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    2.5 GB (PC5300) vs 3 GB (PC4200)

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by venkol, Jan 23, 2008.

  1. venkol

    venkol Notebook Consultant

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    I just ordered a new laptop and configured it to come with 1 GB of PC5300 RAM (2 sticks). Now, the laptop I am replacing has a 1 GB PC4200 stick and I plan on buying a 2GB PC5300 stick to upgrade.

    Should I go with the 2.5 GB at the faster speeds by just replacing one of the sticks in the new laptop or the 3 GB at the slower speed by replacing both sticks with a new stick and my PC4200 stick? Would going to 4 GB grant me a significant improvement over these two options?

    T7500/8600GT Computer with Vista Home Premium 32-Bit. I will be using the laptop for Gaming and 720p HD Video viewing (among other things).

    Thanks
     
    venkol, Jan 23, 2008
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    More RAM is generally better than faster RAM. Vista's usually happy with 2GB, so unless your games are memory intensive ones you probably won't see too big a difference between the two.
     
    Commander Wolf, Jan 24, 2008
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  3. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Using SiSoftware Sandra's memory benchmark I tested memory bandwidth for 2 RAM types:

    2.5GB PC 4200 : benchmark results = 2980 / 3007
    2.5GB PC 5300 : benchmark results = 3090 / 3110

    PCMark05 results were 3509 and 3572.

    That speed boost is very small and I would tend to use the 3GB since Vista will use the extra RAM to cache files you may want to use. This makes overall operation smoother.

    Since you are using 32-bit Windows, only 3GB or RAM can be used. As explained in the dual channel RAM thread, the performance boost provided by a full 4GB compared to 3GB is very small.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 24, 2008
    #3