMM:

Qimonda 64T64000HU3.7A 512 MB DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM (5-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz)
and PC wizard DDR2-SDRAM PC2-4300 (266 MHz) - [DDR2-533]

Sandra and Everest say I have 2 memory slots in total both in use, but PC Wizard says one 1 of my memory sticks is "512 MB (1 ranks, 4 banks)"

Judging by the programs results I think I'd need DDR2 SDRAM, but did not want to buy anything until I was certain what I needed.

Also I want to upgrade by 1GB up to 2GB - would I have to buy 2 1GB sticks and have the other 2 lying around (or would they be worth selling) or is there a cheaper way to add to my memory through PCI slots or USB? (I read that the memory was USB compatible on one of these programs)

 

[kimsland]

Well done at the amount of research made.

It would seem that you probably need DDR2 PC2-4200,DDR2 PC2-5300 (2X 1 Gig)
But, the only thing you didn't provide was your Motherboard (or computer manufacturer and model) information.

Using your motherboard's support page, you can download the manual.
Which should tell you all information on which ram suits your computer.

 

[ashers67]

Thank you very much, I searched the name (Asus P5SD2-FM) in google and came up with manual as first link and got the answer - up to 1GB unbuffered non-ECC DDR DIMM
though it said it comes with 2 240 pin double data rate (DDRII) sockets, that DDRII doesn't mean DDR2 I'm guessing?

 

[kimsland]

I'm having a little problem trying to get the exact page for your motherboard.

Can you please do the following:

Please press the green button

You must click this twice, once here, then when you get to Asus

 

[ashers67]

I've clicked the green button and it just took me to a download page where I had to select my model which is P5SD2-FM and it came up with loads options like I'd found previously when searching just "P5" with the closest ones (from both my search and after clicking the green button as they both turned out more or less the same results) being the four that all began with began with P5SD2 followed by
"-A"
"-VM"
"-X" &
"-X SE"
but none ending with -FM like the 3 programs I've used above have told me. What am I looking for?

Update: I believe I know exactly what RAM I need now - Previously hadn't seen the sub-sections in the pdf of my mobo's manual
Any advice on what is best for performance, value for money etc. ?

 

[kimsland]

advice on what is best for performance

You should purchase Ram that has the exact same rating and manufacture.
Many users tend to update their ram (as you wish to) and find that their computer is worse for it.
This is usually (mostly) because of adding new ram with slightly different values to what's installed (regarding speed -Mhz; size; and even different Manufacture name)

Therefore, your best measure is to purchase 2 exactly (exactly!) same rams.
In most cases this will be 2 x 1 Gig Ram cards
You then fully replace the current ram cards in your computer with the new ones.
The old ram cards removed, should be kept for a couple of weeks (just in case you need to revert back!)
And then possibly sold to recover any costs spent on the previous new ram.

By the way, your motherboard does exist "P5SD2-FM" but Asus doesn't find it!

 

[ChrisEisenbach]

the motherboard does exist. I have one.

I believe it was a custom built one by asus for fujitsu siemens. Unfortunately, i do not know what system it was built for. I desperately need a bios update but cannot find one because the board is not listed on asus's site and i do not have a fujitsu siemens computer. I bought the motherboard separate.

Can anybody with this board provide me with a model number of their computer so i can get to the downloads page on the fujitsu siemens site? I would guess if it were just a driver, but i dont want to ruin my system by updating the wrong bios.

 

[kimsland]

It's here: http://support.fujitsu-siemens.com/com/support/downloads.html

Up the top of the page just type in P5SD2-FM (in the small green search box)

But this site works off SN from your Fujitsu Siemens computer (where the motherboard came from!)

If you do not have the original computer, I would recommend to contact thier support.

By the way, if they eventually give you a link, please post it here