DDR2-533 vs DDR2-800

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
I have a Laptop with T4200 and 3 Gig DDr2 533.
Now I was wondering replacing old mem with 4 Gig DDR2 800
I may go with Win7 64 from Win7 32.
However I am wondering how much improvment I will see with this upgrade
Here is my Hardware Pics
CPU
Cpu.jpg

Speed
Mem.jpg

Mem I have
spd.jpg
 

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
64
91
Little to no improvment in anything that is not a synthetic benchmark.

BandwidthAnalysis.jpg



^ consider that this data is with a 4GHz QX6700, I doubt your laptop CPU is going to be anywhere near as "memory bandwidth starved" as this setup was...and for this setup the memory boosts amounted to a whopping 1% change in performance.
 

Ratman6161

Senior member
Mar 21, 2008
616
75
91
Little to no improvment in anything that is not a synthetic benchmark.... consider that this data is with a 4GHz QX6700, I doubt your laptop CPU is going to be anywhere near as "memory bandwidth starved" ...

Yup and top that off with the fact that a laptop is going to have other performance bottlenecks like a slow disk drive that will limit the benefit even more.

Another thing to consider is if your laptop will even support 4 gb of RAM - it may have come with 3 for a reason. I have a 2006 vintage HP with a 2.0 Ghz core 2 duo. I looked at the chipset in the machine and knew from that that that chipset supports 4 GB. DDR2 got so cheap at one point that I bought a couple of DDR2 modules to upgrade it from 2GB to 4GB...and the system would only see 3.0GB even with a 64 bit OS installed. Windows says 4 GB installed, 3 GB usable...and as I said, there is a 64 bit OS installed (Win 7 Pro x64). When I checked with HP I learned that the system really only supports 3 GB even thought the chipset its using supports 4. It's a limitation on HP's bios.
 

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
9,759
1
71
yeah ssd first. ram second. ddr2 is getting more and more expensive - so dont wait too long
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
Another thing to consider is if your laptop will even support 4 gb of RAM - it may have come with 3 for a reason. I have a 2006 vintage HP with a 2.0 Ghz core 2 duo. I looked at the chipset in the machine and knew from that that that chipset supports 4 GB. DDR2 got so cheap at one point that I bought a couple of DDR2 modules to upgrade it from 2GB to 4GB...and the system would only see 3.0GB even with a 64 bit OS installed. Windows says 4 GB installed, 3 GB usable...and as I said, there is a 64 bit OS installed (Win 7 Pro x64). When I checked with HP I learned that the system really only supports 3 GB even thought the chipset its using supports 4. It's a limitation on HP's bios.

I had a Gateway with a GMA950 chipset in it that was the same way. Installed 2x2GB DDR2-800 into it, but the BIOS and Windows would only recognize 3GB, even thought I put Win7 64-bit on there.
 

bryanl

Golden Member
Oct 15, 2006
1,157
8
81
The CPU's caching does such a good job that DRAM speed matters little.
 

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
Yup and top that off with the fact that a laptop is going to have other performance bottlenecks like a slow disk drive that will limit the benefit even more.

Another thing to consider is if your laptop will even support 4 gb of RAM - it may have come with 3 for a reason. I have a 2006 vintage HP with a 2.0 Ghz core 2 duo. I looked at the chipset in the machine and knew from that that that chipset supports 4 GB. DDR2 got so cheap at one point that I bought a couple of DDR2 modules to upgrade it from 2GB to 4GB...and the system would only see 3.0GB even with a 64 bit OS installed. Windows says 4 GB installed, 3 GB usable...and as I said, there is a 64 bit OS installed (Win 7 Pro x64). When I checked with HP I learned that the system really only supports 3 GB even thought the chipset its using supports 4. It's a limitation on HP's bios.
I had a Gateway with a GMA950 chipset in it that was the same way. Installed 2x2GB DDR2-800 into it, but the BIOS and Windows would only recognize 3GB, even thought I put Win7 64-bit on there.

It is Lenovo 3000 G350 According to Lenovo it support upto 4 Gig.
Reason it is 3 Meg; cause upfornt cost to sell it; when it came out!
This LapTop still have lot of pwr before I can give it up
T4200 is pretty sturdy campare what is out there Minus i3 i5 i7 and A5 and A6 and A8


yeah ssd first. ram second. ddr2 is getting more and more expensive - so dont wait too long
It is ICH9 = Sata 1
For $ 150 I will loose 200 GB. Also the failure rate is little too high for my taste. I think SSD need lot maturity before I can switch from HDD.
SSD for me is more like a novelty item!
 

jjmIII

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2001
8,399
1
81
It is ICH9 = Sata 1
For $ 150 I will loose 200 GB. Also the failure rate is little too high for my taste. I think SSD need lot maturity before I can switch from HDD.
SSD for me is more like a novelty item!

ICH9 is SATA2.
There are cheaper SSD's.
Failures are low.
Novelty huh? LOL!
 

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
ICH9 is SATA2.
There are cheaper SSD's.
Failures are low.
Novelty huh? LOL!
20 to 30 % failure.......
I am just convenced with it.......
Perhap for Lab/Test envoirment sure why not
I have to shell atleast 150 dollor for 120 GB SSD
Well I think it has a cripled version of ICH9 cause I didn't notice any where in specs it says Sata II Here is the model information
If you can find out for sure please let me know

Brand Name: Lenovo
Product Name: 3000 G350 Notebook
Product Line: 3000
Product Series: G530
Product Model: 444636X
Manufacturer Part Number: 444636U