which envy 14 should i buy?

on hp.com, if I configure HP Envy 14 with upgraded i5-450M processor, the total comes out to around $1100 after taxes and student discount.
on amazon.com, the HP Envy 14 comes with same exact specs, except it comes with 6gig of ram instead of 4 and 500gb of hdd instead of 320. the total comes to $1200 and i believe amazon.com doesn't charge for taxes. shipping on both sites is free.

is it worth spending extra 100 dollars for extra ram and hard drive space?

 

the amazon laptop has a low res screen, 6GB RAM will run in asynchronous mode which is slower.

 

dang, i didnt even notice the resolution. also, what does asynchronous mean?

 

Asynchronous, is more or less the same as single channel. the 6GB is made of 1 - 4GB stick, and 1 - 2GB stick. The 4 GB opion is 2 - 2GB sticks. They can combine their memory bandwidths, Whereas the 6GB set of RAM will not be able to. You dont want Asynchronous (Single channel) because it bottlenecks.
Im really bad at explaining this. So... here is Wikipedia to explain.

Dual-channel technology was created to address the issue of bottlenecks. Increased processor speed and performance requires other, less prominent components to keep pace. In the case of dual channel design, the intended target is the memory controller, which regulates data flow between the CPU and system memory (RAM). The memory controller determines the types and speeds of RAM as well as the maximum size of each individual memory module and the overall memory capacity of the system. However, when the memory is unable to keep up with the processor, a bottleneck occurs, leaving the CPU with nothing to process. Under the single-channel architecture, any CPU with a bus speed greater than the memory speed would be susceptible to this bottleneck effect.

Dual, or Triple channel can only be used when all of the memory modules are the same.

 

would asynchronous still be an issue if i only use 1 stick of ram (4 gig)?

 

no but then it would be in single channel mode which is also slow, you don't need more than 4GB of RAM but if you want more get 8.

other thoughts...
it would also be smarter to upgrade to an SSD instead of upgrading the RAM and CPU, it will give much more performance and benefit per dollar.

all of the dual core CPUs being offered are very similar in speed, you don't lose much by staying with the 370M, a 450M/520M is only slightly better. if you think you need a significantly stronger CPU then you should get the 720QM quad. (quad will reduce your battery life though)

the slice battery is a ripoff, it weighs twice as much as a normal battery and costs more than twice, but only gives the same amount of juice. just avoid it and carry a spare normal battery they're easy to swap in/out.

if you buy with a credit-card you might be able to get a free extended manufacturer warranty.

instead of getting an expensive HP totalcare plan (accidents) and/or lojack (theft), you could get insurance from worthavegroup or safeware which covers both and could cost you less. plus there's no guarantee youll get your laptop back undamaged or at all with lojack so insurance is better.

 

Single stick or asynchronous RAM will only result in about 5% performance difference and in reality you probably won't notice the difference in any application or game. For 95% of users 4GB is more than adequate. If you do any heavy photo or video or 3D editing, more RAM *may* help you. My sister runs her own photo business and uses a machine with only 2GB.

More RAM won't hurt, but I think your money is better spent elsewhere (like SSD) or just save it.

 

the reason im asking this is because the stock option for the hp envy 14 is 4 gig of ram in 2 dimm. i was planning to spend extra 25 dollars to make it only one dimm and use that extra space for another 4 gig stick in the future. is it worth it?

 

Thats how I ordered both my Envy machines. For me, with the 30% BCB it was only a extra $17.50 so it seemed like a no brainer. If I find a cheap deal on a 2 gig stick I'll toss that in there and won't have to worry about yanking out a existing stick and losing that capacity.

 

I too would like to know this, but coming from what I've read - probably not.

 

Unless you have reason to believe you'll need more than 4GB in the future, you should probably go with the stock of dual 2GB sticks. 4GB should be more than enough for the vast majority of users, and sticking with the 2 DIMM config will allow you to run in dual-channel mode for less money.

Also I've read and seen screenshots indicating that, as long as the timings are the same, different sized DIMMs can actually run in dual-channel mode now. Someone posted a screenshot from Everest/CPU-z/some other system monitor like that that showed a 4GB stick running in dual-channel with a 2GB stick - I think they said that only 2GB of the 4GB stick participates in the dual-channel, while the other 2GB runs in single-channel mode, but if that was correct, it seems you could upgrade one DIMM without sacrificing the dual-channel boost.

 

yeah, i would really appreciate it if someone could answer the question.

 

didn't you get an answer already? it's probably not worth it

 

i meant as to why its not worth it. in my point of view, i think it might be a smart move in the long run if you wanna upgrade, but im afraid if i add another 4 gig of ram later, that asynchronous might happen because the two ram sticks are from different manufacturers.
also, i dont want to spend extra 25 dollars if its really not worth it.

 

It's probably not worth it because:

A) You're probably not going to need 8GB within the life of this laptop, so you'll probably not have to upgrade at all.
B) You're spending more money for, currently, worse performance (single- vs. dual-channel). Later, you might end up spending even more money for an upgrade that you probably don't need, or you might just stick with the current setup, in which case you would have been better with the 2 DIMM setup anyway.
C) As I've mentioned above (and CPU-Z on my current system supports this), sticks with different capacities can still run in dual-channel mode as long as their timings are the same, so if you feel the need to upgrade in the future, you can still upgrade to 6GB for the same price (minus $25 you're saving now and the value of the 2GB stick you pull if you sell it) as upgrading to 8GB from the single DIMM setup. Even if 4GB is a bit too small for you, 6GB is likely to be sufficient, so you get your upgrade for less this way. Of course, you could upgrade the single DIMM 4GB to 6GB, but you'd be living without dual-channel in the meantime, and the overall cost would probably be about the same.

 

I think a good question is: what are you going to use this computer for? If it's just games and web stuff, you don't need the extra memory.

Personally, I use photo and video-editing software, and I multitask like crazy, so I went for 8 GB. But I probably don't need the extra seconds or minutes it gets me; I just had the money to blow.

On the other hand, people who know a lot more about this stuff than I do say that 4GB on 1DIMM isn't going to lose you much performance over 2DIMM. So if it bugs you that much, I say get 4GB on 1DIMM for your own piece of mind. It's only 25 bucks.

But like e14 said, if you really want a performance boost, get an SSD.

 

thanks for such detailed insight. i think i made up my mind on it and follow your advice.

 

Best to buy DIMMS in matched pairs. There could be incompatabilities if you buy a single 4GB stick and later another 4GB stick. Or it could have worse timings and slow the system down a bit.

IMHO, if you start with 4GB just get 2x2GB, if and when the time comes, buy 2x4GB and sell your 2x2GB to offset a little of the cost, even if you only get $40-$50. People make such a big deal of it when in reality spending the extra $25 now doesn't really help matters in the future.

Think about it. Spend $25 + $100 for 4GB in the future = $125 with questionable compatability. Or buy matched pair 2x4GB for $200 (maybe less), sell 2x2GB for $50 = $150 and have little risk of compatability.