need help with ram and fix laptop performance!

actually i need some serious help. i have a laptop with a dual core that has an 800fsb. the type of ram i have is pc2-5300. running cpuid(cpuid.com) i see that the dram frequency is 333. is this possible cos i thought pc2 5300 were 667..well double the speed. any ideas? im confused as hell. plus i have no clue what the difference with the pc2 5300 and 5400 are if they have the same frequency. and what about the pc2 6400 with the 800 frequency? the reason i ask is i recently bought this laptop and i used to use a desktop before. even with the t7300 dual core and 2gb of ram...(well it is using vista) i find this maybe slower than my desktop...and also i have a 4200rpm drive which im looking to change as well. your help is much appreciated! i am a gamer/professional and the performance lag is something i dont like...since i run sql server for work sometimes...and then need for speed and a whole lot more during other times

 

I agree, that definitely doesn't sound right. Have you tried looking up the manufacturers specifications instead of using CPUID? Or try looking for the RAM type on your POST screen. Vista is a definite resource killer and the hard drive wouldn't be helping. I know you can get 7200RPM hard drive for laptops but I'm not sure how much they are, or if they need a different slot size. Have a look around.

Grand Admiral

 

ive been using cpuid forever and its very accurate. what i dont understand is the new ram types...if it reports 333 does it mean 666-7 since its ddr2? i am absolutely clueless...or should it report 667? as far as the other types my laptop has pc2 5300...i was just trying to figure out what my upgrade options are. i am actually considering a 7200 drive but ofcourse thats gonna be a battery killer...but since im not using the laptop for on the go work much and for the most part will be plugged in...i;ll choose performance over batt. life.

still clueless about the ram though :S

 

Laptop ram comes in 200 pin SODIMM.

DDR 266 PC 2100
DDR 333 PC 2700
DDR2 667 PC2 5300
DDR2 800 PC2 6400

Yours showing up as 333 you double it to get the actual 'speed' i.e. 333x2 = 667Mhz. DDR2 PC2 6400 shows up as 400. the DDR2 is the key to the doubling.

 

so if my fsb is at 800mhz....can i utilize the full potential of 800mhz ram? would that be the pc2 6400, as in 400x2 = 800...or is it something else?

 

Buying pc2 6400 ram is just throwing money down the drain because Santa Rosa doesn't fully support that ram so it will automatically downclock to pc2 5300 speed which you already have.

 

The numbers that CPUID is giving are correct. I get 200MHz for PC3200 and 333MHz for PC5300 as well.

And yeah, Santa Rosa doesn't support PC6400, so there's no benefit in buying PC6400.