RAM speeds and dual channel

I'm planning on getting an E1505 in the next couple of months and I wanted get the cheap 512 1 DIMM and use a third party to upgrade the memory to 1 or 2 gigs.
Am I right in saying that the 512 1 DIMM would not be dual cahnnel, but I could turn on dual-cahnnel in the BIOS after I upgrade?

Also, does faster (533 versus 667) RAM make all that much of a difference? It seems like faster would be better especially since the x1400 uses hyper-memory.

Any recomendations on which brand of memory to get or avoid? I know crucial is good, but they are more expensive than some of the other brands on newegg.com

 

Welcome to the forums Echo...

In a way, you are correct.

The E1505 has a DDR2 ram, no matter what you order. By ordering a 512 1 Dimm, all that means is that you are getting 1 stick instead of 2*512. You really can't turn the dual channel feature on/off. If you use two sticks of the same identical ram, then it will utilize the dual feature automatically.

If you use two different sticks like 1 stick of 512, then 1 stick of 256, it won't use the dual feature.

I'm not sure about the speed question.

Transcend is usally one of the cheaper memory sticks on newegg, and is very good. It is the exact same as Samsung, just the off-brand of it.

SG

 

I found some info on the RAM speeds here http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=140995

They say it doesn't make a difference with dual cahnnel and the current intel yonah chips. That'll save me a couple bucks.

 

But I still recommend you have 2x512MB if you want 1Gig or 2x1GB for 2GB. I have read somewhere that by utilising dual channel, your x1400 Hypermemory would be benefit from that.

 

While on topic...I was just wondering if you could switch brand names and still get Dual channel as long as they are the same specs. For instance, my i6000 came with the stick of PC4200 1Gb RAM. If I went to newegg and bought a PC4200 stick of Kingston RAM, could I still go into Dual Channel mode, or do I need to match everything like voltages and timings? Thanks in advanece!

 

I have a 9300 and mine ran in dual channel using a Dell 256Mb and a Transcend 1Gb. I read somewhere that the current chipset uses a flexible dual channel that allows you to not have matching sticks but still use it.

P.S. Yes, I did a full set of benchmarks to determine that it was actually operating in dual channel and was seeing the increased memory bandwidth.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Need help guys.

Does these figures matter in dual channel rams?



I have one kingston and one samsung running together.

The Tras and Trc figures are diff. Does it matter?

 

In the grand scheme of things it wont make a difference, both modules will run at the lowest speed of the two.

 

Does that mean that these figures are not significant?

I don't really need to sell off one ram to get another identical one right?

Need some advice.

 

Your good, dont worry.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

Any other opinions from other users?