1GB pc2-5300 vs 1.5Gb pc2-4200

[kittysacattack]

I have a toshiba satellite m115-s1061 with 512mb ddr2 pc2-4200 ram. I ordered 2 gigs of pc2-5300 ram from crucial. If i mix 1 gig i get 1.5 gigs at the 530 Mhz (the slower ram) speed. If i use the full 2 gigs, my computer will not boot. i was told either the motherboard may need bios update, or cannot handle it, others have told me my 1.6Ghz Intel Celeron will not handle it. Anyways my main question is what am i better off running 1 gig @ 660 Mhz or 1.5 gigs @ 530 Mhz.

 

[PC eye]

The max on that model is 2gb of PC2-4200 memory. You ordered 2gb of a faster memory not being supported. 2gb of the 4200 would likely work without problems due to this. When going to order memory always look at the specifications first to see what the memory standard is.

The cpu plays no part in deciding how much memory can be installed. The board itself is what determines that by what is supported. On desktops more often a faster memory will run at the speed of the slower memory if not by the fsb itself which is 533mhz for that model. That will works on some laptops as well while not on others.

You can try mixing the two speeds but timings may be another problem being seen. Or one of the two faster 1gb dimms has a defect explaining why the unit wouldn't run with both of those installed at the slower speed.