Inspiron 9400 RAM divider?

[AKKO]

I have a Dell i9400 with DDR2-667MHz CL4 RAM

As per the attached screenshot the memory divider is reporting to be 1:2 ... is this a bios or spd thing, can it be changed to 1:1 or is this normal?

Chipset: Intel 945PM / ICH7-M/U
Bios: A09

Thanks in advance.

[kylerg]

Why does it say my speed is 1.1 when my cpu props say running @ 2.1?

[AKKO]

Originally Posted by kylerg

Why does it say my speed is 1.1 when my cpu props say running @ 2.1?

Not quite the first response I was hoping for...
Are you running your laptop(?) on battery at the time?

[K-TRON]

AKKO,
You have a T7600, which is the fastest Socket M processor for laptops. It is rated at 2.33Ghz with a 667 Mhz FSB.
The FSB is what you need to know and how it relates to the memory.
Your memory runs at Pc5300 speeds, which is 667Mhz DDR.
That is dual data rate, so it really is operating at 333MHz,
So 667Mhz of the cpu's FSB divided by the speed of your memory (333Mhz) is 2.
So that is why your memory divider is that way.

You cannot make the memory run at a 1:1 ratio, cause you would need 1333Mhz DDR memory to get 667mhz effective memory, and that simply is not made for DDR2 systems. And it is not supported by your chipset. The fastest memory your chipset can take is Pc5300.

You have a nice laptop there, the T7600 is a great cpu.


kylerg, The 2.1Ghz, is the maximum speed of your processor
At the moment, you are not running any extensive tasks, so the cpu does not need to run at its full speed. It is running at a slower speed in order to conserve power and cut down heat output. This is called Intel Speed step technology and it is perfectly normal.
If you leave cpu-z open, and load some heavy software, you will see the cpu speed change.
the 1.1Ghz, is the speed it is running at now, and this will change anywhere between their and 2.1Ghz as the processor can throttle between different multipliers, so that it attains a higher efficiency

K-TRON

[kylerg]

Tethered to the wall. My memory says 3:5 by the way.

I am familiar with Speed Step. Just wondering why Vista reports a different number in the properties as @ 2.10 when cpu-z says otherwise. Just questioning the discrepancy.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by K-TRON

AKKO,
You have a T7600, which is the fastest Socket M processor for laptops. It is rated at 2.33Ghz with a 667 Mhz FSB.
The FSB is what you need to know and how it relates to the memory.
Your memory runs at Pc5300 speeds, which is 667Mhz DDR.
That is dual data rate, so it really is operating at 333MHz,
So 667Mhz of the cpu's FSB divided by the speed of your memory (333Mhz) is 2.
So that is why your memory divider is that way.

You cannot make the memory run at a 1:1 ratio, cause you would need 1333Mhz DDR memory to get 667mhz effective memory, and that simply is not made for DDR2 systems. And it is not supported by your chipset. The fastest memory your chipset can take is Pc5300.

You have a nice laptop there, the T7600 is a great cpu.


kylerg, The 2.1Ghz, is the maximum speed of your processor
At the moment, you are not running any extensive tasks, so the cpu does not need to run at its full speed. It is running at a slower speed in order to conserve power and cut down heat output. This is called Intel Speed step technology and it is perfectly normal.
If you leave cpu-z open, and load some heavy software, you will see the cpu speed change.
the 1.1Ghz, is the speed it is running at now, and this will change anywhere between their and 2.1Ghz as the processor can throttle between different multipliers, so that it attains a higher efficiency

K-TRON

I found a flaw in K-Tron's explanation.

FSB = 666MHz
RAM = 333MHz
FSB:RAM = 666:333 = 2:1 --> whereas the actual FSB:RAM ratio is 1:2

FSB is not taken into account as quad-pumped.

FSB = 166 (*4) MHz
DRAM = 332 MHz

FSB:RAM = 166:332 = 1:2 (or actually 4:8)


Kylerg: Your system's FSB = 200 (*4 = 800) MHz
RAM = 332MHz (DDR2-667 ?)

FSB:RAM = 200:332 = 3:5 (or 0.6) [200/332 = 0.6 or 3/5 = 0.6]

[K-TRON]

right you are Andy, I forgot to divide the 667 by 4 to get 166Mhz. Silly little things.

K-TRON

[AKKO]

Thanks Guys, well explained.

I upgraded this from what was previously a T2600, and like some others with a similar laptop also went down the path of fitting a 7950GTX. More recently an OCZ 128 SSD has gone in aswell

I appreciate that it means very little but I'd been curiously trying to explain why I've seen better WEI memory scores under Vista with previous (smaller) memory modules in this laptop vs the current low latency Kingston kit (KHX5300S2LLK2/4G), has anyone else seen similar?

cheers.

[K-TRON]

The WEI index changes from time to time, and it is very inaccurate.
If you want to see the performance difference between your old memory cards and the new Kingston ones, download SIS Sandra, and than run memory benchmarks on both sets of memory cards. You will see a performance difference between the two guaranteed.
Do not follow the WEI, it is a really bad test for a systems speed.

Wow, you really have one awesome insprion 9400.

K-TRON