Choosing the right RAM upgrade option @ XoticPC

Hello,

I'm planning on buying this:
ASUS G73SW-A1 - XOTIC PC - ASUS Gaming Laptop ROG

And I'm wondering what the best performance for the money would be in terms of RAM upgrades. I don't know if going from 1333MHz to 1600MHz ram leads to better performance or going for the most ram possible. For example: 8gb @ 1333MHz vs. 8gb @ 1600MHz OR 8gb@1333MHz vs. 16gb@1333MHz

I figured you guys would be savvy enough to lead me to making a right decision about my ram upgrade. Thanks!

 

Actually, you don't need more than 8GB unless you have very specific usage scenarios and you would know you need the faster and/or extra RAM in that case.

I'd stick with the stock 8GB personally.

 

What this dude said.

For gaming and personal use, the RAM will be the last thing you need to worry about, unless you barely have any. 8GB is more than sufficient. You will never tell the difference between the 1333 and 1600 when using it. If you are that worried about speed, trust me, get a SSD or a hybrid drive at least. Those make worlds more difference in terms of general speediness than a small boost in RAM speed ever will.

Also, keep in mind the 1600Mhz RAM only operates at that speed when used with the i7-27xx processors. Using them with the i7-26xx processors that are in the base config for that ASUS will result in them operating at 1333Mhz instead.

 

best performance for the money is the default 2x4 8gig ddr3 1333

 

So that Asus I posted ( ASUS G73SW-A1) is probably the best thing going right now for price and performance, right? It's not worth $200 more for the nVidia 560M ( ASUS G74SX-XR1) if performance gain is negligible with the extra ram. Am I right?

Thanks.

 

Wow, a left turn on the original question. Please post what the prices are for these, because I don't want to have to check out the whole spec sheet. I would think there might be better options, but I am not going to spend all night reading since this is a very different question then the ram question in the original post.

 

And please understand, I am not being rude, but several posters have answered the question, and then you asked an entirely different question. Many of us just don't have the time to go through every spec when we don't know what exactly you want or need.

 

Yes, you're right, sorry. I should have created a different topic. I should have filtered my thoughts. I'm just trying to piece together a lot of information in my head in order to make a good decision about buying the best laptop, which led to me posing an unrelated question.

The difference between the two laptops is just the video card (460m vs. 560m). But I'm starting to think (and I'm sorry for taking another left turn here) of getting the 6990 in a Sager laptop instead of either the 460 or 560 I just mentioned. I imagine the $200-300 upgrade in GPUs is worth it there, then again I should probably pose that question elsewhere. (but if you have advice while you're reading this, feel free to chime in! heh)

 

I believe the 460M is actually faster than the 560M.

~$300 for a graphics card upgrade sounds expensive. The 6990 is going to be faster than those Nvidia cards but by how much I can't say. None of the cards you've posted are going to struggle with the latest games unless you're really pushing the resolution/AA.

I suggest going into the ASUS forum and finding the owner's lounge threads for those notebooks; solicit for opinions in there.

 

The 560m and 460m are actually the same card, but the 560m runs at faster speeds and is power optimized. Both the 460m and 560m have the same number of nvidia cores (i.e., 192 unified pipes)

The only time a stock 460m will be equivalent or faster to a stock 560m is if the 560m is running on a reduced 128bit bus (which happens alot unfortunately). Manufacturers try to trick consumers with the 560m name but reduce costs with the lower bandwidth

but all things equal, with both 460m and 560m running at the designed 192bit bus:

stock 6990m is 30-40% faster than stock 560m (192 bit)
560m(192bit bus) is 15-20% faster than a stock 460m(192bit)

 

In regards to your RAM question...
I would pick 16GB DDR3 1333Mhz Dual Channel Memory (4x4GB SODIMMS) (SKU - X4N283)

It's only $75 over the 8GB with same speed, and that would be excellent if you ask me (as far as longevity goes).

RAM speed of the same generation doesn't really regulate performance.
The only difference in the fastest RAM you will see is in the benchmarks.
Real-world performance difference will be about 5%, maybe less.
In this case, I'd go with 16GB if I was you because it's cheap and it will probably last longer.
No reason not to... and it can only help you in the long run.

Aside from that, the 560M is the 460M except on a smaller manuf. process which reduces it's (560M) temps and power consumption while being overclocked by roughly 20%.

Same card, different clocks, except the 560M is a bit more efficient while operating a bit faster.

If you have the option of using the 6990M, then go for it.
It will be over 50% faster/powerful compared to the 560M at 1920x1080 resolution.
That is, if you are using games.
If you need CUDA tech, then stick to Nvidia, but don't go for the 580M if it's overpriced... rather pick the 480M in that case if it's affordable.