RAM upgrade for Aspire 5738Z-4111 (Please help me buy the correct modules)

The RAMM that I bought does not fit the slot in my computer (wrong form factor).

Side note: I'm frustrated that ACER.com website does not provide specifications for their products.

From other websites I found the specs for my laptop:

Standard Memory: 4 GB
Maximum Memory: 8 GB
Memory Technology: DDR3 SDRAM
Memory Standard: DDR3-800/PC3-6400

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Acer-Aspire-5738Z-4111-Pentium-T4300-2.10-GHz-15.6-inch-Laptop/4720416/product.html#none

So, I bought RAMM described as DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 SODIMM.

KVR1333D3S9/4G
4GB 2Rx8 512M x 64-Bit PC3-10600
CL9 204-Pin SODIMM

Here is the exact module that I bought:
http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/kvr1333d3s9_4g.pdf

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All comments

Vince53

Herm, I understand your frustration. Acer does not manufacture its own RAM, although it only buys RAM from reputable manufacturers. Because identical RAM chips are made by different companies, they often cannot give an exact description of the RAM in an individual computer.

There are several free downloads that will describe your hardware in detail after analyzing your machine. But for adding RAM, the best way is to take out your RAM chip and get the exact specifications. A reputable computer shop can do this for a small fee. In some laptops, this a a complicated process. In others, you simply remove four screws and read the description without even removing the RAM.

hermosatrout

Vince53, I appreciate your replying, but you didn't provide any help at all. If I wanted to take it to a PC shop I wouldn't have bothered to go on-line to resolve this.

I'm hoping someone with knowledge of RAMM can point out where I went wrong.

The terms are confusing to me: DDR3 SDRAM, DDR3 SODIMM, etc.

My understanding is that "SODIMM" is the form factor for laptops, so I bought DDR3 SODIMM - but it does not fit the memory slot.

Vince53

Herm, SODIMM is a smaller-sized RAM chip designed for laptops, but not all laptops use them. Apple uses them in iMacs. The more pins that a SODIMM has, the faster it will transfer information, and SODIMMS range from 100 to 256 pins.

There are four major types of DDR3 SDRAM SODIMMS, each having 204 pins. DDR3 SDRAM is about twice as fast as DDR2, while using 30% less power. DDR3 SDRAM is not backward-compatible with DDR2 SDRAM machines.

Your machine does use the 204 pin DDR3 SDRAM SODIMM chips, but I cannot find out which of the four types. To make it more complicated, RAM chips are manufactured by different companies (not by Acer), so I don't know what brands will work in your laptop.

Alan-London

You could also try the system scanner on the Crucial site:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner

Hopefully, that will indicate suitable RAM for your system. (You don't have to buy from them of course but I never use anything else! Smiley Happy )

hermosatrout

Thanks Vince53 for your help. Well, I pulled the memory cards out and according to the silkscreen they have 200 pins. I think this is actually DDR2. Also, the position of the alignment slot makes me think it is DDR2.

Then I went to Crucial.com and looked up the memory chip for Acer Aspire 5738Z, according to the specs provided by the manufacturer, ACER, it said it was DDR3 However, then I used the Crucial.com system scan and it analized the memory to be DDR2.

So, appears to me that Acer provided mis-information about the specs of my laptop. As a result, I'm out $40.00 for the memory chips that were SUPPOSED to be the upgrad for my laptop. Even worse, according to the system scan done by Crucial.com, the max RAM for my PC is 4GB which is what it came with from the factory. This PC is 64 bit and running Win7. (4GB is minimum required for Win7) The performance has been degrading over the past 1.5 year and I can't tolerate any slower. After all this frustration and the $40.00 cost that was caused by Acer's sloppy or intentional mis-information, my next PC will most probably NOT be an ACER.

Below is the conflicting information as provided by Crucial.com:

Crucial® Memory Advisor results for the Acer Aspire 5738Z Laptop/Notebook Your Aspire 5738Z System Specs

System specs as shipped/provided by the manufacturer.
Scan your system to view your specific system configuration.

Memory:DDR3 PC3-10600

Memory Type: DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 8GB
Slots: 2

HOWEVER.....

Crucial System Scanner results for your Acer Aspire 5738 (DDR2 Models) Laptop/Notebook. Memory: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 PC2-6400

Memory Type: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 4GB
Currently Installed Memory: 4GB
Total Memory Slots: 2
Available Memory Slots: 0

Vince53

Herm, there's something wrong here. Not only does Acer say that you have DDR3 SDRAM with 204 holes, but CNET Review says the same thing http://www.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-5738z-4111/4507-3121_7-33786184.html

Is it possible that you have the Acer Aspire 5738z-4333, which has DDR2 SDRAM? I have found other versions of the Acer Aspire 5738, and some have DDR2 SDRAM.

hermosatrout

Thanks for your help Vince.
I agree that something is wrong here. I suspect that CNET got the wrong information as supplied by Acer.

Acer doesn't even supply the information on their own website - I suspect because their documentation is sloppy.

But I assure you that the the sticker on the laptop says it is 5738z-4111.

I took photos of the RAM chips but the jpg files are too large to upload here.

I'll shrink the jpg files and upload them later, but right now I shouldn't open photoshop because it will slow the system down too much.

I suspect there are many uneeded programs loading at startup, but basically all I'm running is Thunderbird and Chrome.

I start getting degradation after a dozen or so tabs opened on Chrome.

I think the problem began and gets worse as the HDD gets near full. I'm suspecting the processor is taking a lot of time doing sub-routines using the HDD for temp storage because lack of RAM available.

Another thing wrong here, is that per the Crucial.com scan of my system, they say that the laptop is at maximum RAM at 4GB.

numanto

Perhaps you can look at the genuine memory chip that your notebook use first or use a CPU-Z software first to identify what's the right memory chip in your notebook before upgrading the memory. I hope this works for you.