Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,

so the question is straightforward. Does T500 support dual channeling? I am asking this since I currently have 2GB module installed on my system and wanna upgrade to 4GB module. So if it does I will go for a dual channel kit. if not I would only get another 2Gb module. The difference is about 30 bucks which means a game to me! )

anyway, the Crucial web page says that T500 does NOT support dual channeling
http://www.crucial.com/store/ListParts. ... 0%20Series (under does my system support dual channeling)

I ran CPU-Z and under the RAM tab it says single. However, I am not sure if this is because I only have a single module currenty installed or that T500 does not support dual channeling!!!

In the end any specific advise on memory type? Crucial? OCZ? Patriot or anything else ? Hase anyone tried one of these so to make sure they are compatible?

Thank you all for the help.

Your T500 supports dual channel (both symmetric and asymmetric). All these system checkers on Crucial etc. still seem to have some problems with the latest platforms. I believe it´s a matter of time to update them. Also, you will find several threads in this forum where it becomes apparent that these checkers are sometimes incorrect even for older systems.

As for the cpu-z, it does report the current operating mode of the memory. Hence it won´t report dual channel if you don´t have two memory sticks installed.

Cheers,

Marin

Ok Martin. Thanks you for the response. Um, any suggestion on memory brand?

I think both OCZ and Crucial are good brands. Some folks seem to like OCZ more though... Also, make sure to check out the CAS latencies. AFAIK, Montevina RAM kits come in CL5, CL7 and even CL8...

Cheers,

MARIN

what are the specs for memory DDR3 which wwork nicely(i.e fast speed ..!) with T400.
Currentlt I have what Lenovo threw in with the T400(2 GB Dual channel DDR3). after upgrading what I will I do wth the biscuits?.
I am keeping a lookout when I can afford throwing them away. At the same time I would want faster memories instead of the crap
currently I am saddled with(see the memory timings..).
I am in India, so I will get faster and cheaper memories here when they are available for the masses.(I was told that that is a perk for
us because of our large population and also because chinese/koreans like our market).

T400plus wrote:what are the specs for memory DDR3 which wwork nicely(i.e fast speed ..!) with T400.

That´s actually a very good question, that IMO needs some more investigation!... Here is what I found:

(1) Lenovo seems to use DDR3 PC3-8500 at 1066 MHz
(2) Some folks claim that the above RAM operates at CL5
(3) I googled for such a configuration, but I wasn´t able to find 204-pin DDR3 PC3-8500 1066 MHz CL5
(4) The most common results for 204-pin DDR3 PC3-8500 1066 MHz come with CL7. Everything else has higher CAS (like 8 and 9)
(5) However, there exists DDR2 204-pin 1066 MHz in 5-5-5-15 (PC2-8500)
(6) There also exists PC3-8500 1066 MHz CL4, but I don´t know whether it´s available in 204-pin and the appropriate voltage.

I think it will be interesting for all of use someone with a Montevina-based ThinkPad with memory configured by Lenovo to run cpu-z (I believe the latest versions of cpu-u support Montevina).

I must say that Crucial, Kingston, OCZ, Corsair websites are not very clear regarding all the range of RAM types. They all offer plenty of different types of system memory often bearing some fancy marketing names...

Marin

Update: I just found Lenovo 2GB PC3-8500 1066MHz DDR3 SODIMM Notebook Topseller Memory. According to the specs it is CL5. I wonder who their supplier is

I have w700 with 2 x 2gb lenovo factory installed ddr3 memory and it is CL 7, i.e. 7-7-7-20

Marin85 wrote:Update: I just found Lenovo 2GB PC3-8500 1066MHz DDR3 SODIMM Notebook Topseller Memory. According to the specs it is CL5. I wonder who their supplier is

Its realy strange because I also only find CL7 or CL8 memories on the internet however they are usually in the range of 30-40 bucks but this one is 60 so maybe it is really CL5?!

T400plus wrote:However, there exists DDR2 204-pin 1066 MHz in 5-5-5-15 (PC2-8500)

I am not sure if its possible to install a DDR2 on a DDR3 based machine, but even if it is, does it worth doing that? Remember that CAS latency is just a measure of latency in terms of clock cycles. i.e there are DDR memories with even CL4 but they essentially slower since they have lower cycle speeds.

I don´t know about ThinkPads, but on other notebooks DDR2 memory seems to work fine with Montivina (at least some 800 MHz modules).

And, yes, despite the higher CAS latencies of DDR3 the actual times are most probably shorter because of the higher bandwidth. That would be definitely the case for PC3-8500 CL5 and I assume this is also the case with the CL7 one (didn´t compute it, but from other reports this seems to be true).

(BTW, your quoting is incorrect )

Marin85 wrote:Update: I just found Lenovo 2GB PC3-8500 1066MHz DDR3 SODIMM Notebook Topseller Memory. According to the specs it is CL5. I wonder who their supplier is

Mine has a big SAMSUNG sticker on it.

Can you run cpu-z to verify the CAS?

Thanks

Marin

Hey all, would you take a step back and help a newbie? I'm about to order a T400 and have been anticipating buying 1 2GB memory chip to accompany the 2GB (in the other slot) that I'd get from Lenovo.

Are you saying the memory I'm seeing on Crucial isn't going to work or isn't ideal in some way?

Thank you.

Kylan wrote:Hey all, would you take a step back and help a newbie? I'm about to order a T400 and have been anticipating buying 1 2GB memory chip to accompany the 2GB (in the other slot) that I'd get from Lenovo.

Are you saying the memory I'm seeing on Crucial isn't going to work or isn't ideal in some way?

Thank you.

So the whole thing is that if you wanna have dual channel support you have to have your both memories of the same kind, EXACTLY. i.e you have to buy a 4GB dual channel kit, as I did. Oh and Crucial works on my T500 and operates as dual channel as cpu-z reports

The capacities of both modules don´t necessarily need to be the same (-> asymmetric dual channel mode).

The capacities of both modules don´t necessarily need to be the same (-> asymmetric dual channel mode).

Did some investigating on this dual channel stuff on [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual- ... chitecture[/url] and get the impression there is some variance out there among laptops.

I appears that a person benefits from knowing a particular system (which I don't but many of you do).

I'd be greatly appreciative of anyone who would just tell me what I need to buy from Crucial if want 4GB of RAM for a T400 or a W500.

Thank you!

What I hate about wiki, is that everybody can delete good stuff from it. Today I checked it out again, and a lot of things were missing from the last check I did... All recent ThinkPad models support dual channel. Furthermore, the memory specs should tell if the memory module supports dual channel (and even if they don´t tell anything about thos, it doesn´t mean that the memory won´t support dual channel).

Marin85 wrote:What I hate about wiki, is that everybody can delete good stuff from it. Today I checked it out again, and a lot of things were missing from the last check I did... All recent ThinkPad models support dual channel. Furthermore, the memory specs should tell if the memory module supports dual channel (and even if they don´t tell anything about thos, it doesn´t mean that the memory won´t support dual channel).

So are you saying I can buy whatever memory I want to from Crucial (for a given machine) and the dual channel will work just fine?

Thanks for your patience as I learn from you!

Kylan wrote: So are you saying I can buy whatever memory I want to from Crucial (for a given machine) and the dual channel will work just fine?

Thanks for your patience as I learn from you!

well as I said before, I bought the crucial PC3-8500 1066 MHz from Newegg for my T500 and it works fine. The CUP-Z reports thats its working in symmetric dual channel mode

mirzadeh wrote:The CUP-Z reports thats its working in symmetric dual channel mode

What does CUP-Z mean? I Googled it but didn't learn much, unless you meant to say CPU-Z. I found a download about that.

http://download.cnet.com/CPU-Z/3000-208 ... 50423.html

Kylan wrote: What does CUP-Z mean? I Googled it but didn't learn much, unless you meant to say CPU-Z. I found a download about that.

http://download.cnet.com/CPU-Z/3000-208 ... 50423.html

yeah sorry, it's CPU-Z. It's a program that gives you information about your CPU and Memory

I´m not aware of any laptop memory of any well-known brand and for any Core 2 Duo platform that doesn´t support dual channel. In other words, any PC3-8500 CL7 204-pin memory kit should work fine and in dual-channel mode.

Hope this helps,

Marin

YES! That does help! Thanks for helping me stalk the ideal ThinkPad!