Just bought a Eee PC 1001PXD-MU17, ram question

[swamibob]

I am wanting to upgrade the ram in my netbook and I have seen that it is only upgradeable to 2GB. Is this a hardware limitation or limited at 2GB because of windows starter edition? Can it address 4GB if i upgrade to windows 7 64-bit and are there 64 bit drivers for it?

Thanks
Swami

[JesterEric]

It's a hardware limitation. There's only one RAM slot. It fits a 1GB chip, or a 2GB chip of the same size.

[swamibob]

Thank you for the reply. There are 4GB memory cards on a single card. I was looking at this one.

Newegg.com - Patriot Signature 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model PSD34G13332S

Is the only hardware limitation that you know of just being only 1 slot to put the memory in?

Swami

[ThisIsNot]

There is a hardware limitation in that the motherboard itself only accepts up to 2GB sticks and, since you only have access to one RAM slot, you can upgrade to only 2GB. It doesn't matter if there are larger single sticks of RAM out there, they won't work with your netbook. You will be limited to 2GB of RAM.

Some of the newer netbooks with Intel Atom N570 processors can accept up to 3GB of RAM. Older netbooks with Atom 330, N270, and N280 processors with Nvidia ION graphics can work with 3-4GB of RAM but their chipsets were made by Nvidia and were designed that way. Most AMD Neo, Neo II, and now Fusion netbooks can pack at least 4GB of RAM. The new HP dm1z can work with 8GB of RAM.

Either way, you will be limited to 2GB of RAM no matter what you do. It is a physical design limitation with the chipset and motherboard. I believe Windows 7 Starter is also limited to 2GB of RAM but you would still not be able to go past that mark even if you upgraded to Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate.

[swamibob]

Thank you very much, this is what I was really wanting to know.