Thinkpads Forum

is there is a big difference between 2 modules in the speed , can you feel the upgrade in the bus speed or you will feel it in the heavy usage only ? deserve the extra cost ?

thanks so much

If the laptop runs at 1067Mhz and you install 1333Mhz DDR2 RAM in it, the RAM will run at 1067Mhz. Does that answer your question?

i mean if i install 4GB 1333 instead of the 1067 , is there a big difference with i7 720 QM ? or the difference will not be noticed ?

Again, there is no advantage to installing PC3-10600 is a W500 machine that runs PC3-8500 because the PC3-10600 will run at PC3-8500 speeds. Is that clearer?

thank you Harryc very much , it was very clear

However, if one wanted to install, say 16GB in 4 available slots, then you have to go with the 1333 MHz RAM because AFIK there is no such thing as 4 GB 1067 modules. The latter comes in maximum 2 GB capacity (for a max total of 8 GB) unless someone else knows otherwise.

That's false. I just got a Patriot 4GB 1067 PC3-8500 stick (model PSD34G10662S) from newegg for around $100:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6820220479

Works great in combination with the existing 2x2GB modules that came with my W510. Note that you need the latest version of memtest86+ (version 4.10) to properly test it.

So does the W510 run at 1066 MHz or 1333 MHz. The TABOOK says the controller is up to 1333 MHz however memory is listed PC3-8500 1066 and/or PC3-10600 1333.

In fact 4319 models are listed as supporting PC3-8500 while 4389 models are listed as supporting both PC3-8500 and 10600. Is this just a mistake in tabook or do the systems have different system boards which support different memory speeds.

Also, does the amount of memory installed influence the speed supported? I saw a post from someone on another forum which said that PC3-10600 1333MHz was only supported up to 8GB and if you wanted or needed more you were stuck with using PC3-8500 1066 or running at the lower clock speed.

Quite confusing for such a simple thing. Crucial seem to price their W510 memory the same no matter what the speed is so no downside to buying the faster speed as it will just run slower if that's what the HW supports. I think IBM prices differently based on speed.

Ta,

GMA

OK,

I purchased a W510 (4318-CTO) and upgraded to 8GB of 1333MHzam no problems. Just added another 8GB of 133 MHz ram and both the BIOS and Windows Pro 7 (64 bit) report only 8GB instead of 16GB.

CPU-Z detects all 16GB of ram and the Lenovo system info utility reports 8GB but then lists all 4 of the 4GB modules with the serial numbers etc. They are all matched pairs so the serial numbers match as expected. These are all from Crucial.

The Lenovo order web site only offers 16GB memory at the faster speed, so they will certainly sell you the modules. Has anyone ever tested 16GB of 1333 MHz memory on a 4318 base machine? I'm getting the horrible feeling that the faster memory isn't supported/recognised on the 4318 model (see my previous post re: psref and different memory speeds).

Thanks

I have 16gb of all DDR3 PC3-10666 @ 1333Mhz 9-9-9-20 timing in my W510(4318-CTO), running Windows 7 64bit and shows up just fine in windows and bios.

Total : 16315
Cached : 1263
Avail : 13507
Free : 12443
the missing avail memory is due to the video card, nvidia shows shared graphics memory of over 4gb

My windows performance index went from 7.3/7.4 to 7.5

Ignore this.

not just for extreme cores of 9x0XM series; for quad cores, i7 QM series or XM, 7x0QM, 8x0QM or 9x0XM

the speed of memory is no longer bound the system model, it depends on the processor you have; there is no more FSB

Ignore this too.

Marin85 wrote:For anything different from XM, it will downclock to 1066 MHz, so in that case there isn´t really any difference from an originally 1067MHz module...

the XM and QM procs can handle 1333Mhz at full speed.   the dual-core (M) models downclock to 1066Mhz and ultra-low-voltage (UM) models downclock to 800 Mhz.

i7-720QM/820QM product brief (795 kb): http://download.intel.com/products/proc ... 322595.pdf

Of course, you are right, I don´t even know how I came posting this BS about downclocking... I should really stop posting things late at night. I guess I am kind of stuck in the Santa-Rosa era, lol.

What I meant was the following: 1333 MHz modules obviously have faster frequence, but at the price of slower timings, so that in the end even exact benchmarks cannot show any real performance difference between 1333 MHz and 1066 MHz modules. 1333 MHz has the only advantage of being more stable when overclocking cpu and ram, resp. fiddling with timings. Actually, Kingston HyperX runs at 1333 MHz and has lower timings, but the performance benefit - if any - is negligible and probably does not justify the premium price...

(When I was talking about Intel Xtreme cpus, I was actually thinking of their desktop six-core cpus, which to my best knowledge in fact require 1333 MHz or higher, lol)

Sorry for the confusion,
Cheers,
Marin

With the kind of money you are throwing to upgrade from RAM 1067 >> 1033 (and idle those old RAM), you might as well use it instead to upgrade to SSD instead...

BUT if you have cash to burn, can upgrade BOTH SSD and RAM 1067>>1033, that's another matter

w0qj - if one already has 1067 then there won't be any noticeable gain in going to 1333 unless you run highly memory-intensive applications.

if purchasing new memory, i tend to recommend 1333 if the price isn't much more than 1067 simply because of longevity and resale value.   you might have a 1067 memory bus today but you might have a 1333 in 6~12 months.   one might as well plan ahead.

marin - no worries.   it happens to everyone, especially with specs.