Q&A on Thinkpad RAM & GPU

1. I got around to upgrading my T530 RAM from 12GB (4GB + 8GB, total 12GB running at 1333 speed due to latency difference of the two sticks) to 16GB (2x8GB, total 16GB running at 1600 speed due to matched pair with same latency).

I'd noticed NBR's tilleroftheearth saying that even if the memory didn't measure faster, I'd notice better "snap" and he was right.

With the matched RAM, my T530 is slightly snappier and equally important my wireless mouse response is smoother

2. I only did minimal benchmarking.

2a. Win7 WEI scores went from 7.2/7.5/5.9/6.7/7.9 (CPU/RAM/graphics/gaming-graphics/SSD) to 7.2/7.5/6.7/6.7/7.9

So for Win7 WEI, only the graphics score improved.

2b. Using my nVidia NVS 5400M gpu (and not the integrated Intel HD 4000), I also ran Furmark v1.10.4 (w/ res at 1024x576), getting a SCORE of: 858 points (14 FPS, 60000 ms) with Max GPU Temp: 76°C

The temperature was OK and the T530 fan only speeded up mildly at the end of the test.

Comparing to FurMark 1.9.2 Scores it's at the lower end. No big surprise there, at least not to me. See: FurMark 1.9.2+ burn-in scores - OpenGL benchmark and VGA Stress Test - Scores | oZone3D.Net
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One question is how much benefit is there to messing around with higher RAM speed settings with any Thinkpad?

For one thing, I have two Thinkpads.

For another, maybe it gets discussed with gaming Ideapads, but I've yet to find a thread anywhere when it comes to Thinkpads. BTW an actual ref would be helpful.
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I know that I can shut down the nVidia gpu in the BIOS. In which case once I've booted the O/S I'm using the integrated Intel HD 4000 gpu.

A 2nd question is when I activate the nVidia NVS 5400M gpu in my T530 bios, can an application in Win7 choose to use either gpu? Furmark chose to use the nVidia NVS 5400M gpu; it did not seem to detect the integrated Intel HD 4000 gpu.

 

I got a similar result with my RAM upgrade (went from 6GB to 8GB) on my X220.

Namely with the matched RAM, my X220 is slightly snappier and equally important my wireless mouse response is smoother.

Of course the slightly older X220 has a Sandy Bridge i5, whereas the newer T530 has an Ivy Bridge i5.

While running memtest86 (booted from a CD and not running within Windows) to check the memory, I was struck by how much faster the I.B. cache is, in terms of MB/sec.

Equally surprising (at least to me) is that the memory itself is also much faster on the I.B. cpu in terms of MB/sec. vs. the speed spec of DDR3-1600 vs DDR3-1333.

T530 i5-3320M(I.B./2.6/3.3GHz), 16GB RAM at 798MHz (DDR3-1596)
L1= 86471 MB/sec.
L2= 39305 MB/sec.
L3= 32026 MB/sec.
RAM= 18140 MB/sec.

X220 i5-2450M(S.B./2.5/3.1GHz), 8GB RAM at 664MHz (DDR3-1329)
L1= 20425 MB/sec.
L2= 15771 MB/sec.
L3= 13543 MB/sec.
RAM= 11075 MB/sec.

Edit: the T530 I.B. L1 cache runs at more than 4x the speed of the X220 S.B. L1 cache!! L2 and L3 and RAM are all also faster with the newer I.B. T530 laptop!

 

"One question is how much benefit is there to messing around with higher RAM speed settings with any Thinkpad?"

Little.

Renee

 

This is true magic to me.

 

LOL!

I knew I could count on you to pick away, without really saying anything meaningful.

Let me rephrase: is it that you don't believe that what I wrote is true?

Kindly provide meaningful reason(s).

FWIW I'd normally say thanks to anybody else, but you're wearing thin.

 

Precisely because no meaningful reasons exist to explain a certain phenomenon, it is magic.

(No need for thanks.)

 

No thanks given.

Odd to me that you'd use the word "magic"

This is not helpful in this thread that I started.

I need and want some helpful input on Thinkpad RAM and GPU usage.

Your current input in this thread comes up way short!

Why does this not surprise me???

 

FWIW your answer of "little" (performance difference with faster RAM (assuming you meant this?)) has been my experience with desktop PC's.

But bear with me everybody, because I really want to get some meaningful discussion on this.

Or maybe I just need to reword and take it to NBR's broader hardware components forum???

Or find a ref to it on another Thinkpad related web site???

So some additional questions/comments:

1. Lenovo sure doesn't make it easy in the BIOS, with no RAM voltage control nor RAM speed control.

Maybe other vendors, like Alienware (gaming), provide this in their BIOS???

2. So far my one conclusion is that running two DIMMs, of different size, has more serious performance downsides than most on NBR think.

 

A small bit of followup...

Running two memory DIMMs that are the same size and speed and latency does improve performance. It was a pleasant discovery to make with both my T530 and X220 laptops.

Overclocking is clearly not much of a factor for Thinkpad owners.

If you go to NBR's Alienware forum (gaming), and do a forum search for the single word overclock, you'll find some interesting info.

But it won't help you speed up your Thinkpad!

A cpu swap might help a small bit.

A gpu swap would be even better but seldom gets discussed for Thinkpads. I'm not even sure it's possible.

Of course, for gaming, you should have bought something else.

 

Here's how my X220 did, going from 6GB (at max 1333 speed (Sandy Bridge limit?) w/ sticks of 2GB (decent Micron RAM) and 4GB (decent Samsung RAM) (both rated at 1600 speed with same latency)) to 8GB (4GB (same Samsung stick of RAM) and 4GB (decent Transend RAM), both rated at 1600 speed with same latency).

Win7 WEI scores went from 7.0/7.2/5.8/6.2/7.8 (CPU/RAM/graphics/gaming-graphics/SSD) to 7.0/7.5/6.3/6.3/7.8

Pleasantly improved X220 results.

More surprising than my improved T530 results; both very satisfying and more than just a little.

So the moral of the story is to run same sized sticks of RAM that have same speed and same latency, and you'll likely get better performance that is noticeable.

 

Re-posting is sometimes a small bit of amusement.

Can a T530 user/owner use either HD 4000 or nVidia NVS 5400M gpu during same boot???