Kingston HyperX Memory Review Discussion

[wditters]

Perhaps running the Lenovo System Health and Diagnostics Test in "Stress" mode may give you more info ...
(I have the Kingston KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866MHz Non-ECC CL11 SODIMM HyperX Plug n Play Notebook Memory on order at Buy.com, but it is on backorder)

Nope, nothing else than the cryptic error code WME02-7K1, which also comes out of a basic memory test. No way to identify which specific module is the culprate, and if after reshuffling it is the same module that acts up every time.

[Althernai]

Nope, nothing else than the cryptic error code WME02-7K1, which also comes out of a basic memory test. No way to identify which specific module is the culprate, and if after reshuffling it is the same module that acts up every time.

Why don't you just try one module at a time?

[James D]

Kingston recently announced the availability of its new HyperX Plug and Play High Performance Memory for notebooks. The industry's first memory modules with "Sandy Bridge Ready Frequencies" for Intel's latest generation of processors, the HyperX Plug and Play Memory uses JEDEC-compliant 1600MHz and 1866MHz values. We decided to take a closer look at this high-performance RAM to see what a typical laptop user can expect if they simply "plug and play."

Read the full content of this Article: Kingston HyperX Memory Review

Never saw Administrator before! At first that red color made me thinking that you are just banned Good review. But not excellent

Interesting.
Could you also post the CPU-z's Memory and SPD page with the timing data for these modules. People may be interested to use these modules for lower frequencies provided the timings are proportionally lower.
John

+1 it's good to see that 1-st post already gives right questions. Pity I do not see SPD page.

Upgrading from 8GB to 16GB of RAM with the same type of memory will already increase the WEI (Windows Experience Index) score.
I suggest you also test the change in WEI upgrading from 8GB 1333 Mhz to 8GB 1866MHZ

Another good post, the same as next one. Unfortunately this suggestion never done.

This.
I'd also suggest you test the Toshiba with 8 GB of "generic" RAM (maybe the W520's factory sticks). It's well known that in 64-bit Windows 7 the RAM subscore is capped at 5.9 unless you have more than 4 GB, and this test would show how much of the 5.9 -> 7.3 jump came from the faster HyperX RAM and how much from just going past the 4 GB barrier. I suspect the latter is a much bigger contributor.

A lot information seems to be missing, like what frequencies and timings the RAM was running at before and after, or whether the laptops you tested have integrated or discreet graphics. It sounds fishy that the performance of the Lenovo dropped by using much higher bandwidth RAM. It would be a lot more informative on the "plug and play" nature to see if it was actually running at frequencies Kingston claimed, instead of being silent on that and forcing readers to try to guess what is going on. I'm left scratching my head if it is running at 1866Mhz or is running at 1066Mhz or what. If it is running at 1866Mhz and showing such bleak performance it is one thing, but if there is a problem with it or it is not set up properly and defaulting to a low frequency, that is another thing entirely.
Another thing that is extremely puzzling is that in the Toshiba it produced very slightly better scores (0-1.5% increase), and in the other it actually produced lower scores, yet you rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars for performance? And then for value you give it 3 out of 5 stars? If it provides no benefit or a decrease in performance AND costs an arm and a leg, shouldn't it be 0-1 stars for both?

This post is great unification of almost all questions about this RAM. Maybe one of the best posts here. Maybe because I would ask the same?

I just updated the review with some CPU-Z details as well as some additional tests running the W520 just on Intel integrated graphics (which shares the system memory) to highlight potential performance gains from the RAM upgrade.

You forgot to add another CPU-z screenshots about spd menu where we could see JEDEC profiles with latency clocks. PLEASE add them. Besides I saw that on Toshiba 1333 Mhz speed took 9 clocks which is the same as stock one. Hmm. Looks like I should not buy it for mine i7-740qm processor. And another question from me which I made after reading post below: If you "were not going to run this RAM through multiple overclocking applications to see how far we can push it" and to see how will you play after you plug it then why did you inserted 16GB of RAM into lenovo instead of 8? Shouldn't it be limited nu the same restrictions? Could you do tests with 8?

I read your comment "we're not going to run this RAM through multiple overclocking applications to see how far we can push it.".
Can you explain what you meant ? Is there a way to push the RAM manually, on laptops ? If that is true then why do we need Kingston Plug-and-play in the first place.

No Not as you think I doubt that you have any possibility to overclock memory in BIOS like in PCs.

Thank you for your excellent reviews. I always check notebookreview.com before making a major purchase.
On the HyperX Memory - Perhaps a different benchmark test or application should have been chosen to show the benefits of faster memory? Example:
Kingston HyperX 8GB 1866MHz PnP Memory Kit For Notebooks - H.A.W.X. 2 Benchmark - Legit Reviews (but not comparing 6GB to 8GB, which skewed the results in their review)

I have already wrote what do I think about that marketing cra... I mean marketing review before in mine thread. I am still shocked after I read that they were "shocked" when they saw 2 different branded RAM sticks with OMG! different colors while they already knew that (I mean brands and stick's size) because they posted CPU-z screenshots! And how the heck they decided to compare bandwidth of stock 6GB and 8GB HyperX if they even work in different modes! Flex mode (slower) and dual mode (HyperX RAM faster because there were 2x4GB same size sticks inserted).

Hi Jerry
I have a W520 i7-2920XM and chose these very same modules based on your review. You may however either have to reconsider this review, or to retest these configurations. The fact is that with these modules, in real life use, my W520 actually has become somewhat unreliable. Sometimes it boots with memory bleeps, sometimes it does not come back from standby.
On top of this, Kingston today formally told me that HyperX modules are not supported on notebooks, period. In short they will never guarantee proper and relable functionality when used in a notebook.
The way this review is presented, it could convince people to purchase these modules with the possibility of running into issues and not being supprted by Kingston. As a leading notebook review site you may want to dive into this a little bit deeper :-) Cheers Willem

Good that you posted this. Besides I know that using 4 stick instead of 2 or 2 OCed/high dencity (on old laptops) sticks instead of 1 OCed/low density makes memory controller less stable. +1

It would be good to know who at Kingston said "HyperX modules are not supported on notebooks"?
This is from kingston.com: "Kingston's HyperX® Plug-and-Play (PnP) is designed to improve the performance of your Sandy Bridge notebook or DIY system."

I understood that you must be new here even when I couldn't see who posts because of zooming browser to read from the chair Be less aggressive. I imagine multiple reasons why guy from Kingston could tell it to him and 2 reasons come to me at first second: 1) Kingston's guy just wanted to "prove" that no matter RAM doesn't work correctly Kingston is still trusted brand and it is not exactly their fault, it is laptop's fault 2) That guy understands that new RAM does not provide that boost you can expect reading words Plug n Play, HyperX etc. and that guy simply wouldn't buy this RAM and tried to share his experience... in the form he could without being fired All that is hypothetically of course.

Great find. The Kingston support rep flat out told me that if the memory configurator does not list it as an option (select Lenovo W520/4 and you will see it comes back with only Valueram) Kingston will neither support it nor take it back. It is basically your own risk if you decide to purchase HyperX for your notebook.
Having said that, my i7-2920xm is rocksolid with 16Gb worth of Elpida 1333Mhz. It is only when replacing the Elpida with HyperX that I start to get very odd behaviour. Not outright unreliable, but flaky nevertheless. I would like to know if there's anyone else out there with 4xHyperX at 1866Mhz that experiences memory bleeps at boot, or shutdowns after trying to power up by fingerprint

Could you give a link on that memory configurator?
Looks like 16GB is lil bit more than your lappy can eat. But some people can't make their laptop work with 16GB of HyperX at all! So you must feel lucky one

[wditters]

Could you give a link on that memory configurator?
Looks like 16GB is lil bit more than your lappy can eat. But some people can't make their laptop work with 16GB of HyperX at all! So you must feel lucky one

The memory configurator Kingston referred me to: Kingston Technology Company - Kingston Memory Search - Search by Manufacturer/Model

16Gb in fact is about half my laptop can handle. It's a Lenovo W520 with a Sandy Bridge i7 Quad Core Extreme 2920xm, so in short the baddest W520 out there :-). It currently runs rock solid on 4x4Gb Elpida DDR3 1333Mhz. It just gets a sort of indigestion with the 4x4Gb HyperX 1866Mhz modules.

PS even testing them 1 module at a time gives random results. Errors appearing and disappearing.

[arlcrane]

Great find. The Kingston support rep flat out told me that if the memory configurator does not list it as an option (select Lenovo W520/4 and you will see it comes back with only Valueram) Kingston will neither support it nor take it back. It is basically your own risk if you decide to purchase HyperX for your notebook.

The KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G does acturally show up in the Kingston Configurator for the W520. Just below it's listing of the standard Ram, click the blue "Wanna Go Faster Button", and it will list some more, faster Ram.

[wditters]

The KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G does acturally show up in the Kingston Configurator for the W520. Just below it's listing of the standard Ram, click the blue "Wanna Go Faster Button", and it will list some more, faster Ram.

Spoken to customer support and an engineer will finally start looking into the actual compatibility :-)

[huberth]

Spoken to customer support and an engineer will finally start looking into the actual compatibility :-)

Any news yet?

[Meaker]

This.

I'd also suggest you test the Toshiba with 8 GB of "generic" RAM (maybe the W520's factory sticks). It's well known that in 64-bit Windows 7 the RAM subscore is capped at 5.9 unless you have more than 4 GB, and this test would show how much of the 5.9 -> 7.3 jump came from the faster HyperX RAM and how much from just going past the 4 GB barrier. I suspect the latter is a much bigger contributor.

Really? I got over 5.9 with my 2x2GB hyper-X modules...

[wditters]

Any news yet?

Yes, but no change. Still investigating.

[James D]

Yes, but no change. Still investigating.

They should call Sherlock Holmes. He will do that faster.