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    CAS latency vs. speed

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by William, Dec 14, 2005.

  1. William

    William Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi. Is it better to get a 400 MHz memory with CAS latency 3, or 533 MHz memory with CAS latency 4 (if your computer supports both these things)? Thanks,

    Bill
     
    William, Dec 14, 2005
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  2. chinna_n

    chinna_n Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    I think CAS 4 at 533 Mhz easily beats CAS 3 400Mhz or even CAS 2.5 @ 400. Atleast that has been my experience I had with my desktop as well as laptop( I used Kingston regular, Kinston Hyper Memory, Corasir Value RAM, GEIL etc with different systems, laptops).

    That is the case with my current laptop as with CAS 3@DDR400 is faster than CAS2.5@DDR333.
     
    chinna_n, Dec 14, 2005
    #2
  3. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    You'll get more bandwidth out of the 533MHz memory. Either way, there isn't that big of a difference between the two, but faster is better, so go for 533. ;)
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Dec 14, 2005
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  4. Shampoo

    Shampoo Notebook Deity

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    Tsk, tsk, tsk. ChazMan you are usually correct, but not this time :D

    I don't remember the specifics, but bandwidth vs latency was extensively tested over at Anandtech and Tomshardware I believe.

    In some cases bandwidth was the way to go and beat out the modules running lower speeds with lower latencies, but it all depends on what type of ram you are running. DDR1 vs DDR2.

    400mhz low latency ram beat out some high bandwidth modules.

    So go do some reading, but to make things simple, with DDR2 ram anything up to 533mhz bandwidth is the deciding factor and not latency. Anything above that speed is where latencies come into play.

    Cheers,
    Mike
     
    Shampoo, Dec 14, 2005
    #4
  5. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Hey Mike - we're talking about DDR2-400 and DDR2-533. ;)
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Dec 14, 2005
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  6. Ih8AMD

    Ih8AMD Newbie

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    Very well said, Mike.
     
    Ih8AMD, Dec 16, 2005
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  7. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Don't forget - it's DDR2-400 vs DDR2-533. Not DDR400 vs DDR2-533. ;)
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Dec 16, 2005
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  8. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

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    Should I just reiterate what was being said for the third time? LOL :p
     
    dr_st, Dec 17, 2005
    #8