Dell Mini 9 / Vostro A90 memory cleared up

Dell’s Web site specifies the Dell Mini 9 and the Vostro A90 as having a 533 mhz bus.  The build sheet however specifies that they include 1 Gigabyte of 800 mhz RAM (200-pin DDR2 DIMM).  When ordering a new 2 Gigabyte stick for my newly acquired A90 netbook, I couldn’t find, or get a clear answer on what speed memory I needed.  Here’s what I found out..

The bus on both machines is, indeed, 533 mhz.  The RAM that comes with your Dell is (usually) an 800 mhz chip.  When you look at either Kingston, or Crucial for memory, they each offer three versions.  533, 667, and 800 mhz.  Giddy with excitement as I unwrapped my new Dell from it’s cardboard prison, I ordered one stick of 667 mhz memory before I even realized that the discrepancy between 533 and 800 existed.

THEN, I spent about a week upset because I KNEW I should have bought the faster 800 mhz chip.

As of this afternoon and a LONG delay in receiving said RAM, I’m very happy to report that if you buy a Dell Vostro A90 or it’s more colorful counterpart, the Dell Mini 9, rest assured that both the original 800 megahertz and the new 667 megahertz RAM chips are both seen and supported the same as if they were 533 mhz parts.

In short, don’t worry.  It’s all good no matter which speed you choose.  Until someone figures out a way to overclock this little beasty, the $5.00 difference between 533 and 800 megahertz chips doesn’t seem to make a bit of difference.