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    PC4200 533 or PC5300 667 for a DV1000t?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by kk4uga, Feb 23, 2006.

  1. kk4uga

    kk4uga Notebook Guru

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    I have an HP DV1000t on the way (1.66 Core Duo). It uses DDR2 PC4200 533 mhz memory or PC5300 667 mhz memory.

    Is it worth the cost to get the PC5300 memory? Will there be a noticeable performance benefit? I am likely going to buy 2 GB, and the cost of PC5300 is about $80 more total.
     
    kk4uga, Feb 23, 2006
    #1
  2. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    The gain will not me much. I don't think it is worth the extra $80...if you have a 5400 HDD it would server you better to upgrade to a 7200.
     
    USAFdude02, Feb 23, 2006
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  3. flanken

    flanken Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Especially since you'll be using 2 sticks, in dual channel mode the memory bandwidth of PC4200 already exceeds what the chipset can actually utilize, so you're fine with PC4200.
     
    flanken, Feb 23, 2006
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  4. kk4uga

    kk4uga Notebook Guru

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    I'm not that familiar with dual channel mode. Is that something that has to be enabled or is that what the 2 of DDR2 is?
     
    kk4uga, Feb 23, 2006
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  5. Jenson

    Jenson Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    dual channel is available only if the motherboard supports it, and it is automatically enabled when both RAM slots are occupied.

    Matt
     
    Jenson, Feb 23, 2006
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  6. flanken

    flanken Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    jenson04 is correct. I'd like to add that dual channel isn't the same as DDR2; DDR2 refers to the number of individual data transfers the RAM itself can do per clock cycle, whereas dual channel means that the chipset has one channel for each RAM stick instead of having the two sticks share a single channel. Thus you can theoretically get twice as much bandwidth using dual-channel and the same two sticks of RAM as you would in single-channel mode.

    In plain English, this means that you'll save money and get the same performance from the PC4200.
     
    flanken, Feb 23, 2006
    #6