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Low Latency Memory on i9400?

post #1 of 8
4/3/06 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 
Hi there,

I'm considering buying a 2.16GHz Inspiron 9400 Core Duo laptop for use with a very CPU-intensive realtime high definition video encoder tool. The tool's performance is dependent on the speed of a multi-core CPU, and also the latency of the memory. The lower the latency, the better.

A friend has benchmarked the T2600 chip and its performance is on the borderline. It might work at realtime, but it might not.

I'm thinking that good quality, fast, low latency memory could well make the enterprise viable. So I have two questions...

1. Does the 9400 actually treat performance memory any differently to the stuff it ships with? If I put 2GB of very fast memory into it, would it actually make use of it?

2. Assuming a "yes" to the above, is there any recommended memory that offers a performance boost over the stuff that Dell ship the machine with?

If the memory issue is a no-go, it looks as though I'll have to wait until the T2700 ships as I'm assuming that no laptops are available to overclock the T2600 (even though I've read that it's begging to be OCed...)

Thanks for any help.
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post #2 of 8
4/3/06 at 9:03am
Well, for your first question, the answer is yes. The cpu will make use of lower latency RAM. The problem is going to be finding it. Most of the DDR2 667 is running at CAS 5, which is a pretty crappy timing. Supposedly because of the speed it's about equal to a CAS 4 on DDR2 533, but obviously a CAS 4 would be better. I have seen one brand of memory that has CAS 4 on DDR2 667, which is G.Skill. If you're going to order RAM, get it from Newegg and get the G.Skill, as it's currently the only CAS 4 667 ram I've seen anywhere in the states. Someone had posted a link to a UK site with a CAS 4 DDR@ 667, but that would be a PITA to order from overseas.

If the T2600 is borderline from the factory settings for your application, it's still going to be close even with 2GB of DDR2 667 with a CAS 4. The fact is for the kind of work you're doing you'd be much better suited to be using a AMD FX-60 or 4800+ X2(depending on your budget). The AMD dual core desktop cpu's are phenominal and can really push out some work. The Intel dual core desktop cpu's are more of a hack job where they just kind stuck two cores together. The AMD's architecture is far superior to Intel's because it was designed as dual core, instead of being designed as two single cores stuck on the same silicon.

The fact is, if you need flat out performance the Core Duo is good, but not the best. Something like the Alienware Aurora M7700 would be perfect for you, or the Sager NP9750 which is basically the same thing. They're not going to be as portable as the 9400 as they're real DTR's, but it's still a hell of alot easier to move around than a desktop.

Anyway, that's my opinion on your situation. If you're going to stick with the 9400 though get the G.Skill DDR2 667 and you should see pretty good performance. But realistically, it'll take a little while before you'll see DDR2 667 with good timings.

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post #3 of 8
4/3/06 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
First of all, thanks for a superb post - it was really helpful.

The M7700 could be the one for me by the look of it, but I'm wondering whether to hold out for the 2.3GHz Core Duo as I'll need to interface the HD capture card and due to the bandwidths involved, ExpressCard will be needed whereas the M7700 uses good old PCMCIA. You're right about the Athlons though - for my application a 4400 X2 outperforms the similarly priced 840D, and it runs so cool I can use it in a Micro-ATX SFF PC.

The Magma range of PCI to laptop adaptors seem ideal for my laptop idea, but the ExpressCard adaptor isn't out yet
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post #4 of 8
4/3/06 at 10:22am
Actually, just so you know, the new Dell Precision M90 has the ExpressCard slot in it. It's still intell Core Duo, but if the ExpressCard slot is that important to you than you may consider the m90.
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post #5 of 8
4/3/06 at 11:28am
Thread Starter 
Hi there,

Thanks for that. It appears that all of Dell's Core Duo range has the ExpressCard slot. It's the Alienware Aurora M7700 that has good old CardBus.

If CardBus is basically the laptop version of PCI 32-bit/33MHz and there is no loss of bandwidth over the desktop version of PCI, the Aurora could well be a contender for running the HD capture card.
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post #6 of 8
4/3/06 at 11:54am
Interestingly on the CardBus vs ExpressCard issue:

All core duo inspirons and the Precision m90 have only the ExpressCard

The Latitudes and the precision m65 have both an ExpressCard and a CardBus slot. This is very good for those wanting any form of backward compatibility in their cards. (Audigy Notebook anyone?)
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post #7 of 8
4/3/06 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 
Very interesting DarthPierce - the Latitude D820 suddenly becomes an intriguing proposition, supporting both PC card formats, Core Duo CPUs and being much the same size as my current Inspiron 8600 - which is pretty much the largest size I'd really like a laptop to be.
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post #8 of 8
4/3/06 at 12:16pm
I too own an I8600. Mine has the 9600 Pro Turbo in it and I think that the new D820 with the quadro 120m is probably not any faster (in pure 3d) than my nearly 2 1/2 year old 8600. I wish dell would start putting decent graphics in the 15.4 inchers again..... come on.... APPLE is putting a better video card in a 15.4 inch chassis that's also thinner..... Give me a break, dell!

None of which is to say that my 1.7 GHz (400MHz FSB) Banias is not completely pwned by any of the core duos.
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