RAM Upgrade, help needed!

I the VERY near future (in about 2 weeks actually) I'll get the Toshiba Satellite X200-15K that comes with 2GB of RAM running at 667MHz and I am planning to replace the RAM with some 4 GB RAM. Is my motherboard compatible with faster RAM, like 800MHz? And should it be DIMM or SO-DIMM or anything else (these DIMM and SO-DIMM things are something I really don't understand...)

 

The X200's chipset is compatible with 800MHz RAM, but the RAM will only run at 667MHz with the normal 667MHz timings.

The only advantage of buying 800MHz RAM is to have it ready for a future notebook which actually supports 800MHz.

John

 

So 677MHz RAM IS my choice? What's the advantage of having 800MHz RAM and not be able to use it at those speeds? Will in the future the use of 800MHz RAM be possible with my laptop? (And what type of RAM should it be? DIMM? SO-DIMM? RDIMM?)

 

800MHz RAM should give benefit in future notebook if you tend to upgrade fairly frequently. However, it's not worth paying a lot more for at this time.

You need 200-pin DDR2 SODIMM PC5300 or PC5400. PC6400 (800MHz) or PC4200 (533MHz) should also work.

John

 

First of all, I want to thank you John for your useful replies.

Because I want the extra RAM to evade the famous Vista problems of "eating" a lot of RAM and to boost my 8700M GT with the TurboCache feature, I need to find some really fast RAM (at a price of about 300 US Dollars, or more if needed). Is the SODIMM a type of fast RAM?

 

Just an update... I just found out that I can run the 800MHz PC6400 RAM at that speed if I access my BIOS and tune the memory voltage up to 2.0V. How can I do that?

 

It is highly unlikely that the Toshiba's BIOS will let you change the RAM voltage and timings. I have yet to come across a notebook which provides that facility.

The fastest RAM you can look for is DDR2 SODIMM 667MHz CL=4. The CL is an indicator of latency and almost all the 667MHz notebook modules are CL=5. However, someone reported a few weeks ago in this forum that they had some RAM with CL=4. However, I can't remember what brand.

Even if you can find some faster RAM, the performance difference will be small. The key thing is to give your computer more RAM so that both Vista and TurboCache will run better.

John

 

SODIMM always has CL of 4? Isn't latency the phisical affect of hardware in miliseconds I think (or networking rresponce speed). So in Google product search or in the PC store nearby, exept of SODIMM RAM, I have to say that I want it to have a CL rate of 4?

 

Almost all DDR2 667MHz SODIMM has CL5.

Don't overlook the DDR2 and watch out for most DDR2 667MHz also supports CL4 at 533MHz. However, the actual time in milliseconds for 4 clock pulses at 533MHz is the same as 5 clock pulses at 667MHz.

If you find what looks to be fast RAM, check the specs on the manufacturer's web site.

John

 

Important Update

The pre-installed Vista Home Premium on the X200 is 32-bit (why Toshiba?). Do I have to buy a new copy of Windows and install a 64-bit Version?

 

Im thinking of getting RAM upgrade my self. Some very interesting stuff has come up her. My machine has 1GB of DDR2 533Mhz CL4. The cheapest and fastest upgrade for Vista will be to buy another 1GB RAM at CL4, so i can run it as dual channel. I have searched alot about dual channel performance and it seems that u get alot of gain.
Problem is that 1 GB CL4 ram are impossible to find. Everybody is selling 1GB of DDR2 667Mhz at CL5. From what i understand the ram blocks needs to be of same latency to be able to run dual channel.
Now my question is should i try to get hold of a CL4 block or should i dont care and just buy CL5???
Or maybe i should go for a 2GB block?
Will that be better for getting a satisfied performance in Vista????

Im a very heavy user of my system. Many programs open and making alot of programming with Visual Studio 2003 and encoding movies.

 

nearly all ram has multiple SPD settings and if you already have 1 stick running at 533mhz and you put any 667mhz stick in it should switch to its 533mhz SPD setting which will have 4-4-4 timings.

 

To BenArcher: So does this mean that if i get 1GB stick they will run as dual channel??? and will the latency be CL4???

what do u think of my other questions???
Do u have any thoughts on my Vista performance issue???
I really dont want to feel the lag in my OS. I have been very happy with my XP and if i dont get an acceptable performance then im sticking with it for another year...

 

DDR2-667 CL5 includes timing data to run as DDR2-533 CL4. See the attached example.

The BIOS looks for the fastest speed supported by all the memory modules and the hardware. 667MHz RAM will be downclocked if either there is a 533MHz module or the hardware only supports 533MHz.

The speed difference between the same RAM 533MHz and 667MHz is quite small because the physical time to do the various memory access functions is the same. Such speed boost as there is comes from the data moving a little faster.

Vista will use as much RAM as it can find to help achieve smoother operation and is uncomfortable with only 1GB.

John

 

Do I need the 64-bit version of Vista?
(Also is buffered RAM better than unbuffered RAM?)