PC2-5300 or PC2-6400 for Vostro w/ T7500 proc?

Hello all. I just purchased a Vostro 1400 with the following components and plan to stick 2 x 2GB DIMM's in there:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2GHz, 800Mhz FSB, 4M L2 Cache
14.1 inch Wide Screen XGA+ TL LCD
1GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 DIMM
128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M GS Graphics Card
250GB SATA Hard Drive, 5400RPMF125
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini-card
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)
Integrated 2.0 mega pixel webcam
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Additional Battery
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium

($810.99 before tax, free S&H)

Yes, I know that Home Premium won't see the full 4GB, but I don't really care. The cost difference between 1x2GB and 2x2GB is only $20 and I'd rather have the extra memory there even though it won't fully be utilized.

That said, which kind of memory DIMM's should I install? The 677MHz 5300's or the 800MHz 6400's? Price difference is only about $10, so no biggy there. I know the chip I picked out (T7500) is running a 800MHz FSB but I'm not sure if that matters for the memory.

Would I see any performance difference btw the two kinds of RAM, either now or later (with a BIOS upgrade). I just ordered this afternoon and probably won't have the laptop for a week or so, but want to get the memory ordered from NewEgg ASAP so that it's ready to install before I even boot the thing up for the first time (LOL @ running that system with only 1GB of memory)

Thanks in advance for your responses....

Jon

 

Use the 667......the PM965 chipset in the Vostro doesn't recognize speeds faster than 667 MHz, and underclocks PC2-6400 accordingly.

 

To my knowledge, the fastest RAM that the Vostro boards support is PC5300 (667 MHz). That's not to say it wouldn't work (any DDR2 RAM should work), but I've been told 5300 RAM is the fastest our lappies support.

 

Yeah, that's what I figured, it would just run it at 677 MHz anyway, but I could have sworn that I saw something in this forum regarding a recent BIOS update (to the similar Inspiron line) that gave 800 MHz support.

Figuring that 5300 RAM is going to "max" out at 667MHz as it's speed limit, might the faster 6400 RAM run a little better just based on the fact that it's not being pushed to the limit?

Not sure if the analogy works for this, but consider a compact car with a max speed of 100MPH... it's going to be pushing itself pretty hard to maintain that speed, where as a luxury sedan or sports car will cruise at 100MPH without a care in the world because it's not even close to pushing itself to the limit.

While I have your attention, any recommendations on OCZ vs Kingston vs PNY if I buy my 2 x 2GB kit for ~$80 at NewEgg, or should I pay the extra and get Crucial or Corsair memory? They all have lifetime warranties, no?

Thanks!

Jon

 

No it wont run faster unfortunately. I am pretty sure Kingston has lifetime warranties, I have 1GB of kingston and 1GB of corsair in my notebook, both working fine. It doesn't matter too much just as long as its not a random brand, and it has got life time warranty.

 

Looks like the OCZ 6400 kit is actually cheaper at NewEgg right now thanks to a $15 rebate, so it's a moot point now. I'll just grab the cheaper stuff, which happens to be 800MHz.

Thanks guys.

 

Hopefully it works. Some ram is picky and doesn't like to run at other speeds.

 

Hey jdiehl, be careful with the OCZ rebates, your rebate has to be postmarked w/in 10 days of the purchase...which means you need to have your product with the UPC. You should be fine with Newegg, but if you're paranoid like me, get expedited shipping (of course my rebate was $30, so I had a little more to lose).

My Ram is actually OCZ, comes with a lifetime warranty, major bonus.