Performance gain from dual memory modules (including graphics) [ Edited ]

[dbman190]

I have a 5.7 rating with an i5-2520 and only 4gb (2x2gb) of ram, so yeah, you should have more than 5. Maybe try updating to the newest Lenovo video drivers.

[JNavas]

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figarro wrote:

John
I have the same config as you but my rating is 5.8. There's something wrong with your software (my guess)...

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dbman190 wrote:

I have a 5.7 rating with an i5-2520 and only 4gb (2x2gb) of ram, so yeah, you should have more than 5. Maybe try updating to the newest Lenovo video drivers.

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I'm guessing you got that on a 90W Adapter.

I'm using the standard 65W Adapter, which results of graphics throttling, as shown here.

[thinkpadding]

hmmm... that is odd. Bought my x220 (i5-2420, 320GB 7200) with 2GB installed. I ran WEI twice in the first week and got 4.6 and 4.4 for the graphics rating. Just received 2 GB from Lenovo and installed it. With 4GB, WEI now showing 5.8 for graphics. 65 W power adapter for all measurements. No special name on the RAM modules.

[JNavas]

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thinkpadding wrote:
hmmm... that is odd. Bought my x220 (i5-2420, 320GB 7200) with 2GB installed. I ran WEI twice in the first week and got 4.6 and 4.4 for the graphics rating. Just received 2 GB from Lenovo and installed it. With 4GB, WEI now showing 5.8 for graphics. 65 W power adapter for all measurements. No special name on the RAM modules.

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The obvious big difference between our systems is that you have the i5-2420* and I have the i7-2620M.

My guess™ is that the higher power drain of the i7-2620M results in more throttling of the graphics core on the 65W Adapter.

(I haven't yet received the 90W Adapter I ordered, so can't confirm if it solves the problem or not.)

* i5-2420? X220 Datasheet only lists:

• Intel® Core™ i7-2620M Processor (2.7GHz, 4MB L3 Cache) USB 3.0
• Intel® Core™ i5-2540M Processor (2.5GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
• Intel® Core™ i5-2520M Processor (2.5GHz, 3MB Cache)
• Intel® Core™ i5-2410M Processor (2.3GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
• Intel® Core™ i3-2310M Processor (2.1GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)

The painful irony is that more CPU is giving me less performance! Here's what's happening:

The Good News:

The Bad News:

[thinkpadding]

oops... my typo... i5-2410.

[Alexo]

"Sandy Bridge's improved memory controller has all but eliminated the need for extreme memory bandwidth, at least for this architecture. It's only when you get down to DDR3-1333 that you see a minor performance penalty. The sweet spot appears to be at DDR3-1600, where you will see a minor performance increase over DDR3-1333 with only a slight increase in cost. The performance increase gained by going up to DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 isn't nearly as pronounced."

-- http://www.anandtech.com/print/4503

John, please use an external image host.  All your images show as triangles here and, yes, I am signed in.

[HiVolt]

Alexo, but does that apply to Sandy Bridge mobile, with regard to memory speeds?

[JNavas]

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Alexo wrote:
John, please use an external image host.  All your images show as triangles here and, yes, I am signed in.

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It's not enough to be signed in -- you may also need to force a full page refresh in your browser with Ctrl+F5.

I've now replaced all my images in this topic with external hosting, but you may still need Ctrl+F5 to see them.

[Alexo]

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HiVolt wrote:
Alexo, but does that apply to Sandy Bridge mobile, with regard to memory speeds?

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Don't know.

[JNavas · Accepted solution]

BIOS 1.21 solves the throttling issue!