Non-XMP DDR3 1600 support?

Does it work on my laptop or not and are there limitations if I want 4GB sticks?

Here's what I already know

• NP5160 was limited to 2GB 1600 sticks(?)
• No HyperX
• 2630QM doesn't officially support 1600 but is said to work
• Laptop has no timing control so I can't change to 1600 if it defaults to 1333

 

You should be able to use 4GB sticks of 1600 or 1866 if you wanted to. The 2630QM is not listed as officially supporting them, you're right, but they've been reported to work just fine so long as it's JEDEC plug-and-play memory and not XMP. If it defaults to 1333 it means you've probably got XMP, which you cannot change.

 

What kind of benefits can I get with 1600 on my machine?

 

The average is ~4-6% better synthetic benchmark scores and gaming improvements. It's not going to make a noticeable difference in day to day tasks though. Going to 1866 would be another ~4-6% increase over 1600.

 

Well, how much does that 4-6% compare to the jump from 4GB to 8GB?

I've been feeling cramped when running virtual machines and need more RAM anyway.

Will adding the RAM itself make the computer any faster?

 

For virtual machines, I'd say more quantity is better than faster RAM. I run 16GB in my P150, but only at 1333Mhz because I use it mostly for VM's. The cost difference will for sure be less on 2x4GB 1333 than it will be on 2x4GB 1600. The faster RAM won't make your day to day stuff any faster. You'll only see the improvement in benchmarks and possibly some games (that aren't already limited by the GPU/CPU).