Determine maximum RAM speed
I want to buy new RAM for my laptop and wondering if my motherboard supports DDR3-1600.
This is the output of dmidecode -t 17
:
# dmidecode 2.11
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x002D, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x002C
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 1
Bank Locator: Bank 0/1
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1334 MHz
Manufacturer: 80CE
Serial Number: 67089954
Asset Tag: 1051
Part Number: M471B5773CHS-CH9
Rank: Unknown
Handle 0x002E, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x002C
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 2
Bank Locator: Bank 2/3
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1334 MHz
Manufacturer: 80CE
Serial Number: 6708993D
Asset Tag: 1051
Part Number: M471B5773CHS-CH9
Rank: Unknown
Handle 0x002F, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x002C
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: Unknown
Data Width: Unknown
Size: No Module Installed
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 3
Bank Locator: Bank 4/5
Type: Unknown
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Asset Tag:
Part Number:
Rank: Unknown
Handle 0x0030, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x002C
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: Unknown
Data Width: Unknown
Size: No Module Installed
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM 4
Bank Locator: Bank 6/7
Type: Unknown
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Asset Tag:
Part Number:
Rank: Unknown
So currently i have not installed DDR3-1600.
How can I determine if DDR3-1600 is supported?
EDIT: my CPU is Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz
if that's important.
kind regards
Solution 1:
As pointed out in the comments of your question, your CPU does not support a RAM frequency of 1600MHz. Not to worry as there is virtually no performance difference between 1333MHz and 1600MHz when it comes to real life usage. It's only when you're bench-marking that you'll see a difference.
I'm assuming you want the upgrade for gaming purposes. In that case it is very likely you will not see any significant gain. If you search the term 1600MHz vs 1333MHz,
you'll find many sources quoting that the difference is not at all noticeable.
You could always go into your BIOS and see if you can change some settings to try and improve performance. Obviously you'll have to be very careful as you could potentially render your system unusable. If you've never overclocked before in any capacity, I would suggest reading up on it before changing anything. If you still feel uncomfortable making changes in the BIOS, it is better just to leave it alone.
As for the higher frequency RAM, you can certainly use it, but it will default to 1333MHz as that's the highest supported frequency. If the RAM timings for the 1600MHz RAM are tighter, you could potentially see some performance gains.
Some information about RAM timings from Hardware Secrets
Timings measure the time the memory chip delays doing something internally. Here is an example. Consider the most famous parameter, which is called CAS Latency (or CL or “access time”) that tells us how many clock cycles the memory module will delay in returning data requested by the CPU. A memory module with a CL 9 will delay nine clock cycles to deliver a requested data, whereas a memory module with a CL 7 will delay seven clock cycles to deliver it. While both modules may run at the same clock rate, the second one will be faster, as it will deliver data sooner than the first one. This issue is known as “latency.” As you can see in Figure 1, the module portrayed there has a CL of 7.
As another example if the timings of your current RAM are 9-9-9-24-1T and the timings of the 1600MHz are 7-7-7-21-1T, the 1600MHz RAM will have a shorter delay when data is requested. If the price of the RAM is similar and the timings are better, you can by all means use the 1600MHz RAM, but you won't be able to make use of the maximum available performance.
Solution 2:
Your motherboard supports DDR3-1600 RAM but will only run it at DDR3-1333 speeds. You will, however, usually get lower latency if you use faster RAM.