Any notebooks with DDR3 RAM?

I suspect this topic has come up before but I cannot search the forums.

If you know of the thread, please include a link.

I was wondering which brands/notebook (manufacturers) have lines which include options for DDR3 RAM and whether it's (even) worth it to pursue. Is the performance advantage (in a notebook?) worth choosing a notebook with DDR3 RAM over the older DDR2 notebooks?

LED screen, HDMI or DVI (DisplayPort acceptable) video output and Centrino 2 are my desired features but I'd like eSATA as well. But, perhaps, I should find out if there are any laptops with DDR3 RAM and see what features such a notebook includes as well?

Thanks for any answers. I guess it is a matter of time until notebooks have a combination of all these specs?

 

I beleive the SAGER NP5796 will have most, if not all, of what you are looking for including DDR3 RAM. I heard, however, that DDR3 RAM is not worth the price for performance.

 

Lenovo thinkpad T400

 

the gateway P-7811 FX has all of those features except for the LED screen. click here granted its a retail unit, but its still a hell of a machine for its price.

 

I like the Gateway P7811-FX.

DDR3 - Not worth it.

AnandTech: DDR3 vs. DDR2

 

The Sony Vaio Z-series laptop utiliez DDR3-1066 ram in conjunction with its dual core cpu's FSB-1066

 

No performance advantage, only a slight advantage in battery life.

 

SAGER NP8660 has it.

 

Megaman, does your Sony Z have the LED screen?

Chun9430, how do you like your Thinkpad?

I think my top 2 contenders are the Sony Z and Thinkpad T400. If only the T400 had a HDMI/DVI or DisplayPort, it would be decided. I like the Sony Z best but it's around $400 more than the Thinkpad in almost any configuration option. The Z series starts at $1799 which is a kick in the 'you know what.' I think that's a lot of money for a laptop especially considering the default specs. It is a good entry level laptop but very expensive. Unfortunately, there isn't another laptop (brand) that offers the same specs with the same configuration.

 

All the Sony Vaio Z seriesnotebooks come standard with LED screens and hdmi out. They also all come standard with a carbon fiber business grade build and chassis with an aluminum keyboard

 

The AnandTech article is more than a year old, is it still the case? That DDR still not worth the price for the slight performance increase over DDR2?

 

DDR3 is the same as DDR2, it's just a marketing gimmick. There are no techinal advantages of DDR3 vs DDR2. They just sacrifice the timings in exchange for a higher frequency, in turn DDR3 offers higher transfer speeds in turn for slower response times. The response time is already so fast that it's unnoticable even increasing it by several times, so it's a worthy exchange.

Basically if you didn't get all that, is that a stick of DDR3 running 1066mhz with 5-5-5-15 timings will achieve the same performance as a DDR2 stick running 1066mhz with 5-5-5-15 timings.

That is why DDR3 running 2000Mhz usually will have timings set to 9-9-9-28 and a higher voltage, it's just compensating one thing for another. The same thing was true of DDR vs DDR2, does anyone remember having chips that would have 1-1-1-3 latencies yet run 200Mhz?

Higher frequency ram is good for overclockers though, as it leaves much more room for increasing the FSB. but I'm sure notebook owners won't benefit from it.