4 gb vs 8 gb ram

I am getting NP9262.
I am deciding between a RAM of 4 gb (2x2gb 800 mhz) and 8 gb (2x4gb 667 mhz). I am going to use 64-bit Vista Ultimate as my OS. I want to run Crysis as best as I can on this notebook (well... for that it might be better to use xp but lets ignore the OS) so ignore the price difference between these two RAMs and please just tell me which one gives me better performance.

edit: Oh, and is the 133 mhz dramatic difference?

 

Does the NP9262 have a montevina chipset? (I am unsure so I am clarifying with ya)

If so then go for the 800... if not then the 800 Mhz RAM won't help you because it would be downclocked to 667 Mhz anyway...

Hope this helps!

 

Obviously 8GB Ram is better (The site points out 6.8 GB is usable, so go for 2+4GB DDR2-667)
That machine has the P965 chipset....

 

You will not be using all 4GB so not even close to 8GB running Crysis, even on high. Get the faster memory for better performance.

 

I don't think you will be able to take advantage of the extra 133MHz (800MHz), since the memory bandwidth (PC2-6400 dual channel - 12.8GB/s) will be bottlenecked by the FSB's bandwidth (266MHz - 8.5GB/s and 333MHz - 10.65GB/s)....

 

Thanks for the fast answers but all in all it didnt help that much... I still dont know what to pick.

So is the extra 133 mhz going to be used or not? (in which case 8 gb and 4 gb rams are identical mhz-wise)

 

Um, what? That laptop uses a desktop CPU with a 1333 FSB. Of course he can uses the DDR2 6400.


Not to mention, he can't even use 8GB in that laptop. The chipset restricts him to 6.8GB so it would just be a huge waste. Plus I could see that causing some problems, more hardware than can be addressed, like how you used to have to clip drives to 32GB or have problems with them.


So basically: Fast memory which you won't use all of or
Slower memory for hundreds of dollars of more, that won't be used and CAN'T be used, and will also likely cause some problems down the line.



hmmm, seems like a no brainer to me!

 

Well I guess the answer then is to go with the 4 GB.

 

Heh, ok then, Ill go with 4 GB then Thats -800 dollars and another -500 dollars for not taking blue-ray (I think there is no debate on that one... complete waste of money)

One more thing while I have you guys here sitting around tha family fire:
I am also getting 3x320GB (7200rpm) HDDs. Do you think I should RAID them?

 

If you are set on getting 3 then why not?

 

If you either don't care about your data or you have a method to backup, definitely do a RAID 0. If not, don't raid. And if you want a method of backup, do a RAID 5 (though this will cut your drive space down to 640GB not 960GB).

You're clearly looking for performance, I would do a RAID 0 and just be sure to have critical data backed up (or buy a 750GB-1TB external and just make an image of your array on a regular basis - that's the route I'd take on this system)


And TBH I don't think Blu-Ray would be NEARLY as much of a waste as 8GB of RAM (at those prices anyway). Blu-Ray will at least have some use to you in the near future, probably.


Also, **** DUDE, you must be loaded. Wanna buy me a 320GB hard drive (I'll settle for 5400RPM) for my laptop?

 

SubTachyon,

I've already drank 10 glasses of water... Do you think drinking two more glasses of water will help me?

 

I like this analogy a lot and am going to use it in the future to explain why 8GB won't perform better than 4 (in 99% of cases)

 

I should probably get 2xGeForce 9800M GTX Graphics with 1GB instead of those crappy 2xGeForce 9800M GT Graphics with 512MBs while I am at it... meh.

Ok guys. 4 gb it is. Thank you.

 

SLI 9800M GTX = 2 GB total
SLI 9800M GT = 1GB total

I would be surprise if you can even utilize 512MB.

 

Ill open Crysis + solid works + photoshop... see? I need that 2 GB

I cheat, my father is going to help me with the bill. He told me to get something decent so it holds for 3 - 4 years although it doesnt need to be NASA computer. Hes probably not aware that I am about to get one of the most powerful NB in the world (Well... lets call it mobile desktop)

 

The RAM above will have a peak bandwidth of 12800MB/s (800MHz*8 Bytes*Dual Channel), but the CPU's FSB will bottleneck it to 10650MB/s (333MHz*8 Bytes*Quad-Pumped) or 8512MB/s (266MHz*8 Bytes*Quad Pumped).

The NP9262 (Clevo D900C/D901C) has software RAID, which won't give you much of an impovement as compared to hardware RAID. But you can implement RAID 5 with 3 HDDs.

 

you run all 3 of them at the same time? in that case you better get yourself a server with quad xeons.
edit: solid works is mostly CPU rendering, and photoshop has nothing to do with GPU at all. even 256GB GPU can run both of them at once smoothly as long as your CPU is strong enough.

 

quad xeons you say... *notes this down* ok, what else? cause I cannot live without having these 3 things opened up at the same time.

 

****, andy is right about the RAM. I still think the 4GB is the better option.

 

having 2 large apps idle in background while you are gaming? should i call that stupid or what? and again, they have little to none to do with video RAMs.

 

Thats obviously a joke...

 

I believe Andy you are incorrect because you never reach the theoretical bandwidth for oh so many reasons (CL one of them) but you will get closer with faster if CL does not offset. If this is DDR2 low latency CL4 I believe it would crush 667Mhz. And also Crysis does not need 6.8GB.

Software raid makes me very unhappy

Call the maker ask them to run a memory bandwidth on both configs. That will give you the real info not guesses.

 

nothing needs 6.8GB, stick with the 4GB of faster ram, and the 9800m GT's are not crappy, the GTX's might not be a whole lot better, who knows.

 

Well single GTX has only 15-20% less performance that GTs dual so who knows... anyways I was just kidding.

 

I knew there was something wrong with this, I finally figured it out.

Your calculations are wrong. 400MHZ*8 bytes*Dual Data Rate. PC6400 has a theoretical bandwidth of 6.4GB/s not 12.8GB/s. That's what the 6400 means!

 

Multiply 6400X2=? You got it, 12.8GB's.

Always listen to your mother and Andy they are always right.

Hep the x2 Dual Channel is what is tricking you.

 

Yeah I was talking about memory in dual-channel mode.

PP is right. I was just considering numbers, not real-world factors (latency, timings etc etc).

Though I kinda find it hard to believe that the FSB bandwidth would be able to match the memory bandwidth. (Also heard of a myth, that in a dual-core/quad-core CPU, with all CPU cores accessing memory simultaneously allows to reach higher memory bandwidth, due to the real FSB bandwidth being almost similar to the theoretical FSB bandwidth). [Again Nos. ]

And I guess the NP9262 uses the desktop P965 chipset (??), and the diagram in this PDF shows that the FSB bandwidth is 8.5GB/s, so how would it support a 333MHz FSB CPU.

*I am getting sick of talking about bandwidth now*

 

****, I am dumb. I do just need to listen to Andy.

 

wow..and i thought us women were good multitaskers..LOL

 

I agree - 8 GB of RAM costs a ton for laptops these days. No reason to spend the money on it, even your dad's money, if you don't know for sure you'll need it. And it's unlikely you'll need it soon. If you do need more than 4 GB in a few years, it'll probably be much cheaper to get then, but really, 2 GB is fine for almost everything these days. Including Crysis with at least one good-sized background app running.

2 GB of video RAM also seems like total overkill. Maybe if you're going for triple monitors at 1920x1200 resolution each, but otherwise I think 1 GB will be absolutely fine - that's still double what an 8800 GT has and more than what an 8800 GTX has. The 9800 GTX may be worth it for other reasons, but not VRAM. Again though this depends on the price difference.

I'm all for getting powerful specs, but there's times when getting bigger numbers just for the sake of getting bigger numbers isn't worth it at the price it costs.

Crysis and Photoshop...seems an odd combination. But I can't say a whole lot considering I have racing and strategy games runing at the same time.

 

Thanks for your help.