Clarification for GT 555m

So I went and looked at the review on nbc for the M14x the other day, and it lists the 555m as using DDR3?

Review Alienware M14x Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

Furthermore, in the 555m page, it's confirmed that there are only two memories being used, DDR3 and GDDR5 (in the Y570).

NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I've always thought the 555m used the faster GDDR3 instead of the much outdated and slower DDR3? Owners have always referred to it as using GDDR3.

Owners?

EDIT: Listed on Dell's own website confirms the use of DDR3.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m14x/fs

EDIT2: Sager have their 555ms listed as GDDR3.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5165-clevo-w150hr-p-3063.html?wconfigure=yes

 

There are multiple variants of the GT 555m. As you noticed, the m14x uses the 192-bit DDR3 model (and I've never seen anyone refer to it as GDDR3, contrary to your comment). Most other implementations use the 128-bit GDDR5 model.

If all other things were equal, they would basically balance each other out. The DDR3 version has slower memory, but a much wider bus. The GDDR5 version has faster memory, but a narrower bus. You either get more lanes to drive slowly, or fewer lanes to drive fast; in the end it's about the same.

HOWEVER, all things are not equal between the two main variations of the GT 555m (there are more than 2, but these ones are the most prevalent). The DDR3 version has 144 CUDA cores and 24 ROPs, while the GDDR5 version has 96 CUDA cores and only 4 ROPs. The M14x uses the overall superior 555m.

 

Heh, I think I understand hardware fairly proficiently to not warrant such an analogy. I just need clarification from an M14x owner.

Now I just need the Sager owners to be a little more participative to clarify whether they use GDDR3 on their 555m as listed on Sager's website. I think Sager has it wrong though.

I do think all the references to GDDR3 on the m14x is probably just a misunderstanding. So if you're reading this, GDDR3 and DDR3 cannot be used interchangeably. Yes, YOU TOO, manufacturers of a multi-billion dollar industry (especially YOU, SAGER/xoticPC).

 

How do i find out what mine is? I forgot already what I ordered.. lol
(the crappy thing about having 4 computers in your house, you start to forget what machine has what componenets)

 

Most likely a typo by Sager. As far as I know, the GT555M only uses either DDR3 or GDDR5.

 

DDR3 according to GPU-Z

 

This may be off topic but, for the GPU-Z not responding, you can fix it by download the newer version of GPU-Z, because the one use using, doesnt support GT 555M, or the whole GT 500/500M Series.

So in this case DDR3 on GT555m better or the GDDR3 version is better?

 

The DDR3 is made for Alienware and is considered the better card. As stated in this review of the two versions of the 555m the 1.5 or 3.0 has nothing to do with if it is DDR3 or 5
AnandTech - AnandTech Mobile Graphics Guide, Summer 2011

 

GDDR3 is a more capable memory format than DDR3. It's also less common because it's more expensive, and isn't quite as good as GDDR5. In short, most notebooks nowadays use GDDR5 for high end cards and DDR3 for low end cards, while GDDR3 is slowly being phased out.

But GDDR3 is faster than DDR3 though. But considering no GDDR3 version exists, that's irrelevant for a point of comparison.

GDDR3 version is superior to Y570's GDDR5.