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Soldered RAM problem

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  • Soldered RAM problem

    Hey guys, not sure if this is the right forum for this but i need some help.

    I've got an Acer Aspire V netbook with an i5-4200u, and wanted to upgrade the ram. Used speccy and cpu-z, both said the standard ram was 4gb, 1066 11-11-11-28 running in single channel, which sounded like a pretty big bottleneck to me, especially for the HD4400.
    So i went ahead and bought a single stick of Crucial Ballistix in 8gb, 1600, 9-9-9-24 guise and waited patiently for it to arrive.

    When i went to install it i noticed the ram slot empty and 4x little hynix things sitting under it. Went ahead and installed the ram, bios said 12gb so i booted into windows.

    Now, the problem is that both speccy and cpu-z are reporting 12gb of ram - at 800mhz, 11-11-11-28 in dual channel.
    Is there any way to maybe disable the soldered ram or otherwise make everything only run through the crucial module?
    Am i better off running dual channel with the higher timings, rather than trying to get single channel with lower timings?

    Pic with relevant info:

  • #2
    Re: Soldered RAM problem

    First of all, you are using DDR3 memory, which stands for Dual Data Rate. So while the DRAM frequency is 800MHz, the actual speed is 1600. CPU-Z reports the memory frequency, which is one half of the true memory speed. That is how all DDR2 and DDR3 memory works, and many people get confused when they see the CPU-Z display.

    I'm surprised that your laptop seems to have 4GB of 2133 memory, since you said CPU-Z shows it running at 1066MHz, which is an actual speed of 2133.

    When you combine two different speed DIMMs, they both must run at the slower speed. So they are now running at 800MHz/1600, the speed of the Crucial memory, and its timings too.

    IMO, you are far better off with things just as they are now, since you are running dual channel with more memory, and real world performance gains for memory drops right after 1600 speeds.

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    • #3
      Re: Soldered RAM problem

      Originally posted by parsec View Post
      I'm surprised that your laptop seems to have 4GB of 2133 memory, since you said CPU-Z shows it running at 1066MHz, which is an actual speed of 2133.
      Should've posted that up better - it says DDR3-1066 on the acer website, compared to the crucial which is DDR3-1600.
      The standard ram was definitely running at 800mhz before, though, despite being meant to run at 533mhz? Odd.

      So you think i should just let it run at the high timings and leave it in dual channel?

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      • #4
        Re: Soldered RAM problem

        Originally posted by MattVRX View Post
        Should've posted that up better - it says DDR3-1066 on the acer website, compared to the crucial which is DDR3-1600.
        The standard ram was definitely running at 800mhz before, though, despite being meant to run at 533mhz? Odd.

        So you think i should just let it run at the high timings and leave it in dual channel?
        Ok, the stock RAM speed makes more sense now.

        You seem to believe that the 11 11 11 28 timings are much slower than 9 9 9 24. Not really.

        Using dual channel, you now have twice the memory data transfer capability. That completely buries the few nano-second difference in the timings.

        Low timing latency numbers are not a big deal anymore. They are the tradeoff for higher speed memory. I'd take the dual channel at say 14 14 14 38 over single at 9 9 9 24 any day.

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        • #5
          Re: Soldered RAM problem

          Ha.,That you got Ballistix to run alongside what was there, I'd personally leave well enough alone and count my lucky stars.
          #1 - Please, when seeking help, enter the make and model of ALL parts that your system is comprised of in your Signature, or at least the model #'s in your System Specs, then "Save' it.
          ____If you are overclocking, underclocking, or undervolting any parts, informing us of this and their values would prove beneficial in helping you.


          #2 - Consider your PSU to be the foundation from which all else is built upon. Anything built upon a weak foundation is poorly built.

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          • #6
            Re: Soldered RAM problem

            Originally posted by - wardog - View Post
            Ha.,That you got Ballistix to run alongside what was there, I'd personally leave well enough alone and count my lucky stars.
            You said it! That is one major success I did not mention. You are very lucky that the two different types of memory work together, by chance, on the first try.

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