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    question about ram on the 9300

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by TronCarter123, Jul 9, 2005.

  1. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    i know this was posted somewhere but for some reason i cant find it..

    ive read that its worth it to get just the 256mb ram and get 1gb off newegg or something like that..
    is that the suggest route to go?
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 9, 2005
    #1
  2. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    Amber, Jul 9, 2005
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  3. brinox

    brinox Notebook Geek

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    from my eyes, it was worth my time to go ahead and get the 1 gig from dell when i ordered my i9300, because i used the 35% off coupon code... and that turned out to be a $160 difference, when choosing the exact same system, one with the 256mb option and one with the 1024mb option.

    after going to newegg and looking at prices for mid grade ram, i would have just opted for the RAM to be covered under warranty by dell, rather than newegg (even as much as i like newegg).
     
    brinox, Jul 9, 2005
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  4. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    so its just 1 stick so id have 1gb + 256mb?
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 9, 2005
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  5. MU man

    MU man Notebook Enthusiast

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    Most people recommend to get 2 512mb or 2 1gb chips so it can run it dual channel mode. You get some added performance when you do this. If you want 1gb of ram, buy 2 512mb chips. The 256 that you get you won't use in the laptop then.
     
    MU man, Jul 9, 2005
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  6. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    you can get just 1 stick or 2 or do like Mu man said. I'm running only 1 stick right now cause i don't have a need for 2 gigs.
     
    Amber, Jul 9, 2005
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  7. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    but like would it be fine if i just got 256 then put in the 1stick of 1gb so id have 1.25 gb of ram?
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 9, 2005
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  8. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Yes. but your laptop will be running in single channel mode instead of dual channel.
     
    miner, Jul 9, 2005
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  9. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    If you want to run dual channel, then you'll need to get 2 sticks from newegg, but it works fine in single channel mode.
     
    Amber, Jul 9, 2005
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  10. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    dont know the difference
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 10, 2005
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  11. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    Well, Dual-channel RAM is a little faster, but it isn't really that noticeable. The primary benefit to getting 2GB of RAM is that just about all assets for every major game out there today can be loaded into 2GB of RAM, providing the fastest, smoothest performance (since you won't be waiting for virtual memory/hard drive accessing).

    Point in case, BF2 on maximum settings can bring an XPS2 with 512MB or even 1GB of RAM to its knees, but it runs glassy smooth on my I9300, despite the slower GPU and processor.
     
    lowlymarine, Jul 10, 2005
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  12. LuckMC11

    LuckMC11 Computer Extraoirdinaire NBR Reviewer

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    yea...but onli get the 2 GB ram if ur into gaming mainly, and onli gaming use!!!...cuz then it's jus a waste 2 get another 1 GB ram...unless u want 2 4 a verry future use of ur laptop...(idk if that made any sense)
     
    LuckMC11, Jul 11, 2005
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  13. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    but 1.25 is legit correct?

    im dumb.. but is the link u gave me 2 sticks of 512 or just 1 of 1gb
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 11, 2005
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  14. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I thought the same as you about it being 2 sticks of 512, but the link from newegg is just 1 stick of 1gb. You can use 1gig plus the 256 from Dell, which will be fine for running normal programs. If you plan on playing hardcore games like Doom 3, BF2, etc, then you'll want to upgrade to 2gigs.
     
    Amber, Jul 11, 2005
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  15. goga

    goga Notebook Consultant

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    There is no difference from one to two channels that can be seeing by naked eye. It is only precise numeric benchmark that can see it, and it is so miserable that is not worth the trouble of worrying about it.
     
    goga, Jul 11, 2005
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  16. TronCarter123

    TronCarter123 Notebook Geek

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    aka buy two of those sticks?
     
    TronCarter123, Jul 11, 2005
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  17. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    yep, I would if you plan on doing any gaming.
     
    Amber, Jul 11, 2005
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  18. Jhyphi

    Jhyphi Notebook Geek

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    What's the performance difference between the following

    1) 1 stick of 1 GB, 1 stick of 256 MB = 1.25 GB non-dual channel
    2) 2 sticks of 512 MB = 1 GB dual channel
     
    Jhyphi, Jul 11, 2005
    #18