IS HP ripping us off????

[pooorboy]

I noticed we started getting machines that claimed 800mhz front side bus yet only ship pc2700 memory. I got answers like, "Memory was in short supply". When I asked again I got this response

This is a function of the chipset and bus speed, and L2 Cache. With the
800MHZ bus speed, the PC2700 memory will have better throughput.
Additionally, the second level cache operates every CPU clock cycle,
which is much more efficient that older servers and workstations with L3
cache memory.

I believe they are talking about their new servers in the above statement. Any thoughts on this and there claims? Look at their website and take a look at their workstations. They claim 800mhz front side bus yet only sell pc2700 memory. Thoughts?

 

[Tostada]

Without reading anything but the headline, I can definitely say YES.

After reading your post ... well ... the answer's still yes.

 

[beatle]

It wouldn't be ripping you off if they state in their description that their systems ship with PC2700. It's a poor design, but they are lying about PC2700 being superior to PC3200 if you have the option of running an 800mhz FSB.

 

[pooorboy]

Doesn't the cpu also depend on the frontside bus speed? Otherwise they would have to raise the multiplyer to achieve the speed of 2.8ghz if they used pc2700. These systems could never run at 800mhz with pc2700. Thats why I think they are lying to everyone.

 

[slash196]

Sounds like inane technobabble designed to satisfy the layperson. Yes, HP is ripping people off.

 

[beatle]

The RAM is able to run asynchronously with the FSB. This means they don't have to run at the same speed. You can run the RAM @ 533 and the FSB at 800 if you like. Many people do this when they overclock - setting the FSB to 250 (1000mhz effective qdr) or so, using a 5:4 divider, and running their ram @ 200 (400mhz effective ddr).

As far as I'm aware, multipliers are locked on all Intel non-engineering samples.

As I said before, HP isn't lying to you if they expressly state that their systems come with PC2700. It's just poor system design.

 

[Tostada]

The bottom line is that running PC2700 instead of PC3200 hurts performance in that system, and it's an extremely underhanded way for HP to save $5 on the system. I'm sure they're just flushing out old RAM and you're the one that gets stuck with it.

 

[bigboxes]

But of course.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: Tostada
The bottom line is that running PC2700 instead of PC3200 hurts performance in that system, and it's an extremely underhanded way for HP to save $5 on the system. I'm sure they're just flushing out old RAM and you're the one that gets stuck with it.

my thoughts exactly.

 

[wetcat007]

HP is nothing but a name that dumb people think is good and i laugh as they pay 200 bucks more for an HP since it's better lol

 

[Abhi]

Did they quote/specify PC3200 memory at time of sale? If yes, fight with them and get the PC2700 replaced.

 

[Cawchy87]

If they quoted 800mhz fsb computers at all i belive that is grounds for return. If they said that it "runs at 800mhz" then you have an arguement for sure.

Either way, tell them to get a sales rep over there right now, download cpu-z and show them that they are dumb.

 

[styrafoam]

Didn't HP already get in trouble for misrepresenting the color depth on their pocket pc's? They seem to like to write the definitions as they see fit.

 

[Vee]

Originally posted by: pooorboy
I noticed we started getting machines that claimed 800mhz front side bus yet only ship pc2700 memory. I got answers like, "Memory was in short supply". When I asked again I got this response

This is a function of the chipset and bus speed, and L2 Cache. With the
800MHZ bus speed, the PC2700 memory will have better throughput.
Additionally, the second level cache operates every CPU clock cycle,
which is much more efficient that older servers and workstations with L3
cache memory.

I believe they are talking about their new servers in the above statement. Any thoughts on this and there claims? Look at their website and take a look at their workstations. They claim 800mhz front side bus yet only sell pc2700 memory. Thoughts?

Technically it is correct. You probably do have 800FSB machines with 333DDR ram. And 333DDR does work better with 800FSB.
Performancewise, it would perform a bit better with PC3200. And for someone who builds his systems, it wouldn't cost more. For HP's supply situation, it's probably a different issue, and system cost would be higher.

If 800FSB (and not explicitly PC3200) is what you have agreed to buy, then you're not ripped off. Whether you're happy with it, is another issue. That usually depends on how the customer perceives the goods.

Take Dell, for instance. Every ad they run gives me high bloodpressure. Yet, they have a lot of happy customers. Customers happy with their Dell brand name, happy with their 128/256MB, "high performance" Celerons, and their "Intel Extreme" integrated graphics. "Integrated" sounds real good too, doesn't it? Even here, and on other forums, you often see that "Yes, but for just web and email..." crap argument. Or "it runs perfectly stable", - just as if other non-OC PCs have any problems.

It works the other way too. If you think your machines are crap, because of your knowledge of the PC2700, and negative perceptions of that, then you're not happy. Even if they actually happen to be good value (which I don't know they are, of course):

(...And I don't have particular high regards for HP, since the last decade.)
(The cache referrances, I assume relates to comparisions with some older Xeons, with smaller L2?)

 

[PingSpike]

I thought this was going to be about the printer cartridges costing more than the printers.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: styrafoam
Didn't HP already get in trouble for misrepresenting the color depth on their pocket pc's? They seem to like to write the definitions as they see fit.

They're a slimeball company, that's for sure. The last page of the Nov. '04 issue of PC World (shut up, the subscription was free ) has an article detailing their factory-installed adware which gives popups based on what you're surfing, which actually regularly updates itself and adds your habits to their database. It's called "Updates From HP" (Compaq's version is "Compaq Connections" - keep in mind they're the same company now). They go so far as to instruct the user how to get it to work with sp2 :roll: They inform the user that they'll "miss important updates for your specific system" if they turn it off. Now none of us would have any trouble or second thoughts about disabling that crap (not that we'd buy HP/Compaq for home use), but that doesn't make it right.

 

[oogabooga]

To the OP : Yes.

 

[Jeff7]

Additionally, the second level cache operates every CPU clock cycle,
which is much more efficient that older servers and workstations with L3
cache memory.

This is actually accurate, though they are talking about really older PC's, like in the socket 7 days with the K6-3, with L3 cache. The L3 cache on the motherboard would run at the speed of the frontside bus. But even that cache was better than no L3 cache.