I went to Newegg to check on getting 8GB for my new baby, and found the:
G.SKILL 4GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Laptop Memory Model F2-6400CL6S-4GBSQ - Retail
@ $114.99 per
And the reviews are, in a word, shitty. But that's not the point of this post.
One of the G.SKILL responses is that when you max out memory, the mem controller has to downclock to work?
Here's the review and response from newegg.com:
Cons: My notebook BIOS is downclocking the RAM to 333MHz instead of the 400MHz that it should run at and my old ram ran at. The manufacturer told me that I needed to upgrade to the latest BIOS (already there) and that it was HP's fault. They said that all 4GB sticks would do that.Personally that sounds like just so much bullshit. And if it was true shouldn't the G.Skill reply have been to buy a lesser clocked ram module? As it would be cheaper for the customer?
Manufacturer Response:.
Dear Customer
Thank you for your G.Skill purchase. When maximizing laptop memory capacity, most will need to downclock one speed to operate properly due to a memory controller overload. This is very common. The memory itself will run at its rated specification, but it is unable to since the laptop BIOS is written to automatically downclock if the maximum memory capacity module per slot is being utilized. You should not see much of a performance drop between DDR2-667 and DDR2-800. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know.
Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT
Quality and customer service are our top priorities.
Tech Support Email: ustech@gskillusa.com
RMA Dept Email: rma@gskillusa.com
G.Skill Forum: http://www.gskill.us/forum/
(Okay, a 4GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Laptop Memory module is actually more expensive than the DDR2 800 (PC2 6400), but it's a lower CAS latency [CL], so blah! I'll probably just wait till next year when the 4GBs are cheap...)
Anyone have any thoughts on if this is just utter BS?
Michael