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Some 1318s at the Dell Outlett have 667mhz RAM... why???
So at the Dell Outlet, my search is narrowed to Inspiron 1318's with the Core 2 Duo 2000 (which is 2ghz, 800mhz FSB, 2mb L2).
I know with the Core 2 Duo, it is important to match RAM mhz with FSB. Gladly, most of them have 800mhz RAM so that's good. But some of them have 667mhz RAM.This is a worry because I am planning on upgrading the RAM with 3rd party RAM.
I am worried that there is some motherboard limitation and that for these computers, 667mhz is the fastest RAM, and upgrading to 800mhz won't have an effect. Why would Dell put slower RAM in these computers, especially since for the C2D, it is so important to match speed? Since I am planning on upgrading ram with 800mhz Dimms, should I avoid these laptops, or are they exaclty the same?
dgkpcon
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April 16th, 2009 01:00
The systems purchased thru the outlet are,refurb,scratch and dent,and previously new.Dell puts these systems back together with the parts they have available at the time and some do/will come with previous versions of MOBO,and chipsets that have the 667mhz limitation.
ejn63
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April 16th, 2009 04:00
I don't know where you got the idea that the RAM must match the FSB - because on most Core 2 Duo system, it doesn't. Only on the newer Montevina-based systems - many of which use a 1066 MHz FSB for the CPU, will RAM run at 800 MHz. The Intel PM/GM965 chipsets do not support RAM at 800 MHz - it will run at 667 MHz even if 800 MHz RAM is installed, so it's a moot point.
This is a budget model, not a performance model - and the RAM is limited to 667 MHz no matter what you install.
brentonbrenton
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April 16th, 2009 11:00
I got that idea from this chart on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_2_duo#Synchronous_memory_modules. It also says:
And the chart shows 800mhz RAM providing the best performance for 800mhz FSB.
Is there a way to know (from the Dell Outlet) what parts are in a system? For example, if only the Montevina systems can take advantage of 800mhz RAM (if that is true, would you please correct the wiki page I linked to?) is there a way to know if a particular 1318 has a Montevina based system? It always says if the CPU has a 667FSB, so I know those are the old ones. If it says it has 800mhz FSB, can I assume it's a newer mobo, or could it still be limiting my RAM?
dgkpcon
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April 16th, 2009 12:00
"If it says it has 800mhz FSB, can I assume it's a newer mobo, or could it still be limiting my RAM?"
As i said,they use the parts available.There is no way to tell because under the RAM listed it only lists the amount of RAM,not the speed.If you look at some of these 1318's(B130) reincarnated,they are using Pentium D CPU's,not the newer line?
dgkpcon
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April 16th, 2009 12:00
That goes back to dell uses the parts they have available,but to get an answer,i think you would have to get that from dell.
brentonbrenton
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April 16th, 2009 12:00
Actually, if you visit the outlet, it does show the RAM speed, once you click on a particular system. It must have been changed since the last time you viewed it. That was the whole point of my whole post... that Dell *does* show the speed of the RAM, and while most of the time it's 800mhz, sometimes it's 677mhz.
And yes, some are using Pentiums and Celerons, but as I said, I am filtering it to only look at the Core 2 Duos with 800mhz FSB and 2mb L2.
So maybe you're just as confused as me, but I still am not clear on whether 677mhz RAM indicates a slower system or not.
ejn63
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April 16th, 2009 13:00
Doesn't matter what speed RAM they install, 667 or 800 - all 1318s have the same GM965 chipset, which is incapable of running RAM over 667 MHz. The RAM will run at 667 no matter what.