V5005US and RAM

I just installed 1 stick of 1gb of Crucial PC3200. I know this laptop is normally a PC2700 computer but thought I had read reviews about using PC3200 in it.

CPUZ reports that the frequency of the memory is 159.2mhz and the mem timings are 3-3-3-8. According to the speed table, these timings are for 200mhz. Is this stick running at 200mhz or is it at the 159.2mhz as reported?

I'm not using either of the 256mb PC2700 chips that came with the computer. If the PC3200 ram is going to run at only 166mhz, then I will likely add 1 on the 256mb chips into the 2nd slot.

 

Which version of CPUz do you have? I heard the latest version shows variable memory speed, depending on the load. Try pushing the laptop more and see if this changes. An alternative is to get an older version (1.31, I think, as the latest should be 1.33)

 

I have the current CPU-Z as of yesterday when I downloaded it. I will try having more load to see if the mem freq goes up.

 

The Ram frequency stays at around 160.2 mhz regardless of the load, therefore, I conclude that using PC3200 in the v5005 doesn't make a difference. Fortunately the 1gb PC3200 stick from newegg.com is cheaper than the pc2700.

There's no reason then not to use 1 of the 256mb sticks that came with the notebook in the 2nd ram slot because it's not able to take advantage of the faster ram speed.

 

check your BIOS version and if necessary upgrade to the latest.
Before that, run this CPUz http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-131.zip and see if it's again 160. It should be 200mhz.