x205-sli1 memory question

Ok so here is the question... I ran CPU-Z and it says that the stock memory's maximum bandwidth is 333MHz and i thought i saw somewhere in sli1 specs that it supports up to 667MHz, so is the stock mem is BS and I should upgrade? Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

DDR2-667(PC2-5300) is clocked at 333MHZ but due to it being Double Data Rate (DDR[2]), it's effective rate is 667MHz so you have the correct memory in there.
How much memory do you have in your X205?

If you want to upgrade your memory, look at the Hot ram deals thread for great prices on memory.

 

hehe... I'm a noob...it's stock 2Gig

 

2GB of RAM is plenty for everything these days, including gaming. You can't see more than ~3GB anyway since the X205 runs a 32-bit operating system. So, if you are going to upgrade only buy one 2GB stick and replace one of the stock 1GB sticks with it. That way you'll be able to see all of the memory you have.

The performance benefits of going to 3GB are debatable though. I recently went from 2GB > 4GB in my desktop (note I am running a 64-bit OS so I can see/use all 4GB) and I only saw a marginal increase in performance in Crysis. The game itself ran a bit smoother. Looking back though, it probably was not worth it to upgrade to 4GB. My recommendation is to stick to 2GB.

 

Hey Chaz, curious on your 2-4GB upgrade... i just popped 4GB in my SLi1 to try and smooth out the stutters in Crysis (runs very smooth framerate wise, but then hits the hard drive and stutters, hoping the extra ram helps that some). Was wondering, could I reinstall Vista using 64-bit mode, or does Microsoft require purchasing a different version? I'm using Vista Home Premium on a clean install with the license that came with the laptop, already activated and setup running 32-bit mode. Final question, any downsides to changing to 64 bit mode? Compatibility issues or anything? Thanks

Also, for the record, with 2 2GB sticks in a SLi1, Vista 32-bit sees 3070MB

 

be77solo - There are a lot of appz and some games that will not work with 64Bit version of Vista, I just bought a OEM copy of Vista Ultimate 32Bit at PC Club yesterday for $214 and have it running on my sli1 right now, if I wanted to run the 64Bit version all I have to do is use my 64Bit retail version dvd that I also own and is what I run on my Desktop with the 8800GTX SLI setup and it would work with the serial number from my OEM copy that I bought yesterday, so I have that option if I decided to do that and get 4 Gigs of memory.

 

that's what I was wondering.... compatibilty problems... I was thinking I could use my same key to install and activate the 64bit version, but was wondering if I even wanted to... I was afraid of compatibility issues, is it mostly older stuff?

 

Some programs that I have and are not that old will not work on 64Bit vista, also tried running Orange Box and it also could not get it to run either.

 

hmm, well that stinks... def wanna be able to run orange box. That was my biggest reason of not using 64bit in the first place, because so far I haven't had any issues with combatibility in Vista32, been fairly please with it.

I have noticed an improvement in Crysis with the extra ram, even though vista32 only sees 3070MB, it has on the most part smoothed out a lot of the constant loading I was getting... still get the occasional pause here and there when it's hittin the hard drive, but has reduced them quite a bit. Running the info in the console while playing, and it says it's using about 1350MB or so, and considering Vista alone was using up to 800MB at idle (as crazy as that is lol), guess it wanted a tad over what I could give it. Looks like 3GB would be a pretty good compromise.

 

Maybe I may get a 2Gig stick and make it 3Gigs and keep 32bit vista, cause I just got Crysis yesterday and if it helps I may just do that.

 

yeah, probably wouldn't be a bad move... supposedly Dual channel doesn't matter too much anymore, so should be a pretty good bang for the buck just adding one. I'm pondering trying out 64bit Vista when I get some time, so went ahead and popped in two new sticks. nothing else seemed to need it, but the pauses for loading in Crysis was driving me crazy, they weren't terrbile by any means, but that annoys me. Good game by the way, having fun with it, finally got a couple hours to play last night.

 

The meager 800Mhz CPU FSB on its own can not saturate the whole dual channel bandwidth, true.

But CPU + video card can (remember, video card can access RAM simultaneously directly thru northbridge, bypassing CPU and FSB).
So, in cases when NVidia Turbo Cache or usual textures in system RAM are utilized, dual channel will provide clear boost - and this is quite often in texture-heavy games.

 

You know, even on my Desktop with the dual 8800GTX cards in SLI mode and a Intel Q6600 core 2 quad processor Gears of War will stop randomly to load more map information I guess, regardless of weather I run the game in Xp or Vista Ultimate 64Bit with 4Gigs of memory, I get the same problem on my sli1 too, but I haven't tried Crysis yet on either the sli1 laptop or my desktop PC but my son is playing it on the X205-9349 and the T7250 2.0Ghz processor and he tells me it runs prety smooth with no really noticeable downs. I have to try the game, I have it installed I just have been kinda busy and haven't had time to try the game yet.

 

So
I upgraded one of the sticks with 2GB and everything seems to be fine, but my Vista mem score went down from 4.8 to 4.7... any ideas why? Thanks

 

Possibly as a result that its not dual-channel now. Theoretically it shouldnt matter (bottleneck being CPU front side bus), but maybe it matters just a little.

Also maybe the new 2GB stick has worse timings that 1GB stick had before.

 

I never paid any attention to the Vista score, I have added the 2 Gig stick to my laptop as well and everything is running fine, one thing I did do since explorer started crashing in Vista for no reason even before putting in the memory was to install Windows XP I tried to use Vista as long as possible but I just got tired of all the little bugs here and there and with 3Gigs of memory and XP my laptop is running much better.

 

Just wondering has anyone tried out ready boost technology to see if there is any performance difference? Seems like it might be a way to get a little extra boost

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X205-Sli

 

If you run the 2GB as it came, people will argue all day that it won't do a thing.... honestly though, I think it helped a little bit, maybe it didn't, but seemed to in Flight Sim, when looking around real fast, didn't load quite as often, and Crysis, which uses a fair amount of memory as well, seemed to not pause and load as often.... nothing hugely dramatic, don't expect much, but seemed enough for me to keep it plugged in.... but, then I upgraded to 4GB of ram, and there's truly no point then to keep the stick plugged in... But, most will argue it makes no improvement, especially if you have over 1GB.

 

Are you still on vista32 with 4gb cuz i thought it cant use any more than 2? im wondering because i dont really want to spend the time to get vista64

 

I am still using 32 bit, and only about 3GB is recognized.... to use the rest you have to use a 64bit OS, I just was upgrading and it wasn't a whole lot more, so went ahead and installed 4GB

 

hmmm.. think i will get some more mem. is the Sli1 maxed at pc5300 667 or can i upgrade to pc6400 800?

 

nah, stick with the 667mhz, it won't use the 800

 

One last question.... sorry for asking so many.... I was reading somewhere in another thread (i cant seem to find it now) that you have SP1 for vista I am considering installing the SP1RC and am wondering if its worth it?

 

I'd say install it, don't know how much better it is, but hasn't hurt anything that I've tried..... so far so good ha