The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    RAM Speed Question on Inspiron 1505/6400

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by schleeb, Feb 19, 2007.

  1. schleeb

    schleeb Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    139
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I just bought an Inspiron e1505 with the 1.83 GHz core 2 duo processor. It has a 667 MHz bus but when I got it, it was loaded with 1 Gb of PC-4200 RAM. I noticed when ordering if you purchased the 2 Gb of RAM it is PC-5300 RAM. So what gives...? If you have the PC-4200 does it run slower than if it had the PC-5300 RAM? Or is upgrading to the faster RAM just a way for Dell to charge more...
     
    schleeb, Feb 19, 2007
    #1
  2. Iceman0124

    Iceman0124 More news from nowhere

    Reputations:
    1,133
    Messages:
    3,548
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    There really is no performance difference between the two, 667 has a higher latency period than 533, which offsets the higher speed rating. Benchmarks will look a little better with 667, but in real world applications, you will be hard pressed to find a difference. Some companies are now introducing lower latency(3.5 vs 5 or higher) desktop modules that do have a decent speed advantage, but they are costlier, and I havent seen any in notebook format yet.
     
    Iceman0124, Feb 19, 2007
    #2
  3. schleeb

    schleeb Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    139
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Well I went ahead a filled it out with 2 Gb of PC-5300 (667 MHz) RAM and reran some of my benchmarks. And the results are..........

    It runs somewhere between 2% slower and 4% faster... depending on the benchmark. Basically it didn't do much of anything.
     
    schleeb, Mar 1, 2007
    #3
  4. Iceman0124

    Iceman0124 More news from nowhere

    Reputations:
    1,133
    Messages:
    3,548
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    When lower latency 667 modules hit the mobile market, there will be some fairly significant improvement, but most likely not near enough to warrant an upgrade from what you currently have.
     
    Iceman0124, Mar 2, 2007
    #4