FE-21M memory upgrade question.

[SIngular_one]

Hello i am going do do some upgrades on my old Vaio FE-21M and i have some questions regarding the RAM upgrade.

First things first. My device has 2x512MB DDR-2 533MHz modules. In the online specifications it says that it supports up to 2gb total memory.

I was wondering if I could upgrade to 2x2gb modules, that would make it 4GB in total.

The laptop has an Intel 945PM chipset which should be able to support 4GB, despite of what the sony specs say.

It also has a 128MB graphics card so I expect it to be deducted from the total usable memory making it 3968MB.

Also I am probably going to get 667MHz modules since 533MHz seem to be harder to find at 2GB. Supposedly this should be fine, as they will just run at a slower rate on the laptop.

I am also going to upgrade the BIOS to the latest version, and use 32-bit Windows 7.

So to sum up my questions are:

Even though the specs say it supports up to 2GB is it safe to assume that it can "see" more based on the chipset specs? Should I be expecting  3968MB of usable memory or is there soemthing I have missed?

Is using 667MHz modules going to be ok, despite the fact that it supports up to 533Mhz? I am expecting it to just run at 533MHZ.

Thank you all in advance!

Message was edited by: SIngular_one

[rich912]

Hi Singular_one,

No it is not safe to assume that your computer will see more than the 2GB specified.As you have already discovered the max RAM supported on this machine is 2GB.

667MHz modules will be fine as they will be backwardly compatible but will run at the slower speed.

As to upgrading to Win 7 64Bit you should take into consideration that Sony provide very limited support for Win 7 on this model and no 64Bit drivers even for Vista.

I advise caution.

Rich

[SIngular_one]

Thank you for your quick reply rich92.

I know I should not assume the 4gb will be usable, I was mainly asking to see if anyone had tried this before on this laptop, as I have seen it done on other models with the same chipset. I would assume that since it is not a chipset limitation, the BIOS  could be the only limiting factor, so I will update it for better chances.

That being said I will probably still go for the 4GB as I have found a shop that sells them at about the same price as 2GB (about 3 euros higher) so I will take my chances.

As for windows 7, i have found it to be rather compatible with older systems, but even if it doesn't work I can always try vista, or even XP.

EDIT: Upon further investigation it seems that the CPU is 32-bit so I won't be using 64-bit windows.

Message was edited by: SIngular_one

[rich912]

EDIT: Upon further investigation it seems that the CPU is 32-bit so I won't be using 64-bit windows.

Message was edited by: SIngular_one

Although I think your CPU is capable of running a 64Bit OS it is not supported by Sony. Most of the Vista 32Bit drivers and utilities should work with Win 7 32Bit.

Rich