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Dell i6000 Memory Throughput

post #1 of 25
3/28/05 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, I just replaced my 400MHz DDR2 memory with 533MHz DDR2. I haven't gotten any speed increase from the installation. Also, SiSoft Sandra 2005 is saying that it's only running in Single Channel or 64-bit mode, whereas the BIOS says it's in Dual Channel mode. Anyone have any suggestions? Below is a screenshot:

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post #2 of 25
3/28/05 at 10:52pm
Are you using two sticks or one? If you have only one stick it will run only in single channel.
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post #3 of 25
3/28/05 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeoman
Are you using two sticks or one? If you have only one stick it will run only in single channel.
I'm using a single stick in my 6000 and my BIOS says it's in DUAL mode. Any thoughts on this?
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post #4 of 25
3/28/05 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Picard
I'm using a single stick in my 6000 and my BIOS says it's in DUAL mode. Any thoughts on this?
You need two physical sticks of ram to be operating in dual channel. Its not possible otherwise.
BIOS is wrong, or the "mode" isn't representative of the true setup.

Download CPU-Z and look in the memory tab. It will say "single" in the channel # field

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php#download
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post #5 of 25
3/29/05 at 12:36am
Yeah you must have two sticks. I think the BIOS just indicates that dual channel mode is enabled, but obviously it won't be in use unless you have the required hardware (ie; two sticks of same size, speed and latency).

Stu
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post #6 of 25
3/29/05 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeoman
You need two physical sticks of ram to be operating in dual channel. Its not possible otherwise.
BIOS is wrong, or the "mode" isn't representative of the true setup.

Download CPU-Z and look in the memory tab. It will say "single" in the channel # field

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php#download
I have nothing in the memory tab. All is greyed out except "size" = 512Mbytes.
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post #7 of 25
3/29/05 at 12:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sakor1
Yeah you must have two sticks. I think the BIOS just indicates that dual channel mode is enabled, but obviously it won't be in use unless you have the required hardware (ie; two sticks of same size, speed and latency).

Stu
Im purchasing a matching stick from newegg. How would I know if I'm finally running in dual-channel mode? (other that cpu-z that is)
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post #8 of 25
3/29/05 at 2:25am
Thread Starter 
I have two sticks of the EXACT same memory. One in each slot. CPUz says that it's running in Dual Channel mode, but that it is only opperating at 400MHz DDR2, not the 533MHz DDR2 that it should be. Is there something with the 6000 that limits the memory speed? CPUz says that it's using a 2:3 memory multiplier, why in the world would Dell do this?
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post #9 of 25
3/29/05 at 2:27am
Thread Starter 
BTW, my memory latencies are: 4-4-4-11, under the SPD tab of CPUz, it says that my memory can run at 3-3-3-8 if running at 400MHz DDR2, which is what it is doing, so why won't it run with the faster timings? I'm really upset with Dell right now, there is no reason why they should have created a system based off the new 533MHz FSB and limited the DDR2 to run slower. The whole point of having DDR2 is so that it can run at the same synchronous speed as the FSB, thereby really opening up the bandwidth of the system.
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post #10 of 25
3/29/05 at 3:13am
This is what it says in my system (Stock ram from Dell) Can anyone interpret this? Why does it say 200MHz?
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post #11 of 25
3/29/05 at 4:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lelliott731
I have two sticks of the EXACT same memory. One in each slot. CPUz says that it's running in Dual Channel mode, but that it is only opperating at 400MHz DDR2, not the 533MHz DDR2 that it should be. Is there something with the 6000 that limits the memory speed? CPUz says that it's using a 2:3 memory multiplier, why in the world would Dell do this?
Do you have the i6000 or i6000d? ie; one with Intel integrated 900 graphics or the X300. The model with the integrated graphics has a chipset limited to 400MHz DDR2, hence would clock down the RAM. But if the 6000d then it should be running at 533MHz...


Quote:
Originally Posted by Picard
This is what it says in my system (Stock ram from Dell) Can anyone interpret this? Why does it say 200MHz?
It is DDR RAM (ie; Double Data Rate). 200MHz x 2 = 400MHz. Therefore running DDR2 RAM at 400MHz.

Stu
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post #12 of 25
3/29/05 at 5:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sakor1
Do you have the i6000 or i6000d? ie; one with Intel integrated 900 graphics or the X300. The model with the integrated graphics has a chipset limited to 400MHz DDR2, hence would clock down the RAM. But if the 6000d then it should be running at 533MHz...




It is DDR RAM (ie; Double Data Rate). 200MHz x 2 = 400MHz. Therefore running DDR2 RAM at 400MHz.

Stu
So does this mean that if I have one stick of PC 4200 (533). CPU-Z would show 266.5MHz?
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post #13 of 25
3/29/05 at 6:39am
Yes.... well it will round to 266MHz, but yeah

Stu
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post #14 of 25
3/29/05 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sakor1
Do you have the i6000 or i6000d? ie; one with Intel integrated 900 graphics or the X300. The model with the integrated graphics has a chipset limited to 400MHz DDR2, hence would clock down the RAM. But if the 6000d then it should be running at 533MHz...
I thought is was like this:

I6000 has a 915GM chipset
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/915gm/index.htm

I6000D has a 915PM Chipset
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/915pm/index.htm

Both support a FSB of 533 and 533Mhz Memory.

The Celeron-M version of the I6000 uses the 915GMS chipset wich only supports a FSB of 400.

Or am I way off?

Why should DELL limit the memory speed to 400 when a chipset is capable of running on 533? Makes no sense to me.
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post #15 of 25
3/29/05 at 2:06pm
this is a great thread. any more info around this is appreciated. for example, what is the latency in the stock ram that's shipped??
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post #16 of 25
3/29/05 at 10:02pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, from what I've gathered so far, apparently Dell isn't doing anything weird, with their latest BIOS, they have removed the setting that limited the speed on the memory to 400MHz. I don't know why CPUz is still reporting it running at that speed though, I am very confused. According to TomsHardware, I am getting close to the correct throughput of Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz, which is pathetic if you ask me. Dual Channel DDR on the old school platforms, granted on the desktop, but still, was almost twice what I'm getting now. I don't understand why it is limiting it so much. According to another page later in the article below, the processor running at 533MHz FSB should be able to use up to 4.2GB/s of memory bandwidth, and in Dual Channel mode, 533MHz DDR2 should deliver 8.5GB/s of memory bandwidth, so why is my Dell Inspiron 6000d running at a pathetic 3GB/s???
http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/...alviso-21.html
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post #17 of 25
3/30/05 at 1:46am
"Pathetic" 3 GB/s? I don't find it pathetic at all.
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post #18 of 25
4/2/05 at 6:54am
What RAM does the i6000d actually ship with, 533 or 400MHz? The Dell ordering pages just say DDR2 ram, but not the speed in MHz. I hate that. Has anyone physically seen the stock i6000d ram?
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post #19 of 25
4/2/05 at 7:26am
why and how is dell limiting the speed to 400? is it the bus?
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post #20 of 25
4/2/05 at 6:06pm

533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 already offered on i6000

Dell offers the 6000 oversees with 533MHz dual channel DD2, but in the US they only sell it with 400Mhz single channel ram it would appear -- even though it supports the former…

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/prod...=hk&l=en&s=dhs


Must be saving their fast memory supply for their notebooks with greater profit margins…
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