Timings in CPU-Z - Memory and SPD tab discrepancy - what do they mean?

When I ran CPU-Z in my netbook, in the memory tab, the timings displayed are 5-5-5-15, but in the SPD tab, the timings are 5-5-5-18 (JEDEC #3).

What do the differences in the timings between the tabs mean?

The netbook is a Samsung N150 (Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHZ processor). It has one RAM slot. It contains one 2 GB DDR2-800 RAM stick ("Elixir" brand; made by Nanya). The OS is Windows 7 Starter, 32-bit.

CPU-Z Screenshots





CPU-Z report - memory section:

Edit: Removed a "non-issue" question. See my reply here about this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/563942-timings-cpu-z-memory-spd-tab-discrepancy-what-do-they-mean.html#post7281588

 

I think it reads the ram as ddr3 because there is a mistake in the SPD. You could download thaiphoon burner and check. 5-5-5-15 is normal. 5-5-5-18 would be strange.

 

How do I properly check this? I opened up the demo version of Thaiphoon Burner, clicked 'Read' and all the fields in Module Specification states 'Undefined'.

Also, if it helps, I've run the Windows 7 Memory Diagnostics Tool on standard and it found no errors.

 

Can you tell me what's written on the ram chips? You might have some interesting ram. Might be worth checking if there is a datasheet for you ram.

You can find another version of thaiphoon burner attached to this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...pll-pinmod-overclocking-methods-examples.html

But I don't think it will be any more helpful than the version you have tried.

 

The 'DDR3 in Memory - General - Type' issue is now a non-issue. It seems to be a problem related to the 1.54 version of CPU-Z. I upgraded to 1.57 and it now states 'DDR 2' properly. I will now edit my first post to account for this.

The only issue I have left is the timing differences between the Memory and SPD tab.

What type of info are you looking for exactly? I checked out the RAM stick and there are a lot of numbers and text written on it. Do you just need the serial numbers? I removed them from the screenshots and CPU-Z report for privacy and possible RMA fraud issues.

I'll try to type the text written in the chipsets here later if I have the time or I'll try to take a picture if I can get hold of a camera.

 

To find the datasheet you need to check the info written on the actual memory chips themselves. But that's probably not important.

The timings seem ok to me, I wouldn't worry about that.

 

Do the Memory and SPD tab timings describe different things? Also, what is the actual timing that is being used, the 5-5-5-15 one (Memory tab) or the 5-5-5-18 one (SPD tab)?

Am I correct if I say that the 5-5-5-15 one (Memory tab) is the default setting supported by the motherboard, while 5-5-5-18 is the timing supported by the RAM stick, and therefore the timing that is being used?

Another question: What is the difference between the last numbers in the timings (15 & 18), will the 15 timing have significantly better performance than an 18? I would like to know so that in the future, I can better decide on which RAM I should buy. (I just looked for the cheapest 2 GB DDR2-800 RAM stick at local shops and bought it.)

 

No I think they are the same.

The bios can override the SPD and use the timings it wants. So I think it really is running at 5-5-5-15.

No, it would even be hard to see the difference when running benchmarks.

 

I see. Thanks for clearing this up.