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    1GB@PC3200 or 1.25GB@PC2700

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006.

  1. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    So, I currently have 512MB of PC2700 RAM on 2 modules. The upgrade cost for both above options is looking like £70 or so. Which would be better for general usage and a few games? Also, do these prices seem a lot - they are from www.dabs.com

    To clarify, should I buy 1 module of 1GB PC2700 or REPLACE the existing modules with the faster memory?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  2. RogueMonk

    RogueMonk Notebook Deity

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    Does your laptop actually run ram at DDR400?

    If it does, you will get a slight increase (probably not noticeable) in performance from the 1gb at PC3200.

    Going from 1gb to 1.25gb is hardly any difference. If you run apps that require more than 1gb of RAM, its likely those apps will use more that 1.25gb.
     
    RogueMonk, Apr 25, 2006
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  3. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    In actual fact I am trying to see if my system DOES run at PC3200. The Turion64 in theory supports it, and some people on the forum report success with it. If there were no price difference it would be no harm in trying I suppose.
     
    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  4. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    By the way, I recall seeing somewhere that 2700 is 2.5v and 3200 is 2.6v. That led me to recall that someone said acer5020 series can't run 2.6v memory...
     
    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  5. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  6. RogueMonk

    RogueMonk Notebook Deity

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    Either should work fine.
     
    RogueMonk, Apr 25, 2006
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  7. ivar

    ivar Notebook Deity

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    You can run Sisoft Sandra memory benchmark to see how fast is your RAM.
    Then you can decide if the replacing of pc2700 with pc3200 makes sense (it will be hardly noticeable anyway). The same benchmark can help you to see later if your choice was correct. :)
     
    ivar, Apr 25, 2006
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  8. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    My memory currently runs at 133Mhz because of some BIOS issues. I am going to flash it with the new one which supports 166Mhz (and hopefully 200Mhz).
    The current memory is PC2700 though. Woo de doop!
    Thanks for your answers in response to my redundant questions. :)
     
    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  9. ivar

    ivar Notebook Deity

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    You have to use the benchmark to measure how many GB/s you really get.
    Only then you can draw your conclusions. :)
     
    ivar, Apr 25, 2006
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  10. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Looks like 1.9GB/s according to SANDRA
     
    lukealexander, Apr 25, 2006
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  11. ivar

    ivar Notebook Deity

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    I am not familiar with AMD chipsets. However, based on what I know, I'd say this value is well below the theoretical limit for PC2700 (even I get from it
    2,2GB/s with Intel855GME chipset). That is why my conclusion is that the replacement of PC2700 with PC3200 will bring neither noticeable nor even measurable improvemeent in your case. You might also look into RAM latency if you care, but it is rather a minor issue.
     
    ivar, Apr 26, 2006
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  12. chinna_n

    chinna_n Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    I would like to differ. Based on my experience and test I have done, there is an improvement of 10-15% accross the board, including Video scores as it is shared. This has been posted/discussed several time for V2000z/L2000. But I am not sure if this Acer bios supports DDR400 or not.

    Same thing is posted in my review of V2000z, test before and after DDR400.

    But, some application may need more memory than the speed, which is altogether different. But when your application needs 1GB only then you would be better off with DDR400 1GB RAM.
     
    chinna_n, Apr 26, 2006
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  13. ivar

    ivar Notebook Deity

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    chinna,

    do you speak about a perfomance enchancement from pc2700 to pc3200 in general, or adapted to the specific situation discusssed here.

    My conclusion is basd on the fact that his memory performance is well below
    the abilities of pc2700 ram, so it is not ram which is limiting it, so the upgrade
    with pc3200 is not likely to help.

    Sorry that I haven't visited your link. Sorry, if the answer is already found there.
     
    ivar, Apr 26, 2006
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  14. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    I mentioned a bit earlier that the BIOS I am running limits the memory speed to 133Mhz as opposed to 166Mhz. There is a new BIOS to correct this, but I am a bit apprehensive since some people have reported bad experiences.

    I assume this is why I am getting low figures?
     
    lukealexander, Apr 26, 2006
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  15. lukealexander

    lukealexander Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Okay, I just flashed my BIOS to the latest version and memory is now running at 160Mhz, with bandwidth of 2184MB/s (2.2GB/s)
     
    lukealexander, Apr 27, 2006
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  16. grzesiek.sz

    grzesiek.sz Newbie

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    when i run my v2000z with PC2700 256MB Infineon and 1024MB PC3200 Twinmos both stiks works as 100MHz and it was very slow

    with only 1024MB PC3200 Twinmos i works as 200Mhz and it is much faster than 1,25GB mixed stiks
     
    grzesiek.sz, Aug 21, 2006
    #16