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Looking for a new notebook? Take a look here first - Page 4

post #61 of 202
10/2/06 at 6:44pm

E1405

Thanks Filippo. Ok, so these coupons, I have to spend at least $999 to get 200 dollars off? And the other I have to spend $1049 to get 25% savings. Are there any other coupons that don't require that you spend a minimum amount or at least a lower minimum amount?
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post #62 of 202
10/2/06 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
not right now... there are other options for you though, you could try the outlet - www.dell.com/outlet

or maybe try to jump on this deal:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshi...arriage=befree
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post #63 of 202
10/3/06 at 4:23pm
Been reading thru the above, and I don't think it has been mentioned but SUPPORT after the sale should fiqure into "what" to buy:

Tech Support Showdown
When something goes wrong, who delivers the best service? Our undercover agent found out.

by Michael S. Lasky
From July 2006 issue of LAPTOP magazine

http://laptopmag.com/Features/Tech-Support-Showdown.htm



Best product in the world spec-wise isn't worth much if it can't be fixed in a time effective manner.


Addtionally I think that people in "business" should seriously consider a business grade notebook, over a consumer or "gaming" model for the more stable hardware and the longer product cycles. Longer product cycles making for a more stable product.




PS: On the first page of this thread the formating is all screwed up, page runs off the side of the screen.. and you have to scroll back and forth, in addtion to up and down.. This usually happens when someone posts a very wide "sig", or pictures in a side by side format... Don't think the page was displaying like this previously and it seriously degrades the info presented. If someone could fix it, it would be apperciated as not everyone is using a widescreen display.
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post #64 of 202
10/3/06 at 11:40pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the input wearenotalone!

I really forgot to add support, and you'll see a section on the first page soon, however that laptopmag article has generated some controversy here in the past, especially because in their reasearch they only called the support once for each problem, and that's not a good way to define whats GOOD and whats BAD.... I would really appreciate if someone could post a more reliable source to define how well the brand's support is..

about the format on the first page:
I can see the whole page clearly in my desktop's XGA resolution, so I don't know, maybe its something particular on your computer?
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post #65 of 202
10/4/06 at 9:15pm
Yep support fiqures into it... If anyone has a better link, feel free to post. I agree that a company should be judged on multiple contacts....


On the formating of the first page, it's something in post 1 thru 15 that is causing it, as earlier I was logged in... and post thru #30 were displaying incorrectly...

Without logging in, the first page (1-15) runs off the page, all other post displaying correctly.

Running a 18 inch lcd 1280x1024....
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post #66 of 202
10/15/06 at 3:14am
Dear Filippo. Thanks so much for ther guide. I am going to ask you few questions, so if you dont have time, then reply whenever you can as these can become long.

1) You wrote:
Quote:
All core duo notebooks can be replaced for the current Core 2 Duos, needing a BIOS flash at most.
So why do people buy Core 2 Duo if they can just flash their Core Duos?

2) Is there any difference in a laptop that has shared GFX card but uses dedicated one vs the laptop which doesnt have any shared GFX card and ONLY uses dedicated?

3) If i want to buy a laptop that doesnt offer dual channel memory, what do i need to do to enable it?
I know i need 2 identical sticks of RAM (i plan to buy 2x 1GB ram).
But besides that, can i dual channel with any ram. or does it have to be special ram? Or is it the motherboard that needs to be special for dual channel? or processor? Which hardware allows you to doal channel?

4) How much would dual channel RAM increase the speed? Is dual channel overrated?

5) I heard Dell does not let you UPGRADE so easily. Is it true? For example if after 6 months i want to upgrade my gfx, ram and hard drive, will i be able to?

6) In gaming, does RPM in hard drives mean a lot? does faster RPPM mean the games and windows itself load faster? How much of an improvement would 5400 be vs 7200? (battery life = non issue)

7)Please explain to me what all these class a/b/g/n mean when reffering to wireless card. I know thats its to surf internet on hotspots using WiFi...but what does each class mean? Also what does 802.11 mean when its usually written on wireless cards. I see it so often.

8)Who performs better in gaming and mutlitasking? AMD Turion x2 or Intel Core 2 Duo?

9)What is AMD's counter part for Intel Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo)

10)What is this screen resolution? i dont understand.
I am used to desktop naming.
For example, a 15 inch monitor can display up to 1024x768
and 17 by up to 1280x1024...So how can a 15.4 inch monitor show 1280x1024 resoluton? Am I understanding this whole resolution correctly?

11)With a budget of $2000 (canadian...so it's $1750 US approx), what should you advice me? I want to play latest games, I dont want insane hard drive size (60GB is good enough for me) and 2GB of ram is plenty i think.
So...with that in mind, can you please advice what is the best?

12)What is RoadReady sued in Dell notebooks?(wikipedia didnt show anything)

13) THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
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post #67 of 202
10/15/06 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
Dear Filippo. Thanks so much for ther guide. I am going to ask you few questions, so if you dont have time, then reply whenever you can as these can become long.

1) You wrote:
So why do people buy Core 2 Duo if they can just flash their Core Duos?
The CPU is not the same. You flash the BIOS to make your computer compatible with the C2D, but its still a different CPU..


Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
2) Is there any difference in a laptop that has shared GFX card but uses dedicated one vs the laptop which doesnt have any shared GFX card and ONLY uses dedicated?

Your question isn't very clear. Are you talking about notebooks with dedicated vs integrated graphics card? Or shared vs dedicated video memory?

Anyway, a dedicated card will always perform better than an integrated card, however dedicated cards need more power to work, so the notebook loses on battery time and heat.

Dedicated video memory means that the video card has it's own amount of memory, so it doesn't have to "borrow" RAM from the system to perform the necessary operations, therefore dedicated video is better than shared video memory.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
3) If i want to buy a laptop that doesnt offer dual channel memory, what do i need to do to enable it?
I know i need 2 identical sticks of RAM (i plan to buy 2x 1GB ram).
But besides that, can i dual channel with any ram. or does it have to be special ram? Or is it the motherboard that needs to be special for dual channel? or processor? Which hardware allows you to doal channel?

You can get dual channel on any notebook (or desktop computer).

To get dual channel ram, you need 2 sticks of ram that don't necessarily have to be identical, they can be of the "same size, specification, the same number of memory chips and internal organization", or even sometimes refered to as "the same density". They don't have to be from the same manufacturer, production line, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
4) How much would dual channel RAM increase the speed? Is dual channel overrated?
I don't have any benchmarks to show you but from my experience the dual channel gains in notebooks is <5%. So yes, in my opinion dual channel in notebooks is overrated.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
5) I heard Dell does not let you UPGRADE so easily. Is it true? For example if after 6 months i want to upgrade my gfx, ram and hard drive, will i be able to?

You'll be able to upgrade your HD and RAM quite easily, but upgrading GPUs is not an easy task (for any notebook, not only dells).

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
6) In gaming, does RPM in hard drives mean a lot? does faster RPPM mean the games and windows itself load faster? How much of an improvement would 5400 be vs 7200? (battery life = non issue)

Yes, RPM will increase windows booting time and gaming performance, especially when the game is loading maps from the HD. However you should also have in mind that the density also increases the speed, so a 100GB@5400 performs similarly to a 60GB@7200RPM

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
7)Please explain to me what all these class a/b/g/n mean when reffering to wireless card. I know thats its to surf internet on hotspots using WiFi...but what does each class mean? Also what does 802.11 mean when its usually written on wireless cards. I see it so often.

I'll let Wikipedia respond this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11

short answer:
a, b = past
g = today
n = future

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
8)Who performs better in gaming and mutlitasking? AMD Turion x2 or Intel Core 2 Duo?
Core 2 Duo
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
9)What is AMD's counter part for Intel Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo)
Turion x2, but the Core Duo still has an edge over it...
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
10)What is this screen resolution? i dont understand.
I am used to desktop naming.
For example, a 15 inch monitor can display up to 1024x768
and 17 by up to 1280x1024...So how can a 15.4 inch monitor show 1280x1024 resoluton? Am I understanding this whole resolution correctly?
Resolution = pixel density =/= area

A resolution of 800x600 means that the display in question has 800 pixels by 600. It doesnt matter if its a 15" or a 30" monitor.

Take a look at this picture:



It shows the exact same notebook model in 2 different screens: 17" WSXGA+ and WUXGA. things look smaller in the WUXGA, but the screen size is still the same.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
11)With a budget of $2000 (canadian...so it's $1750 US approx), what should you advice me? I want to play latest games, I dont want insane hard drive size (60GB is good enough for me) and 2GB of ram is plenty i think.
So...with that in mind, can you please advice what is the best?
Probably the Dell E1705 (inspiron 9400)
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
12)What is RoadReady sued in Dell notebooks?(wikipedia didnt show anything)
I think its just a marketing strategy to say that those notebooks are somewhat tougher than others
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
13) THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
You're welcome
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post #68 of 202
10/15/06 at 7:16pm
Thanks so much Filippo! You have no idea how much you helped. and as of the confusing question:
Quote:
Your question isn't very clear. Are you talking about notebooks with dedicated vs integrated graphics card? Or shared vs dedicated video memory? Anyway, a dedicated card will always perform better than an integrated card, however dedicated cards need more power to work, so the notebook loses on battery time and heat. Dedicated video memory means that the video card has it's own amount of memory, so it doesn't have to "borrow" RAM from the system to perform the necessary operations, therefore dedicated video is better than shared video memory.
I knew that dedicated is much better. What i think was the confusing part is: Can a laptop have integrated (TURNED OFF) and dedicated (TURNED ON) gfx card? Or does it mean that if a laptop has integrated video card, then it has no ability to accept any other card, since it already has one. Because I always assumed that if i buy a laptop with an integrated gdx card, i can always add a dedicated one later. P.S. so if Dell is giving me 1GB stick of RAM, and 1 month later 1 buy another Gig of RAM...how do i dual channel it? P.S.#2 Nice picture you provided. So what type of display do i want for gaming? I see all kinds like TrueLife.. or WSXGA+ or WUXGA. P.S. #2. in the links you provided for those dell laptops, the choices i only see is: nVidia Go7900 GS and ATI X1400 and on first page you said that X1400 will run current games only on medium/lowest. And the only card from ATI that runs on highest settings is X1600...while nVidia has like 5 you listed. Does it mean ATI doesnt have any other cards besides X1600 that cab run latest games on high/highest settings?
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post #69 of 202
10/15/06 at 10:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
Thanks so much Filippo! You have no idea how much you helped.

and as of the confusing question:

I knew that dedicated is much better.
What i think was the confusing part is:

Can a laptop have integrated (TURNED OFF) and dedicated (TURNED ON) gfx card?
Or does it mean that if a laptop has integrated video card, then it has no ability to accept any other card, since it already has one.
Because I always assumed that if i buy a laptop with an integrated gdx card, i can always add a dedicated one later.
Oh ok, I understand now, and unfortunately you can't do that. There are a few notebooks right now - like the Sony SZ series - that have 2 graphics cards: A dedicated and an integrated. But even so, you can't really upgrade the dedicated one a year from now...

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
P.S. so if Dell is giving me 1GB stick of RAM, and 1 month later 1 buy another Gig of RAM...how do i dual channel it?

Usually dell sells 2x512mb sticks.. But if I were you, I wouldn't care about dual channel... If you do want it though, you should buy a similar stick as the one that Dell sold you.


Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
P.S.#2 Nice picture you provided. So what type of display do i want for gaming? I see all kinds like TrueLife.. or WSXGA+ or WUXGA.
Usually the ones with truelife, x-brite or whatever the notebook company calls it (glossy screens) make games look better. The resolution is up to you. If you aren't used to "big" resolutions though, just get the "smaller" ones, because you'll most likely will not be able to game at 1680x1050 or 1920x1200.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirForceElite
P.S. #2. in the links you provided for those dell laptops, the choices i only see is: nVidia Go7900 GS and ATI X1400 and on first page you said that X1400 will run current games only on medium/lowest. And the only card from ATI that runs on highest settings is X1600...while nVidia has like 5 you listed. Does it mean ATI doesnt have any other cards besides X1600 that cab run latest games on high/highest settings?
When it comes to notebooks, ATI is far behind nVidia... There are a couple of notebooks with the X1800, but those are hard to find and the 7900gs is better anyway... So if you want top gaming performance you should go for nvidia
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post #70 of 202
10/16/06 at 7:59am
Very nice topic!
Thanks
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post #71 of 202
10/20/06 at 4:01pm
hi guys,
am a newbie to this forum and laptops too considerably.. i wud be glad if i cud get few opinions on a new laptop.

should i go for intel core duo or turion 64 X2? this is the only prob i have right now in deciding. rest all are nearly taken care off. i am grad student, will be using the laptop for edu and low-med games (GTA:SA, NFS:most wanted etc).
my budget is limited to $800+50$ (max)...

thanx..
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post #72 of 202
10/20/06 at 7:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by viking_ub
hi guys,
am a newbie to this forum and laptops too considerably.. i wud be glad if i cud get few opinions on a new laptop.

should i go for intel core duo or turion 64 X2? this is the only prob i have right now in deciding. rest all are nearly taken care off. i am grad student, will be using the laptop for edu and low-med games (GTA:SA, NFS:most wanted etc).
my budget is limited to $800+50$ (max)...

thanx..
Go for the Core Duo, or Core 2 Duo instead of the Turion x2.

For $800 you can get a Dell E1505 with the Core duo or Core 2 duo, and the X1400 GPU
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post #73 of 202
10/20/06 at 8:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Filippo
Go for the Core Duo, or Core 2 Duo instead of the Turion x2.

For $800 you can get a Dell E1505 with the Core duo or Core 2 duo, and the X1400 GPU

ah... i don exactly have a liking for dell... but if there is no other option.. i ll probably stick to it.. any other?? like hp? acer??

wat exactly is the prob with turion x2??
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post #74 of 202
10/20/06 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by viking_ub
ah... i don exactly have a liking for dell... but if there is no other option.. i ll probably stick to it.. any other?? like hp? acer??

wat exactly is the prob with turion x2??
The biggest problem with Turion x2 is that they are not power efficient. The core duos only use both cores when in need, so you can have one core operating at 100% and the other core at 0%. The Tuion x2 can't do that, both cores would be at 100%... Also, the core duo is a slightly better performer clock by clock..


About the notebook suggestion: If you don't like Dell, I'm not sure if you can find a dual core notebook with dedicated GPU for $800...
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post #75 of 202
10/20/06 at 11:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Filippo
The biggest problem with Turion x2 is that they are not power efficient. The core duos only use both cores when in need, so you can have one core operating at 100% and the other core at 0%. The Tuion x2 can't do that, both cores would be at 100%... Also, the core duo is a slightly better performer clock by clock..


About the notebook suggestion: If you don't like Dell, I'm not sure if you can find a dual core notebook with dedicated GPU for $800...

wat do u think about this deal on Lenovo @ officedepot: http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?id=888459 is it gud??? enough? btw the E1505 for 800 has very basic components and i guess if i add anything like 1gb ram its blowing over 800...
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post #76 of 202
10/21/06 at 5:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by viking_ub
wat do u think about this deal on Lenovo @ officedepot: http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?id=888459 is it gud??? enough? btw the E1505 for 800 has very basic components and i guess if i add anything like 1gb ram its blowing over 800...

You're forgetting the coupons! I just built on their website an E1505 with the 1.66 core duo, 1GB of RAM, 80GB HD, X1400 GPU and a DVD+-RW for $807...

Check out the latest coupons here:

http://www.notebookforums.com/forum104.html

Also, check out the outlet at www.dell.com/outlet you can find great deals there.

About the lenovo:

It looks like a good system, but honeslty, $1K for it seems a bit expensive. You should also consider the fact that the it doesnt have a dedicated GPU, so the gaming performance will be pretty much null.

If you do want it, getit from here:

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetai...689A4U/K91616/

or maybe this one:

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetai...7686FU/K22553/
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post #77 of 202
10/22/06 at 12:25am
hmmm ok.. thanx a lot filippo!
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post #78 of 202
10/27/06 at 12:47pm
Hello everyone.

I just purchased my 1st laptop computer, and I hope I chose wisely. I originally orered a Dell Latitude D820, but returned it and re-ordered a new M90, mainly due to the graphics card was much better, and it was just a better computer.

I own a landscape company, so I just purchased the new, latest version of my industry software, and will also use QB, and Word, email, light gaming (although I don't own a game, im in mid 30s, havent gamed in several years). I need it to be powerfull like desktop, this will be main ofice computer, just connect to dport and ofice printer,scanner,copier, phone,backup HD,mouse, etc... also will wi-fi for first time, never did wireless, currently use high speed cable sevice at home only, so this should be fun. Not too sure about pc cards, or express cards, or whatever cards you use, i have a great deal to learn, and quickly, the Dell computer is beening shipped as we speak. I also want to use this in my nice f350 truck for estimates, etc, with mobile printer in truck, can take digital photos, contracts, bids, customer history reports, etc, and print on site, become more effecient, also, in my biz i run the fertilization division (lawn care like TruGreen) and it is really only labor i do anymore, and it will be nice to print out fert reports (higly detailed info) on new laptop and print and keep copy on HD, etc.

Anyway, hope I chose well, can't wait.

Also, 3 questions, #1) can I still add bluetooth to my system, i failed to add that option to my order.? #2) What is the best game to start with, maybe best 2.? #3) Will I ever beable to pick up wifi wireless internet connection in my truck with the reg. wi-fi card? or do I have to order an additional card and sign a 1yr dealwith someone like Verizon and pay $200 extra? has that all work?

Thanks forthe feedback !!!!

Here are my specs:

Order GroupQuantityItemDescription11222-5481Dell Precision M90, Intel Core2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.00GHz/667MHz/4MB)11320-475217 Inch Wide Screen WUXGA LCD for Dell Precision M9011311-58772 GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMM for Dell Precision M9011310-7669Internal English Keyboard for Dell Precision M9011320-4754NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M 512MB OpenGL, Dell Precision M9011341-332180GB Hard Drive 9.5MM, 7200RPMfor Dell Precision M90 Factory install11420-4867WINDOWS XP PRO SP2, with MediaDell Precision Mobile,English Factory Install11313-407024X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive withCyberLink PowerDVD, Dell Precision M9011430-1893Intel 3945 (802.11a/g) Dual-band Mini-Card, Dell Precision M9011313-4073Resource CD w/ Diagnostics and Drivers for Dell PrecisionM9011420-3699NTFS File System,Factory Install11310-7823Quick Reference Guide for DellPrecision M9011970-2208CompleteCare Accidental DamageSvc, WorkStation, 3Yr , 1-800-624-989611980-8010Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year11980-8012Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 2 Year Extended11461-3749GTS,Personal Systems,TechnicalSupport Letter11902-4902Gold Technical Support ServicePrecision, 3 Years, 1-866-876-3355 (DELL)11982-5729Thank you for choosing 3 Year Standard Plan11983-2207Thank You for buying Dell11983-2217Please visit WWW.Dell.COM11900-9987Standard On-Site Installation Declined11310-8314Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
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post #79 of 202
10/27/06 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
Hi my1stnotebook,

I think you'll be happy with the M90. I have one myself, and its great. Being a 17", its pretty large, so mobility isn't that easy, but if seeing as you had the D820 for a while and returned it, you know what a 15.4" is and you weren't afraid to go for a bigger notebook!

Answering your questions:

1- Yes you can, but its not that simple because you have to open up your notebook.

2-This is a tough question. What type of games do you like? I recommend buying a pack that comes with CS:S, DOD:S and HL2, I think it's $19,90. CS:S and DOD:S are great first person shooters. If you're in to those games, you could also consider the new Battlefield game, Battlefield 2142.
Anyway I suggest taking a look at www.straferight.com as there is a lot of great info on games there.

3-You can if you find a hotspot. If you don't you'll have to get the card and a plan with verizon or another company like that...

I hope you enjoy your new notebook
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post #80 of 202
11/13/06 at 3:38pm
Dear Filippo. Once again thanks for making this topic. It has helped people in ways you can't imagine. Thanks to you, I will not be lied by people from retail stores like BestBuy who say that integrated graphics card can run latest games very good Anyways, few quick questions: 1) When i went to dell site and tried to tweak e1705, i always see this: See it says "SHARED" ram? Okay I know what shared means..it means it shares RAM memory with the integrated video card. But later when i try to configure the GFX card, i see this: So, this dell e1705 has both, integrated card and dedicated one (if i were to choose nvidia go7900gs). Or not? Can you please explain how the memory can be "shared" while at the same time have dedicated graphics card in it? 2) You said in your earlier post (on page 5..regarding screen resolutions)
Quote:
Take a look at this picture: [your 2 notebook pics] It shows the exact same notebook model in 2 different screens: 17" WSXGA+ and WUXGA. things look smaller in the WUXGA, but the screen size is still the same.
Okay i understand that. But when i tried to configure "display" on dell website, i was given this option: Why does the option with TruBrite not have the + sign you mentioned? Or is it just some website glitch? 3) In your earlier post you wrote:
Quote:
You can get dual channel on any notebook (or desktop computer). To get dual channel ram, you need 2 sticks of ram that don't necessarily have to be identical, they can be of the "same size, specification, the same number of memory chips and internal organization", or even sometimes refered to as "the same density". They don't have to be from the same manufacturer, production line, etc.
I wanted to dual channel my desktop RAM and did some wiki search and found out that to dual channel a RAM, i need to put them in the matching color holes inside mobo. And wiki also said that i need to have even number of slots to be able to dual channel it..like 4 slots. my problem is my desktop mobo (Asus K8V SE Deluxe) only has 3 slots for RAM. and all of them are same color. Does it mean my mobo sucks so much that I can't dual channel my RAM on it? Sorry if my questions seem so annoying, but i would hate the fact that after i bought my laptop which i have been saving for like year and a half now, it would be ruined because i didn't do enough research when i had option to. Thank you sooo much
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