RAM Speed & Timings for APU, serious inquiry

[MooseParade]

I've been searching for the last few days and haven't found a definitive answer. The question is all about RAM timings and basically is the more aggressive timings worth the price difference and will I (or the average user) see a difference in real world gaming & app / program usage?

The computer in question is a Toshiba L855D-S5114 Laptop
Specs:
AMD A8-4500M @ 1.9ghz (2.8ghz Boost)
AMD 7640G APU
4gb 1600 Single Channel
640gb 5400rpm SATA HDD
The rest I know is insignificant


I purchased the laptop for $379.99 from Best Buy which I think is a great deal for an A8. The problem is the RAM. I've done a lot of research that says that APU's more than anything benefit from faster RAM speeds and Dual Channel. I gathered a couple Dual Channel kits but again, the question arose in my mind, does the RAM Timing increase performance as much as the RAM Speed?

(All listings are 2x4gb Dual Channel Kits @ 1600mhz)

Mushkin Enhanced 11-11-11-28 $47.99

G.Skill 9-9-9-28 $51.99

Corsair Vengeance 9-9-9-24 $56.99

Is the increase in price equal to the increase in performance? Are RAM Timings that important for increasing APU performance?

 

[VirtualLarry]

In most name-brand laptops, you cannot even adjust the RAM timing. So the point is rather moot. You need to purchase RAM with good enough timings to play well with the BIOS in your laptop.

 

[MooseParade]

So I should just get the Corsair, which has the most advanced RAM Timings and be done with it?

 

[dac7nco]

Your best bet would to buy a single 4GB 1600MHz stick @ 9-9-9-24. If the factory installed stick is different, the stick you bought will simply relax to match. Yeah, that's a good deal for an A8. Storage will be your main bottleneck, but with 8GB RAM you'll be happy anyhow. Speed *generally* matters more than timings, mostly in memory benchmarks... but buying low latency memory makes the machine happier.

People DO buy CAS-12, crazy-voltage 2600MHz memory - but they're ridiculous.

Daimon

 

[MooseParade]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Corsair 9-9-9-24. I found it on eBay (from a high rated seller) for $49.99 with no tax and free shipping. I plan on running a few benchmarks before and after the upgrade to see what kind of impact it made on the CPU & APU.

 

[sm625]

I think the G-skill one is worth it. But not the corsair. It aint worth $5 more for just 15% better tRAS lol.

So you are not going to be using the RAM that the laptop came with?

 

[MooseParade]

I think the G-skill one is worth it. But not the corsair. It aint worth $5 more for just 15% better tRAS lol.

So you are not going to be using the RAM that the laptop came with?

No sir. I'll be swapping out the single 4gb DDR3 1600 11-11-12-28 with the Corsair 2x4gb DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24. $50 total for dual channel, double the RAM and faster timings. I think it's worth it.

 

[dac7nco]

No sir. I'll be swapping out the single 4gb DDR3 1600 11-11-12-28 with the Corsair 2x4gb DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24. $50 total for dual channel, double the RAM and faster timings. I think it's worth it.

Ah, that is indeed a low-rent stick that came with your laptop. You should be happy with the memory you bought.

Daimon