which memory speed to go wit FSB?

[fuzzy33]

I am considering a Dell 6400 laptop with Vista and a Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU that has a FSB of 667 MHz.

I will not be overclocking or playing games. I mostly edit photos non-professionally. Performance is important, including booting up and application loading. I will be getting a 7200 rpm HDD, but I want to avoid disk caching. Battery life is not important.

The laptop has two SoDIMM sockets that are both user-accessible. The RAM is shared with the integrated GPU.

The laptop comes standard with 1 gig of 533 MHz RAM spread over the two SoDIMMS, but I would like a total of 2 gigs when I buy the laptop (and ideally 4 gigs later though it looks like 2 gigs is the most that this motherboard can handle).

For a 2 gig setup, Dell gives the option of either 533 MHz or 667 MHz. The 2 gigs of 667 MHz RAM would be CAD$375, that is, 340% more expensive than 2 gigs of 533 MHz RAM at CAD$110.

Is 667 MHz worth the extra cost, or should I stick to 533 MHz?

This seems like it would be a common question, but I did not see it in the FAQ.

Your advice would be appreciated.

Fuzzy

 

[mlek]

If the cpu has an fsb of 667mhz, then I guess it's 'quad-pumping' the 166mhz system bus. The 533 ddr2 is capable of 'double pumping' a 266mhz bus.. so I guess you're within the acceptable range with that ram.

I would think twice about paying dell all that cash for the upgrade. Buy the cheaper setup if you will (even just 1 gig), then buy the better ram (cheap on ebay) and sell the slower stuff. You'll probably save yourself a small fortune.

 

[chuckshissle]

Since you're not overclocking you might as well keep the 533s.

 

[fuzzy33]

Thanks for the advice!

I agree that buying RAM elsewhere would be cheaper, but I am concerned that I would screw up and it would be totally incompatible, or at a minimum would require changing a BIOS setting (eg timings). I don't know what BIOS settings can be changed by a user on a Dell laptop.

Fuzzy

 

[mlek]

I understand your concern... Dell bios isn't exactly user-friendly! But I hate to see people throwing money at the big companies, dell, HP etc to carry out what is actually very basic work.
As chuckshissle said, you can stick with the 533 stuff as you're not going to OC. From my limited laptop experience, swapping out ram is usually straight forward, i.e. no bios settings need to be changed. I went from 512 to 2 gig in my HP with no problems (and a whole lot of cash saved).

 

[Mondoman]

Adding another 1GB SODIMM should not require any changes to settings, as the BIOS will autodetect the amount and speed/latency of the RAM. However, I see a couple of potential pitfalls:
1) Many companies sell laptops with 1GB of RAM installed as 2x 512MB modules. This means that to upgrade to 2GB, you need to replace and throw away both pre-installed modules. Thus, you want to buy a laptop that has its 1GB installed as a single 1GB SODIMM, leaving an empty socket for your upgrade.
2) Since most laptops are limited to 2GB max RAM these days, your quest not to swap to disk already has two strikes against it.
Thus, it is a bad idea to go with "integrated graphics", which will typically steal away up to 512MB of your main memory for graphics use, leaving you with only 1.5GB usable for Windows. Instead, make sure to get "dedicated graphics" with its own graphics memory (normally 128MB or 256MB). Remember, if the graphics is listed as "Intel xxxx", it's integrated, not dedicated.

I recently purchased this notebook model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220142

I have been very happy with it so far (I also purchased a 1GB DDR2-667 SODIMM for $65 to install in the 2nd (open) slot; current price for the SODIMM is $41).

 

[fuzzy33]

1) Many companies sell laptops with 1GB of RAM installed as 2x 512MB modules. This means that to upgrade to 2GB, you need to replace and throw away both pre-installed modules.

Indeed, that is true in my case, which is why I was thinking of getting the RAM pre-installed by Dell.

Instead, make sure to get "dedicated graphics" with its own graphics memory (normally 128MB or 256MB).

I plan on getting a cheap separate graphics card (ATI X1400) since I don't play games, but it still uses 128 MB of RAM in addition to its own 128MB memory. I would like to get 3 or 4 gig of RAM when the cost goes down, but that would only be possible on an XPS laptop, which is in a whole different tax bracket (about twice the price)

I recently purchased this notebook model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220142

Unfortunately, Newegg does not sell in Canada.

I see you chose an Asus laptop. Apart from Dell, I am considering Lenovo, based on Consumer Reports. They toprate Apple, Lenovo and Dell in that order for reliability in home laptops. They don't rate Asus. The main benefit of Dell is that you can customize their laptops somewhat (size and speed of HDD, screen resolution, processor) and they are cheaper if you stay away from the high end.

 

[Mondoman]

Lenovo will definitely be a much higher quality laptop than the Dell. For fun, I checked out the US build options for the Dell 6400 and found that going to the 2GB of DDR2-667 only cost $50 more than 2GB of DDR2-533. Notebook memory prices have dropped dramatically in the past few months (by more than 50%!), so you might want to check your Dell website for the most current pricing -- hopefully the diff will be similar to the current US diff.
Having purchased a Dell "desktop replacement" laptop a few years back and the recent Asus (with a low-end Compaq in between), my impression of build quality among the 3 was Asus best, closely followed by Compaq, with the Dell a bit further behind due to a bit of perceived flimsiness. Feature- and performance-wise, the Dell was fine.
I think you'll have a hard time going wrong with your current options. I would consider the ATI x1400 (or similar) as "dedicated" graphics. The 128MB is dedicated, and it will only steal the other 128MB from main memory if/when needed. Graphics performance of the x1400 is also plenty high enough for the fancy Vista "Aero" graphical user interface.
Good luck and enjoy your new laptop!