Any way to increase memory performance?

The X205 in my sig is equipped with 4Gb of G-Skill PC-5300 DDR2-667 RAM. In my Vista Experience Score, I only show a 5.1 rating in RAM. Is there anything I can do to improve this performance? I know I am limited to 667Mhz modules, but I'd like to see better performance out of the machine. I see others with similar equipment scoring better (and running better too I'm sure, which is my goal) and I'd like to know how it's done.

Thanks!!

 

WEI is not a good measure for performance.

 

Ooookkkkkk............but isn't it useful as a "relative performance tool"........meaning that if computer A scores higher in a given category then the equipment tested in that category out-performs the same equipment in computer B?

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about what WEI tells you ! - but if WEI numbers are important to you, you'll need to overclock your RAM to see an increase. Personally, I don't bother.

 

Naw, not worth trying to learn how to OC it........I have enough trouble just stumbling through basic stuff as it is. haha

Numbers aren't important to me, but performance is and I'd like to get the maximum that I can out of this machine, hence the number of upgrades I've performed to it.

 

Absolutely not. e.g. The WEI will score a low end 512MB RAM graphics card higher than a 256MB Card that will wipe the floor with it, simply because the former has more RAM !

 

WEI is worthless...I've seen identically configured computers with DIFFERENT scores. Right after a fresh installation.

Don't worry about that at all.

RAM is all about capacity. You have 4GB, and you have the fastest speed RAM you can install in your notebook. There is nothing else you can do.

Does it seem slow to you, or are you asking just because MS decided they think what is best for you and gave you the WEI numbers? . Perhaps you have a lot of bloatware installed on the PC, and need to do a little cleaning? Maybe you would want a faster hard drive, which would make the PC possibly feel a little snappier? There are a few ways to increase performance just by tweaking settings on your PC.

Check out the Vista Tweaks threads in the Windows subforum...you will probably find them useful.

 

Then without O/C it, you're not going to see any bigger numbers. Even if you did, whether or not you'd actually see any performance gains would remain to be seen.

You quote the WEI score, and say that you'd like to get better performance. If numbers really aren't important to you, then forget WEI, and enjoy your decent spec, nicely tweaked laptop !

 

The WEI memory test is actually a fairly objective test of pure memory bandwidth, much like SiSoft Sandra's...but pure memory bandwidth is useful only in synthetic benchmarks. Any HT-enabled AMD chip will score a 5.9, for example - but try to find an actual piece of software that runs better on a Sempron LE-1100 than on a Core 2 Q9450. Intel's memory controller may be stuck in the mid 90s, but it certainly doesn't seem to be noticeably affecting their real-world performance numbers. Bottom line, don't worry about it.

Nehalem is supposedly shipping with on-die memory controllers. If that's indeed the case, we can all rest easy knowing every single computer on the market will get a 5.9 in the WEI memory test.

 

Well alrighty then..........I'm pretty satisfied with the way it runs, but I'm a guy you know........always want more power. haha

I've learned a ton from these forums and figure I'll be around until at least April of next year (that's when I get out of Iraq finally) asking at least one dumb question a day.

Thanks!!

 

Here is something else to think about. They did comparison to see how much difference there is between regular RAM and fast RAM, i.e. 667 vs 800, and the 800 is just a tad better. So even if you had that ability to upgrade the RAM, it wouldn't show that much difference.

So set your mind to peace, my friend. By the way, is there a way I can OC my 8700M GT?

 

I used Rivatuner but I think you have to have a capable driver. I am using 177.41 that I got from Laptopvideo2go.com.
You can download the driver and the modded inf file from there and install it, then download and install rivatuner and OC your card that way. At least it worked for me that way, I'm no computer whiz though so if it doesn't work out you might want to ask in the games and video cards section since that's where I got my info.

 

Thanks for the info. And have you noticed a decent performance boost?

 

Actually their is such thing as a memory tweaker. It is known as MEMSET.

You can use it to change the timings on the memory modulesm in order to get the most performance out of your memory.
However you may destroy your notebook or the memory cards if you are not careful.

K-TRON

 

Ooh, the forbiden fruit...lol. But in all honesty, thanks for the warning.

 

Yeah I noticed a significant gain when I OC'd the GPU using Rivatuner. I took the advice of those on here and took it up a few steps at a time, testing after each step. As soon as I started noticing artifacts on the screen, I backed it down 2 places and left it there. I was able to get the specs in my sig, and it runs Crysis on mostly medium with I think 1 high setting (can't remember since I'm not playing it currently) and it runs WIC with almost all high settings except distant world detail with no lag.

 

I can run Crysis at medium settings with objects on high @ 1680 X 1050. But then again my 8700M GT is 512 MB, so tweaking it might even give me better performance. Is there anything I should be careful about?

 

Back on topic: I upgraded from standard 4gb DDR2 667 with 5-5-5-15 timings to Kingston HyperX 4gb DDR2 667 with 4-4-4-12 (or 800mhz at 5-5-5-15 which my chipset doesnt support), and WEI index score stayed the same at 5.1, just FYI. There's really no way to subjectively tell its faster either, although synthetic benchmarks show some improvement.