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    Upgrade to DDR2 800MHz

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by hiddensanctum, Sep 15, 2009.

  1. hiddensanctum

    hiddensanctum Notebook Evangelist

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    Is upgrading from 667MHz to 800Mhz worth it?
    As in a 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 to 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400

    I have a Core 2 Duo T9300 which should support 800MHz right?
     
    hiddensanctum, Sep 15, 2009
    #1
  2. NAS Ghost

    NAS Ghost Notebook Deity

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    Nope; the T9300 can not fully saturate the available bandwidth of 667mhz ram, so just go with whichever is cheaper.
     
    NAS Ghost, Sep 15, 2009
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  3. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The T9300 usually is paired with the PM/GM965 chipset and does not support 800MHz memory. It will downclock it to 667MHz.
     
    sgogeta4, Sep 15, 2009
    #3
  4. stampede12

    stampede12 Notebook Enthusiast

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    PM45 will support 800mhz... that's what I'm running at the mo :)
     
    stampede12, Sep 15, 2009
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  5. Mastershroom

    Mastershroom wat

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    You can use 800MHz if you want, but you probably won't notice the difference anyway.
     
    Mastershroom, Sep 15, 2009
    #5
  6. hiddensanctum

    hiddensanctum Notebook Evangelist

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    I have an ATI HD 3650 fyi
    but yea if there isn't really any performance difference, then there is no point
     
    hiddensanctum, Sep 15, 2009
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  7. aidil

    aidil Notebook Evangelist

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    ATI HD3650 has nothing to do with upgrading memory clock speed. It's your notebook's chipset that you should be looking at. HD3650 is the graphics adapter, not your notebook's chipset.

    Since your processor is T9300 and the wireless card is 4965AGN, most likely your notebook's mainboard chipset is Intel PM965. This chipset is limited to use DDR2 667MHz. You can install DDR2 800MHz but it'll run as DDR2 667MHz.

    You can use utility like CPU-Z to check what kind of chipset your notebook has. If it's PM/GM45, then the upgrade to DDR2 800MHz is usable, cause this chipset can handle DDR2 800MHz the way it is.
     
    aidil, Sep 15, 2009
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  8. hiddensanctum

    hiddensanctum Notebook Evangelist

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    Yea my bad, I thought the person above asked what graphics card I had. But yea I have a PM965
     
    hiddensanctum, Sep 15, 2009
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  9. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The only reason I can think of for upgrading, is if you are overclocking your FSB.

    One thing you can do with your current ram is try to lower the timmings with memset. And if that's stable, flash the new timmings onto the ram with SPDtool or thaiphoon burner (be carefull with those tools).
     
    moral hazard, Sep 15, 2009
    #9