did any one notice vaio memory is DDR-SDRAM DDR2-400?

First let's know the difference between Pentium M 755 and 760.

Intel Pentium M Processor 760 is 2.0 GHz at 533MHz bus speed
Intel Pentium M Processor 755 is 2.0 GHz at 400MHz bus speed

DDR-SDRAM DDR2-533 is at 533MHz bus speed
DDR-SDRAM DDR2-400 is at 400MHz bus speed

i was configuring the vaio S580, and i realize that Sony is using DDR-SDRAM DDR2-400. but sony is using Pentium M 760,780 etc.

so the memory is sending and received data at speed of 400MHz and CPU is sending and received at 533MHz.

It means CPU will not reach its highest performance.

then this will make the sony is same speed at dell 700m which has pentium M 755.

I am willing to pay more, but just don't know why sony will not give us the right memory for the right CPU? and you can't add Nvidia 6400 not if you are buying 512MB. felt i am through money away. When i get my vaio, i will upgrade memory any way and these memory will be useless.

 

I didn't notice that mismatch, but since Sony also charges a lot for memory I got 512MB the cheapest way (2x256) to enable the 6400 option, then ordered a couple of sticks of 533MHz RAM from Newegg and installed them myself. It is throwing away a little money - the $50US for the seconds 256MB stick. But I'd have been throwing even more money away for Sony's expensive RAM upgrades. Especially if they're shipping slower RAM than the CPU can handle.

 

you are right, that is what I am going to do too. Can you tell me what brand memory did you get? last time i brought K-Bytes from bestbuy and that didn't work.

I just want to make sure others know about the sony has a slow memory. Because i notice some one said they brought s580 with a 1GB ram.

 

Sure. I got Transcend memory with Samsung chipsets from Newegg. 200-Pin DDR2 533/PC2 4200 SO-DIMMs. $71.50 each for 2GB, minus a $10 rebate (which may only apply to one of the sticks). The memory seems to be working fine (I ran a testing app, but I haven't benchmarked it or anything like that).

 

hmmm that's interesting.
I think my S560P comes with PC2 4200 memory.
I wonder why they didn't do the same with the S580, or at least give the option

 

I know, to pay little bit more is better than through away your 512MB memory.
this is what i get when configuring
2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 1 GBx2) [add $1,000.00]
1 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 1 GBx1) [add $450.00]
1 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 512 MBx2) [add $300.00]
512 MB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 512 MBx1) [add $40.00]
512 MB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 256 MBx2) [add $.00]
256 MB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-400, 256 MBx1)

they should have an option DDR2-533. feel sad to those people brought Vaio with 1 GB or more memory.

 

I feel sadder to those people who bought the 2GB set. $1000 extra is just insane no matter what the bus speed is.

 

I know. Even without the rebate I paid about $160 after tax and shipping for 2GB. $1000 is pretty reprehensible. Even with more expensive RAM I think it would be hard to spend more than maybe $600 for 2GB of PC2 4200, but I don't see much reason to spend that much either. The Transcend RAM has good reviews and a lifetime warranty.

 

Hi Songdog, so you did upgrade your ram right? is it difficult to do? i saw some one post a thread asking help for upgrading the RAM. and in their process, some where at point they need to take out the keyboard.
is that true? and hard to do?
i thougth just flip the laptop upside down, and there should be a cover. remove the cover there should be two memory slots. that is how my old sony and Dell designed.
thanks

 

That was me. One slot is under the cover you mention, the other is under the keyboard. They are apparently on opposite sides of the motherboard now. It wasn't hard to do but ultimately I had to carefully force the keyboard past the obstruction, something the user manual doesn't warn about. It was hard on my nerves, but not challenging otherwise.

 

thanks songdog, that is good news to me, then i will order the 1 GB ram and upgrade the slot under the cover and leave the one under key board along.
well don't know uneven memoy will affect the performance, but i will try first.
once again, thank u and evey one reply my thread

 

Matched pairs shouldn't be necessary except for dual channel functionality, and I'm not sure that's implemented on our notebooks. One caveat, though: I don't know where the factory memory gets installed if they only put one stick in there. In my case I got 2x256MB in order to qualify (as cheaply as possible) for the graphics upgrade so I had one stick in each place. If you order a single stick configuration you could in principle find it in either location, although I'd certainly hope that they'd put it under the keyboard and leave the easier-access slot free for your convenience. It depends whose convenience the value more, I suppose.

 

I got my vaio s580 on 12/15, and although i ordered it with ddr2-400, it came with ddr2-533.

 

You made me look, stevejoeb. I checked out the two 256MB sticks I pulled to replace with 1GB sticks, and they are 533MHz. At leas I think they are, because they're labelled PC2-4200, which I think only applies to 533MHz modules. Can anyone confirm?

 

there is not much difference anyway when using ddr2-400 or 533 anyway. Theoretically the later one is faster providing as much as 4.2GB/s bandwith. in dual-channel mode that is 8.4GB/s. But this are just numbers on a paper. The chipset is running at a 533mhz FSB, so it can not use more than 4.2GB/s anyway.
The only advantage shows when CPU and GPU use the memory bandwith at the same time. eq. with shared graphics memory. That is also one of the reason Intels onboard graphic GMA900 is performing much better than its predecessor.

the prices differences for ddr2-533mhz memory and 400mhz eroded in the past month and is trading now at par.

regards,
Martin

 

Is there a way to check if the RAM installed in my S-580 is ddr2-400 or 533 WITHOUT physically opening the back of my machine?

 

use some programs..... everest, Sisoft sandra, etc.

** everest can even tell you the HDD's RPM speed so u can make sure they didn't cheat and send u a 5400 RPM instead of 4200.

 

I guess my S580 came with ddr2-533 too since they print ddr2-533 in the configuration list outside shipping box.

 

Hey guys, looks like the memory I bought from sonystyle is definitely a 533Mhz stick. Am I right? (have a look at the pic)

 

get this program from this site.
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

Thanks Lipman, but I guess NHC gave me the feedback I was looking for. See post #19. Thanks again!

 

EpluribusUnum I'm not sure if NHC tells you the frequency of your RAM although it tells you your CPU has a FSB of 533Mhz. Just to be sure I would download CPU-Z, you don't even need to install the program, it's just an exe.

Interestingly my RAM is made by Infineon but CAS Latency, RAS to CAS,, etc are all at 4.0 and there is no option in Sony's BIOS to change this unfortunately. As a matter of fact you can't change any advanced settings in the BIOS which is a bit frustrating.

 

Thanks a lot Bomfunk. Going to download CPU-Z, I'll keep you posted!

***UPDATE***
Am I missing something?! Memory frequency 266Mhz? Look at CPU-Z screenshot. AFAIK PC4300 should be 533Mhz.

***UPDATE 2 (see screenshot2.jpg)***
Isn't Pentium M 760 a SONOMA? Here it says Dothan!?

 

Must be an error on the side of CPU-Z mine also says I have a Dothan. The highest Dothan you could get IMHO was the Pentium M 755 anyway..

You've got PC4300 RAM though, a 533Mhz Bus Speed accounts to 266Mhz frequency (just divided by 2) hence a 400Mhz Bus Speed has a 200Mhz frequency.

 

Sounds good. That's what I was thinking about. Case CLOSED. Thanks, once again!

 

I think by now everyone has figured out that despite Sonystyle.com says they are giving you DDR2-400 memory with S5xx they really are shipping DDR2-533 memory. Anyway, the S3xx and S4xx used to use DDR2-400 memory and that's why Sonystyle had forgotten to update their option list in the S5xx configuration menu.

 

Skyshade, you're absolutely right!