Laptop Upgrade

[smithmr8]

Hi,
I'm planning to upgrade the RAM and HDD in my current laptop [HPG5056EA], from:
1GB[2X512's] to 2GB[2X1GB's]
120GB SATA to 320GB SATA
Will This HDD be compatible if its SATAII ?

I have found a compatable HDD without problems, but the RAM is proving a little trickier. I removed the plate on the back or the laptop but the RAM doesn't have any identifying stickers/labels on it to tell me crucial information about it [e.g. Frequency]. I tried CPU-Z, and it gave the below information.



But, I couldn't find any DDR2 RAM with a 266MHz Frequency. So, I then tried crucials wizard for finding compatible RAM, and it provides me with some which don't match the information given to me by CPU-Z.

Crucial Link: Click Me

I would greatly appreciate some help and advice on the RAM which would be compatible with my laptop. [I need either 1GB Modules or 2x1GB Modules]

Thanks-Alot,
Luke

[staffsMike]

Easy way to find out is to go to http://www.crucial.com/uk/ stick your laptop details in and it will do the rest

266MHz in DDR2 is 266MHz x 2 so you are looking for 533MHz

[smithmr8]

Ohhhhh. That explains soo much .

And, what about the HDD. Will it matter if its a SATAII one ?

[staffsMike]

Should be backwards compatable, I've never seen a laptop be fussy about a SATA drive when upgrading and I've done it more times than I care to remember lol

[smithmr8]

Cool. Thanks for the info. I look forward to upgrading the laptop. Its a year old, so its due for some upgrades.

[smithmr8]

One other thing

This was in the SPD tab of CPU-Z.



What does the max-bandwidth mean ? Is that the highest frequency module that the SLOT supports ?

Can I buy ram with a frequency of 666 ?

[staffsMike]

I might be wrong but I believe it's telling you the RAM already is 667MHz. But the laptop will have underclocked the RAM to match the CPU which is not uncommon and why 800MHz RAM is totally pointless in most if not all laptops.

[smithmr8]

Oh right. So it wouldn't really be worth buying 667FHz RAM if its just going to underclock it.

[staffsMike]

Not really. It's probably the same price though and might give slightly tighter timings

This I assume is what you need in 667MHz guise
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/part...2KIT12864AC667

It's £2 less for 533MHz but will run the same timings anyway so it's up to you.

corsair stuff here
http://scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=548348 with free delivery

[smithmr8]

For £2, its worth it. . Thanks.