P150EM: 1.35V or 1.5V RAM

I'm going to be updating my laptop's RAM soon from 2x4GB to 2x8GB. Both my current RAM and the RAM I'll be upgrading to will be 1600MHz CL9 sticks. The only difference is the voltages.

I currently use 1.5V RAM but noticed that there is a large amount of 1.35V sticks offered now as well as "hybrid" 1.35V/1.5V sticks.

From looking at Intel's product website and some brief internet searching, the 4th Gen Intel CPUs use DDR3L (1.35V) RAM while most product descriptions say that the hybrid sticks are also backward compatible with 3rd and 2nd gen processors. Also the hybrid sticks seem to be more expensive but not too much.

I did a comparison linked here of equivalent 2nd, 3rd, 4th gen CPUs (including my current 3rd gen one and the 3rd gen one I'm upgrading to).

If I read everything right, 2nd gen supports DDR3, 3rd gen supports both DDR3 and DDR3L, while 4th gen supports DDR3L. So, if I understand that correctly, I should be able to run 1.35V RAM in a Clevo P150EM.

I wanted to be 100% sure though by asking the community, will 1.35V RAM work in the Sager NP9150 (Clevo P150EM)? If I purchase hybrid 1.35V/1.5V RAM, will it run at 1.35V automatically? Also, from reading Corsair and Kingston's websites, lower voltage shouldn't lower the performance of the RAM, is this correct?

Thanks!

 

By 1.35v, it will have 1.5v put through it but it won't hurt and you can use it in a future machine if you want.

 

Is it true that 1.35v would potentially overclock better as well, given that they are (supposedly) binned higher than their 1.5v counterparts?

And dammit Meaker I need your expert opinion on those timings

 

Yes it would likely oc better. Also on the sub timings they mostly don't matter lol but bring your tRC, mine is tight at 105 clocks at 2133mhz.

 

So my plan is to get 1.35V RAM. Still trying to decide on 4x4GB and 2x8GB. I'm hoping I will be able to get the same timings I currently have which is 9-9-9-24-1T at 1600MHz.

I have a question though about clock speed, is there any reason that I should purchase an 1866 or 2133 set over 1600? Is there any benefit beyond overclocking? I have no intentions of overclocking and my understanding is the Clevo P150EM (Sager BIOS) only supports up to 1600MHz. So I assume for example an 1866 set will automatically set itself to a lower JEDEC profile.

 

Definitely go with 2x8GB, better performance and opens up room for upgrade down the road.

Not sure about the Sager BIOS, but check to see if there's a modded BIOS from Prema (I'm almost certain there is), that way you can run the ram at whatever speed your memory controller can handle.

As to benefits beyond overclocking, 1866 is where the sweetspot is. My system definitely felt snappier when I upgraded from 1600 CL9 to 1866 CL11, but beyond 1866 the difference will only show in numbers. Yeah I suppose if the BIOS doesn't support 1866, then the ram will simply run at 1600 with the timings for 1866.

Holy hell

And you mean tRFC not tRC right?

 

Yes, most notebook memory has that setting quite loose.

 

I have no intention of using the Prema BIOS mod at the moment at least but if I understand it right, if I'm not overclocking, then using 1866 RAM would be bad because when it downclocks to 1600, the timings don't scale down?

 

The EM should be happy to run 1866mhz by default IIRC.

 

That's right, timings will have to be set manually.

Depending on your luck though, you might be able to tighten the timings, sometimes by a significant amount if you run the ram at lower than rated speed. For example I can run my 2133 CL11 ram at 1866 CL9, but I definitely lucked out with my ram.

 

Well, I'm going to purchase either the (both are 1.35V 2x8GB 1866MHz) Corsair Vengeance [10-10-10-32] or Kingston HyperX [11-11-11-32]. I found only one thread talking about using 1866 RAM on Clevo P150EMs and P150HMs and some say they only downclock to 1600 while other say only HyperX seems to run at 1866. I'm not sure which I'll go for or whether either will work. The thing is with the Sager NP9150 (Clevo P150EM) is that you cannot adjust the timings in the BIOS. So I basically want something that will plug and run off the bat. I love my current RAM, I just want slightly more of it and to run at a lower voltage. But if I could bump the frequency another 266 then I'd be ecstatic.

 

Have you downloaded XTU? (Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility) IIRC XTU should work on Ivy Bridge systems, and if you don't want to flash Prema's BIOS, then XTU is the only way to adjust timings on your RAM.

Also, I have a 2x8GB kit of HyperX 1866 1.35v ram that I no longer need. (used for maybe about a week) PM me if you decide to go with HyperX and maybe we can work out a deal.

 

Just tested Intel XTU. It doesn't let me touch anything.

 

Well that sucks. Good news is that 1866 is supported in the HM series. (you probably know this though) So unless they did something with the EM series, 1866 *should* work.

Now, whether that requires an unlocked BIOS or not, really couldn't tell you, but the bottom line is it can be made to work.

 

You need to flash the 170 em bios to unlock xtu controls. The 150 bios does not have the xtu code in it.

 

1866 may work but not inherently at the 1866 speed. The CPUs in the HM and EM supports up to PC12800, save for the P570WM (different CPU).