Asus 1201N RAM Question

So I just got my Asus 1201N (hence the user name) and want to upgrade to 4 GB of RAM. I use to know a lot about this sort of stuff but I haven't bought RAM to upgrade a computer of mine in nearly 5 years.

Since the FSB of the CPU is 533 does that mean the maximum speed of the RAM which can be used is 533 MHz? If so would there be any benefit to purchase 4 GB DDR 2 at 800 MHz if it would simply run at 533 MHz? If that is the case should I go for RAM at 533 MHz which have very low Cas timings? Like this one because from my prior knowledge, which isn't that great, if I got faster RAM like this one it may simply run at 533 MHz with even higher Cas timings, and thusly lower performance?

I do know I am dealing with a netbook so the real life performance difference may not even be noticeable. I also read somewhere about how people OC the FSB to let the RAM run faster? I don't plan to do this but if someone has done that could you speak about it for a little bit?

Thanks in advance

 

Well I think I'm gonna go with Corsair 2x2GB 800 MHz. Anyone have any opinions on the various brands?

 

The CPU FSB is limited to 533MHz, but the chipset FSB can accept an independent link of up to 800MHz from the CPU and from the RAM. RAM will only downclock to 533MHz if one of the two modules is rated for a 533MHz max speed, meaning that you have two sticks of different speeds. Buying anything greater than 533MHz rated memory would be a waste as you would be breaking the ideal 1:1 FSB/memory speed ratio. By having an asynchronous link between the FSB and the memory, the memory has to "wait" for the FSB to catch up and induces latency, which can degrade system performance by ~3% per asynchronous bin (ie. per 133MHz step). Also, keep in mind that asynchronicity is more apparent in dual channel and triple channel memory setups; the increase in latency is very unnoticeable with single channel setups, however you would lose the benefits of dual channel.

However, the big kicker exception here is that the Ion (9400M G) uses the system memory as it's texture buffer since it doesn't have it's own memory to draw from. This reason alone nulls the entire explanation I stated above, unless you like trading off a large chunk of GPU performance for very minimal CPU performance, so we should buy 800MHz memory instead since the GPU will take advantage of the additional bandwidth. Having two sticks in dual channel will also noticeably help GPU performance. 533MHz memory will choke the GPU greatly since both the CPU and the GPU will be demanding cycles from the system memory. Even though the CPU performance loss is minimal by going with 800MHz memory, the GPU won't be as heavily bottlenecked.

I'm sure you read the 1201N owner's lounge so I'm going to assume you're aware of the balance game that 1201N users have to play in regards to overclocking. On this notebook, you will need to sacrifice performance from one or more of the three components (CPU, RAM, GPU) in order to increase performance of one of the three. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5759017&postcount=163

If you have no desire to overclock with this notebook rather just want the best overall system performance, the best memory on the market you can get is the Kingston HyperX KHX6400S2ULK2/4G as it has the lowest timing set. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104148 However, any 800MHz kit will do as long as it's not faulty.

 

Thanks for all the great info about the Ion, even though I went through the 1201N owners lounge thread I was a bit confused I didn't realize how the GPU was affected by the system memory. A lot has changed since I got my old Dell laptop in 2005. I'm probably not going to overclock since it seems so complicated, but thanks for all the info.

 

I use two 2GB sticks of plain old Hynix 800MHz DDR2 yanked from my old Studio 1555, it all works just fine.

 

The Corsair kit that you picked out will do just fine. Yes, a lot has changed since 2005. Memory nowadays have become so speedy that the emphasis on memory timings that has been key to squeezing out good system performance since the Coppermine Pentium III days has become unimportant now. To put it in plain English, timings bear very, very little difference in performance for fast memory since the raw speed and bandwidth being churned out from today's modules more than make up for the increase in latency. However, it doesn't mean that timings have become transparent to overclocking or general system performance. Both the Atom and the Ion will benefit, though the Ion will benefit more, because it is two components accessing the memory bus. On most other notebooks on the market that come with memory dedicated for the video adapter, system memory timings are essentially a gimmick. But on notebooks that have a basic integrated video adapter, whether it be the Intel GMA series or Nvidia's Ion or other entry level GPU's that share system memory, every little bit counts as GPU's swap textures very quickly and in large amounts.

 

I would have ordered that nice Kingston HyperX CL4 Ram but it is out of stock so I went with the Corsair. Now all I got to do is get rid of the bloatware and I'll be one happy camper .