Memory Speeds in Gaming Laptops...

So this might be a bit of a trivial question, but how much does memory speed really affect a gaming laptop's performance that much? I specify that I will be playing games because generally those can get somewhat demanding.

The rig I'm looking at will have the following specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7 3610QM (2.3-3.3GHz)
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7970M
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB SSD
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance@1600MHz / 16GB G-Skill@1333MHz

So around the Internet I've read that it's about a 2-3% difference in speed for what would come out to be a $20 difference. So on one hand, I'm paying 25% more for a 3% (let's take the best case scenario) increase in performance, but at the same time, only $20 for what I consider the best RAM you can get for a reasonable price (I feel like 1866MHz is incredibly overpriced for what you get).

So with a new CPU as well as GPU, and paired with a rather snappy SSD, is it worth paying the $20 in your eyes for a bit faster RAM? That is assuming this RAM speed increase wouldn't decrease battery life by more than 20 minutes. I think that would be rather ridiculous if it did, but you never know (at least I don't, so I'm asking), does it?

Oh and my last note: I'm getting 16GB of RAM as opposed to 8GB so I could set up a RAM Disk if I wanted, or a RAM Cache, or just so that my laptop has enough ram to last until I need a new one for CPU/GPU reasons. 16GB should remain more than enough for quite a while, correct?

 

From what I read the RAM has VERY little effect on gaming since it primarily relies on the other parts ex. CPU and GPU the memory speeds are also remember dependant on the bus of the CPU, so really in truth in gaming the only difference you could see is from the 1333 to the 1866 and thats a 3~4% difference, from the 1333 to 1600? that should be really minor...

But then again thats my opinion if someone has more experience testing with RAM during gaming they should have a better idea at this.

Also this article has different RAM effects in game performance really detailed so this should give you an idea on whether it effects it or not. TL;DR on the article it effects around 3 fps at high settings from 1066 to 1866.

 

Thanks for the article, it was a good read. I knew that games relied more on CPU and GPU capabilities, but every part must contribute in some way, you know? It turns out that memory's effects are minimal, but not entirely absent. I feel like the article made a decent argument for faster RAM.

Realistically, I'll probably be waiting (since I don't need this computer fully operational until school starts next September) throughout the summer for a Shell Shocker deal or some other sale where the prices of the 1600MHz Corsair is the same as the 1333MHz stuff. I've got RAM I could use in the mean time.

I will now go through that link and check out what memory effects besides games, and see what kinds of things happen there.

 

DDR3-1600 is pretty much standard these days, since most laptop resellers offer them in their base configs. plus, as u already mentioned, its just a 20$ upgrade from DDR3-1333, so id just go with it, no worries Ive been thinking about exchanging my 16 gigs of 1333 ram with the HyperX PnP 1866 but decided against it. The perf. difference in gaming is really negligible, even when jumping from 1066 to 1866 and should only be noted in (very) slightly higher benchmarking scores (like 100 points more in 3DMark Vantage, IF ure lucky)

cheers

 

As others have stated, the performance increase for gaming is marginal, and 1600Mhz memory is beginning to become the standard for memory.

16GB is PLENTY of RAM for now and into the foreseeable future.

 

I have 32GB DDR3-1600. I will say this about the RAM upgrades

The ONLY pressing reason to go from DDR3-1333 to DDR3-1600 (and perhaps going to 32GB RAM) is to make a RAMDisk or RAMCache as a means of storage (remember to make it persistent and save images to your main disk at shutdown) that is high-speed, VERY low latency, and capable of handling many reads / writes without degradation (a symptom of flash drives). For me, I like to use my ram-disk (or ram-cache depending on how i set it up) to put LibreOffice, Shift 2, and Project: CARS on it to ensure they run at maximum speed. Additionally, I have Chromium on it as well. (I have 32GB total; 16GB goes to the system, and 16GB is a ram-drive that runs at 4.3GB / sec read and 6.5GB / sec write.) (In fact, I could - if it was possible run Windows 7 and store everything on RAM and still have 1GB left.)

However, as far as vantage goes, I did notice that upgrading from 16GB to 32GB RAM (and the increase in RAM-speed) ultimately gave about a 3 to 4% score jump in 3Dmark Vantage. See here. Not terribly noticeable, but still a boost is a boost. (NB: those scores were with no ramdisk for both runs)

I guess it's most justifiable if you wish to make a ram-cache to speed up your computing experience, or have AutoCAD / MAYA / intense photoshopping. Most other things, not so much (unless you have an IGP only, in which case... RAM-speed upgrades are your best friend, see here.

Jason

 

true that,using an IGP id deff go all the way,really helps with gpu performance

Sent from my GT-I9001 using Tapatalk 2

 

true that,using an IGP id deff go all the way,really helps with gpu performance

Sent from my GT-I9001 using Tapatalk 2