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I don’t know if this should be multiple threads, but I thought it would be helpful to discuss memory upgrades. I didn’t see an existing thread, sorry if I missed it.
There is a lot of discussion about which 2G SODIMM to get. The ease of upgrading is discussed elsewhere and even in the Sammy manual, though it has conflicting info. I’ve also seen conflicting reports (at least 1 on Amazon) stating that an upgrade that was recommended by others and by the Crucial web site should work, and didn’t. Maybe a bad module? This all brings up several topics for me.
1) Is a 1G upgrade needed/helpful for XP for the typical user? Some reports have stated that you won’t notice any performance improvement unless you have lots of large applications open. Who’s going to do that on a 10″ screen and single core processor? It will probably be useful when 7 comes out if anyone is willing to pay for the upgrade on what’s suppose to be a low end laptop. (I’ve read XP now will be supported till 2012 for security patches at least.) And please, let’s not discuss Vista.
2) I’ve read the memory bus for the chipset in the Sammy runs at 533MHz but many people are buying faster memory. Note that the CL factor isn’t coming up in most discussions, only the clock speed. I’ve read about CL4 memory (faster than CL5 or CL6 for a given clock speed) but don’t know if Sammy can recgonize CL4 and take advantage of it. I’ve also read that Sammy comes with 800MHz CL5, but I’d think if you are upgrading anyway, 533MHz CL4 would be a better option. Speed over 533 gains you nothing and CL4 might gain you something. Note that I saw one guy recommend an 800MHz module and when I followed the link he recommended, it was CL6. This was really bad advise. The speed does nothing and CL6 would actually slow the machine down. How much I don’t know, would like to see someone do some testing. Basically module manufacturers can provide better CL factors for lower clock speeds. Modules are more reliable at lower speeds so they can use less cycles for accessing, that’s why you’ll see 533MHz CL4 and some 800MHz at CL6. I’ve seen a 533/CL4 for similar price as 667/CL5 name brand memory, ~$25 w/shipping.
3) Battery life with additional memory? Doubling the chips on the memory module has to burn power even if it isn’t very active. Has anyone done any testing? If there is a big enough power drain, increasing memory might be more harmful than helpful. You can’t shut it down to 50% memory like the display.
1) Probably not a lot of difference for a typical user.
2) How much difference would you expect CL4 versus CL6 to make?
I purchased my RAM from Crucial and it works fine though it is CL6, I notice no difference in speed for general usage between it and the original RAM (excluding situations when I’m using more than 1GB). For any intensive tasks the CPU or GPU tends to be the bottleneck for me.Reminds me of when I bought my desktop and was worried because the RAM (unusual type for a desktop) has a high latency, but I never noticed it, anyway I digress…
I bought my 2GB of RAM and made sure to get CL4. I don’t have anything to compare it to performance wise, but I’ll check to see if it’s even using it or if it defaulted to something else.
EDIT NC10 does seem to run it at the correct timings.
I don’t think there will be any speed increase/difference with CL6 vs CL4. The limiting factor is the bus speed, i.e. 533MHz, so even if memory works faster by itself, you won’t notice change as data is sent to/received from memory at bus speed.
There IS a speed difference for CL6 vs CL4 AT THE SAME FREQUENCY. However, if you buy a 800 MHz CL6, when you run it at the slower clock speeds, it can run at a lower CL rating. It really depends on how the SPD is programmed on the memory chip.
Now, asking whether it can run CL3 versus CL4 at 333 Mhz with the appropriate chip, now that is a good question. I don’t know the answer to that one.
[quote1234715990=berfles]
I bought my 2GB of RAM and made sure to get CL4. I don’t have anything to compare it to performance wise, but I’ll check to see if it’s even using it or if it defaulted to something else.EDIT NC10 does seem to run it at the correct timings.
[/quote1234715990]
my cpu-z results for my pc2-6400 (400mhz)2gb module upgrade are:
frequency: 400mhz
cas latency :5
ras to cas:5
ras precharge: 5
tras: 18
trc: 23
voltage: 1.8vso mine has more latency but runs at 400mhz instead of 333mhz, swings and roundabouts?
out of curiosity i put my original samsung 1gb chip back in to see what cpuz says:
frequency: 400mhz
cas latency :6
ras to cas:6
ras precharge: 6
tras: 18
trc: 24
voltage: 1.8vboth are pc6400
so the newer 2gb has 5 instead of 6 latency, and a drop to 23 from 24 for trc bank cycle time if running at 400mhz, but…
with both chips. the dram freq. used is 333mhz according to cpuz, with fsb:dram = 2:5
4
4
4
12
16
timings. 16 being quite a drop from 20 for the bank cycle time for the pc5300 memory used as noted by the other member.so can this conclude that pc6400 memory really is the best memory to get for the nc10??
Memory timings are one area of building computers I’ve never cared about. The gain in speed and responsiveness of more memory (especially at certain thresholds) is so much more than the gain from better memory timings that I have yet to see the point. So FWIW here are my responses from that perspective:
1. I think so. My soon-to-be-replaced work machine is a P4 2.8 with 1 GB of RAM; my NC10 has 2 GB of RAM. The NC10 is almost always more responsive than my work machine doing the same browsing/email/word processing sort of thing that’s most of what I do with the NC10.
2. I just bought what was cheap at the time. As it turns out, the NC10 uses the memory I bought for $18 at 333 with timings 4-4-4-11-15. I guess that’s good, but I would have been happy with the 6s others have reported.
3. I upgraded the RAM in my NC10 before turning it on for the first time, and I still get more than 6 hours of runtime if I’m not gaming. It may cost a bit more power but it’s not significant in my eyes.
Hey all, I’m new to this forum, bought my NC10 last week and decided to join the forum I’ve found quite useful.
Anyways thought I’d share my experience with replacing the RAM.
I bought a Corsair Value Select 2gb PC-5300 memory, however after installing the new memory my laptop didn’t post. Took my NC10 and the memory to the store I bought it and tried another piece of the same memory and it worked like a charm. We tried the first memory that wasn’t working in an HP laptop and it worked in it. Apparently the Corsair memories can have slightly different modules in them that might cause in some cases that NC10 wouldn’t recognize the memory.On another note my new memory is working great, ran memtest and everything was ok. The timings at 333mhz seem to be 4-4-4-12-16 which is quite good I guess.
I sent an email to Kingston to enquire about their HyperX CL3, still waiting for an answer.
EDIT…. JUST received a reply *sigh*
Dear Mr ……..,
Thank you for your email. With regards to your question, we are unable to provide you with such information at this time. We have been unable to find news about the product you are referring to. I would suggest you wait until the press release comes out.
Please do not hesitate to contact me again should you have further questions.
Kind Regards
What hopes do we have when THEY can’t even get their stories straight.
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