Dual channel (e1405)

I have a e1405 with an installed 512 DDR2 533Mhz stick. I'm planning on getting another 512 stick same speed. I'm wondering if they would run in dual channel mode ? or should i get 2 identical sticks of RAM ?

Another question is is this hard to replace the installed RAM below the keyboard ?

Last question is is there noticable difference between 553 and 667 MHz granted running in dual channel mode. My altenate and more expensive route is to get 2 1GB 667 MHZ sticks

Thanks.

 

You should be able to utilize the dual feature as long as both sticks are same type, size and speed. There is some evidence to suggest the same manufacturer, but AFAIK they don't have to be from the same place.

And no, it is not difficult at all. here is the service manual which tells you how to get to the location of the RAM modules:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins640m/en/SM/index.htm

I'm not sure about the 3rd question. I would imagine that you would notice the difference on programs that take alot of memory, but for every day tasks you probably won't notice it all.

 

There will be no performance difference between 533MHz memory and 667MHz for 95% of applications. Less than a 5% difference in benchmarks.

 

However, supposedly the faster RAM helps out the GMA950.

 

I've got a couple 1024MB sticks in the FS forum

Dual channel gives like a 7% performance increase. Not really worth it.

 

I found out that you dont need the same sized memory dimms for dual channel. Before installing my new 1gb dimm (came with 512mb from dell) cpu-z always read it as single channel. But after installing the dimm it says dual channel even though I have two different sticks.

Go figure. Oh and gaming performance with the 950 and 1.5gb of ram is alot better compared to my system when it had 512mb.

 

Correct, but the question is, to what point? The performance of the GMA950 is impossibly slow to begin with, even a 10% performance boost would not make a difference.

 

Ditto. I had 512MB of Dell's RAM installed & added 1GB of Kingston. CPU-Z reported that I was running in Dual Channel. So neither the size nor brand have to be the same.

 

Yes I know you can run different sizes in dual channel, but from what I read, it is still best to go with the same size if you want the best results.

Then again, I highly doubt you would notice a difference in running single channel vs. dual channel or running different sizes for day to day activities.