Laptop RAM Help.

hey guys,

a buddy of mine said that his brother gets really good hook ups on computer parts, so i might consider ordering a barebones W880CU from RJtech if the discounts are worth it. i was wondering if u guys had any suggestions on a specific or certain brand/type of RAM i should get? since it's supposed to be discounted prices, i'll probably go with 8GB of RAM just for the heck of it. please let me know if i'm missing anything as well. this is what my price check list is composed of so far :
cpu: i7-840qm, i7-920xm, i7-940xm
thermal paste: IC diamond
RAM: ??? (please help)
drive: corsair force 160GB SSD
OS: windows 7 premium or ultimate x64

RJtech's clevo W880CU comes with:
- 17.3 1080p screen
- nvidia 480M
- 4x bluray drive
- intel 6300 ABGN wifi card
- internal bluetooth
- battery & adapter

thanks much!

 

I would try to get some high frequency, low latency ram. I think you can get 1600mhz DDR3 ram.
Kingston HyperX is good.

 

wouldn't going with 1600mhz RAM be a waste when the motherboard only supports up to 1333mhz? again, this is for a laptop.

 

It would be a waste to get the 1600MHz.


The Kinston hyper X in the 1333MHz flavor is hit or miss, On my machine it works great. I remember seeing a post in Sager forum where one guy could not get several kits to work and gave up on it. With the memory controller built into the CPU it’s really the luck of the draw whether your particular CPU can handle the lower latencies. I would just get yourself some good name brand memory if you can, or if you do try to get the HyperX make sure you can return it if it does not work.

 

thanks, for clearing that up. i was gettin the same impression that gettin 1600mhz RAM would be a waste cuz our laptops can't utilize that yet. do u guys have a specific brand or recommendation on what is a "good" or "higher end" type of RAM to get? like i said, my friend's brother supposedly gets some killer deals cuz of his IT job. if i'm gettin discounts i don't mind spending some money on some nicer hardware. thanks.

 

Check this link:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6662379-post30.html

 

If you aren't overclocking, read what othonda posted.

 

With the laptop Houstoned is getting there is no chance of raising the clocks, like on the asus g73 or m17.

 

not that id want to, but can we raise clocks on the 8690/8760 with the right bios?

 

The only option you have is to get an extreme processor with an unlocked multiplier. i7 920XM or i7 940XM are the only models available.

 

i won't really be doing any OC'ing. that's why i want to have higher end stuff. i just want to have a powerful machine that just works without any fuss. i don't mind spending a bit extra for the peace of mind. i've bought kingston and crucial RAM before. installed them myself without any problems and they've seem to still be workin fine.

low latency RAM is preferred, correct? what are considered "low latency"? i'm not sure what some of the numbers mean when it comes to RAM specs.

 

Eh, I wouldn't even recommend low latency RAM. Some examples of low latency RAM are Kingston HyperX and Corsair XMS. The latency difference will literally have about a 1% difference in performance and the RAM is overpriced.

 

Well the higher end stuff is generally low latency.

Anyway I suggested 1600mhz only because it would give you overclocking headroom, but since you're not overclocking, 1333mhz is perfect.

 

That may be true for desktops, but laptops have so little headroom to begin with that even tweaking memory timings will only help you squeeze a marginal amount of extra Mhz out of your CPU.

 

I wouldn't say that, going from 5-5-5-15 to 6-8-8-24 gave me 500mhz extra from my CPU.

 

I'm glad your results came out excellent. Every CPU and setup is unique; Most people find that tweaking RAM timings can get them up to a maximum of 200mhz. Doesn't matter at this point, OP doesn't want to overclock.

 

well if that's the case then do u recommend me to just order the laptop with RAM already installed? also, do u happen to know how good those Corsair XMS RAM modules are? i'm going to be getting the corsair force 160GB SSD, so i wouldn't mind just sticking to one brand for my SSD and RAM. as long as they work well, and work well together.

 

Guys,
You’re unnecessarily confusing the OP.

As I stated in an earlier post the laptop the OP is getting does not have the option to overclock the FSB (per see, as the architecture is totally different than core 2). The PLL it uses is fixed. I have checked the schematics and confirmed the 8850 uses the same PLL as my 8760. I have read the specification sheet of said PLL and confirmed the fixed nature of this PLL.

The only over clocking that can be done on the OP’s laptop would be to buy an extreme processor (i7 920XM, i7 940XM) and change the multiplier using eleet or throttlestop.

Since the OP has stated the intent not to go that route it’s a moot point anyway.

The only 1600MHz ram that is available (that I know of) is HyperX and it would be downclocked to 1333 with CL7 settings anyway. The i7 series CPU supports 1333 or lower clocked memory modules. Also the i7 (i5, i3 for that matter) use strictly the SPD on the modules for timings, there is no way (that I know of, and I have checked into this) to changes timings in BIOS or using a windows app. (I know there is no windows app, and as far as BIOS I know the Sager, MSI, ASUS, etc… does not allow timing changes)

The only real options in memory are as follows:
1333 CL9 (standard)
1333 CL7 (HyperX)
1066 CL7 Why would you
1066 CL5 (HyperX) not even sure this would work.

So in the end the OP is really left with buying the standard ram that would ship with the unit. Which is what I would recommend. Or buy some 1333 HyperX, which is hit or miss as I have stated previously. You would want a generous return policy if you buy the HyperX so if you have problems you can either return for a new kit to try or for your money back.

Also If you go the HyperX route I would recommend running memtest to verify you have good working and reliable system.

 

Maybe you should google thaiphoon burner and SPDtool.

You can flash the EEPROM on the ram and change the timings as long as the EEPROM doesn't have WP (write protection) enabled.

Older trial versions of thiaphoon burner give you all of the features, newer versions wont let you flash until you pay.
SPDtool isn't great, I wouldn't use it unless you can't get thaiphoon burner working.

 

Usually it comes out cheaper if you put in your own RAM and just stick with the "stock" 2GB option. Buy yourself a 2x4GB kit off newegg or some other computer store and ebay the 2GB that came with your notebook. I listed Corsair XMS because they used to make XMS RAM for notebooks, but it looks like Kingston is the only one that makes performance RAM now.

Mixing RAM and HDD companies will make no difference. The components are not biased towards each other.

If you are not going to be doing any overclocking, your standard RAM will do just fine. The lower CAS latencies on performance RAM will help with overclocking, but not on any real world performance (1-2% at best). If you feel that you can justify that marginal of a performance gain, then buy the HyperX, if not, stick with the thousand other "normal" RAM choices.

 

I am aware of the tools you mention, I was stating specifically for changing timings through BIOS or a windows app. I did not want to even go there with those types of tools as they are not exactly what I would call main stream tools.

But again since you cannot overclock the bus, it’s a not useful to be able to relax the timings anyway.

On the flip side HyperX is pushing the timings the i7 can tolerate as it is, and the improvement with that ram is in the 1-3% range anyway.

So it gets back to having the choices I described.

 

Please explain to me how the lower latencies will help with overclocking when the memory bus is fixed at 1333 (actually running at 333MHz).

Edit: Note to MOD's I should have edited my above post, sorry about that.

 

I never said overclock with 1333Mhz RAM. If you would, I'd recommend 800Mhz or 1066Mhz; both have CAS latencies of 5, compared to 1333Mhz which has a CAS latency of 7. They have a decent amount of headroom for tweaking timings and they won't hit the bus cap. If anything you shouldn't be using 1333Mhz RAM for OC'ing because you are very restricted in how far you can push your limits.

It doesn't matter, the OP does not want to overclock.

 

You seem to be ignoring the point that you cannot overclock the CPU on this laptop (see my statement earlier on the PLL) other than the internal multiplier. The multiplier is completely separate from any association with the memory controller. Thus the clock for the RAM timing and the associated latencies between each step of accessing the ram for read/write operations. Just want to make sure you understand that.

 

What PLL is it?

Because a lot of the time, the datasheet wont show some key parts which would be useful for overclocking. But you can sometimes guess.

 

See this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/497374-pll-8760-w870cu.html

This is the only public available spec sheet. Even the guy who wrote SetFSB concurs its not happening

 

Did you try changing bits 5 and 6 of byte (control register) 0?

I know the datasheet says they are read only, but datasheets are often wrong.

There are so many reserved bits in that datasheet, they are hiding the good parts.

A lot of the time with older PLLs, they used to hide the TME bit and just show that register as "reserved".

My guess is that you can overclock, just silego doesn't want to show you the full picture.

EDIT: Looks like that PLL also has a TME bit, bit 6 of byte 9. But they wont tell you which pin is the TME pin.
You can still try changing bit 6 of byte 9 to 0. If that holds the value, you might be in luck.

Anyway, could you try changing bit 5 of byte 0 to 1 and change bit 6 of byte 0 to 1. If you can do that, you might get 166mhz.

 

thanks alot for all the info, guys. it was an unexpected good read. from the looks of things, i might just go with a preassembled system. just to reduce my headaches and all of that. i'll be ordering this week, next week at the latest.