Ron wrote:
> My father has one of these and it only has 365mb of memory, with
> Windows XP Home SP2.
>
> Can someone tell me exactly what he needs to buy to upgrade the
> memory.
>
> He wants at least 1Gig.
Crucial and Kingston have search engines.
Crucial says it will take up to 2x1GB DDR400 (PC3200).
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=W3502
Kingston says much the same thing.
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...sp?SysID=33012
KVR400X64C3A/128 128MB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM
KVR400X64C3A/256 256MB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM
KVR400X64C3A/512 512MB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM
KVR400X64C3A/1G 1GB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM
KVR400X64C3AK2/512 512MB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM (Kit of 2)
KVR400X64C3AK2/1G 1GB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM (Kit of 2)
KVR400X64C3AK2/2G 2GB 400MHz DDR Non-ECC CL3 (3-3-3) DIMM (Kit of 2)
The machine uses a Celeron D at 3.2GHz, and ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (RS480) chipset.
I guess it has two RAM slots.
The specification section of this page, says it ships with "1 x 512MB".
Your father could use an additional 512MB stick, as the cheapest way
to get to 1GB total.
http://www.emachines.com/support/pro...es&model=W3502
To verify it really contains "1 x 512MB" now, and not some other configuration,
use CPUZ.
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
Apparently, the RS480 is a dual channel chipset. What that means, is
you could get slightly more memory bandwidth, if the two memory modules
installed were matched. There aren't usually a lot of ways to make a 512MB
module, and the usual way is with 16 chips. If you were to blindly buy another
DDR400 stick at the 512MB size, chances are you'd get another module
with 16 chips on it. There is a small chance you could get an 8 chip module,
and advertisements are generally pretty poor at giving that kind of
detail. Purchasing a matched pair of some capacity, would be another
way to solve the problem, but would leave you with a spare 512MB stick
sitting around. (A spare can come in handy - I've had a spare DDR sitting
around for a couple years, and actually needed it for some testing
recently, so it saved me a trip to the store.)
So if you went to a 2x1GB configuration, buying a single kit would
solve the matching problem for you. This 2GB kit of 2x1GB isn't
that expensive, at $67. The reviews look pretty good (less than
the usual number of bad, out of the box experiences). So if you
aren't on a tight budget, even a 2x1GB config is within reach.
KVR400X64C3AK2/2G DDR 400 (PC 3200) 2.6V CAS3=(industry average type) $67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141308 http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/K...64C3AK2_2G.pdf
If you only want to buy another "1 x 512MB", this is an example of a
16 chip module.
KVR400X64C3A/512 DDR 400 (PC 3200) 2.6V CAS3=(industry average type) $21
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141424 http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KVR400X64C3A_512.pdf
Memory which is CAS2.5 or CAS2, answers a request for data in fewer
clock cycles than a CAS3 stick. But again, the difference are minor,
and don't usually justify a big price increase. In the case of your
computer, my concern with using any higher performance "enthusiast"
type RAMs, would be a lack of voltage adjustment on the DIMM slot.
Some of the "hot" memories, need a bit of extra voltage to work
well. With the Kingston products above, it should be "plug and
play", and no tuning needed.
HTH,
Paul
emachine W3502 memory question 
Linear Mode
