Intel 2630QM vs 2720QM

I was just looking at this: Compare Intel® Products comparison of the 2 processors and saw that the Max Memory Size for the 2630 is 8GB. Does that mean we cannot have more than 8GB of RAM for this processor? Should we upgrade to a different processor to add more ram to the system?

 

yes, but 8gb is more then enough for today, when you will need to upgrade to 16gb, all of your laptop will be obsolete and anyway you will have to buy another one... and the overall performance of all the computer will only increase of 7 or 10% with the 2720qm...

 

No, it just means that it is not 'officially' supported. Many systems have been under-spec'd for a long time now and even though they did (and still do) support only 4GB 'officially', they are actually running with 8GB for years...

I agree that the cpu jump may be on the lower end of the scale,

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7-2630QM @ 2.00GHz - Price performance comparison

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7-2720QM @ 2.20GHz - Price performance comparison


but the jump to double the RAM will be more on the order of 70 to 80% or more, depending on the workload we are talking about.


The reason that most 2630QM systems are limited to 8GB RAM is because of the limited sodimm sockets a manufacturer puts in. The (better) 2720QM systems have four sodimm sockets and can use 16GB right now.

Unless of course money is no object and you want to try the ~$700/sodimm 8GB RAM modules (x2, of course).

 

well.. I was just searching and this seems to have come up before on NBR and other forums. here are a couple of threads about it:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...46-16-gig-intel-core-i7-2630qm-hows-work.html

Memory Limit Confusion about Intel Core i7 2630QM......

So my question is this: Does it even make sense to upgrade the memory beyond 8GB when using the 2630QM? Assuming any memory beyond 8 gigs is going to be used in single channel mode, how much of a performance hit is that?

I was planning to upgrade the memory at some point in the near future to about 12GB, so I was wondering if that could lead to decreased performance.

 

How do you make the jump that it will be in single channel mode above 8GB?

If it works, it will all be in Dual Channel mode.

So, what is your actual workload/usage scenario and why are you guessing at an arbitrary 12GB as a good fit for you?

If you'll be able to put in 12GB, you should be able to put in 16GB - and the price difference won't be a deterrent in my experience to go to the higher RAM capacity.

 

It was what I inferred from the thread at Asus forums, where one person seems to have clarified it from an Intel rep that any memory more than 8gb would be accessed in single channel mode. This is what I am basing my thoughts on.

As for my usage scenario, I considered as much RAM as I could afford right now. My current laptop with 4gb struggles to keep up with running my Java/Android development environment. So yes, I would definitely like to get 16GB if I can spare the cash for it whenever i decide to upgrade. But I just want to clarify that the addition of the extra 4/8gb wont take me a step back by accessing all that RAM in slower single channel mode.

 

Okay, I still think the Intel rep is not speaking very logically... hmmm...

As far as low amount, but fast RAM vs. high(er) amount, but slightly (~5%) slower RAM - the higher amount will win in productivity almost every time.


Good luck.

 

Not for everyone...some people(me included) have need for much more than 8G.

This board attracts many people who have significant power needs, so don't extrapolate your experience onto others.