Page 2 - A Closer Look, Installation, Test System
Each 4GB module of the G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBSQ kit features a six layer PCB with double sided memory chips. Beyond this point, I really don't have much more to talk about, haha. What I can tell you is that these 204-pin DDR3 SODIMMs are built on a regular green printed circuit board, equipped with a total of sixteen 256MB integrated chips on both sides -- eight on each side of the board -- for maximum capacity. G.SKILL's modules are programmed to run at 1.5V, 667MHz actual clock (DDR3-1333/PC3-10666) with 9-9-9-24 latencies. These are pretty standard specifications for laptop memory operating at this speed. The chips are branded G.SKILL with "D3 256M8GEF 1125 G72P43" printed on top. I can't find any more information regarding these ICs, but since these are not overclocking memory, I won't be too worrying about this too much. By the way, the serial number is located on the label -- I just blanked it out in the photo above.
If you've never installed laptop memory before, it is quite a simple job. For those who are experienced, you will understand that every laptop is designed differently, therefore the procedure for memory installation may also vary from a thirty second job to... well, a five minute job at most. My previous Lenovo ThinkPad T400's memory modules were located underneath the palm rest; requiring the removal of four screws at the bottom of the laptop. This is probably as hard as it gets. Meanwhile, the Lenovo ThinkPad T420 I am using for testing today has one memory behind a cover at the bottom; with the second module located underneath the keyboard. This simple procedure required only two screws to be removed in total, and it takes no more than two minutes. The rest of the procedure involves unlatching the clips and removing the old SODIMMS, and installation is simply done by sliding the new RAM into their slot until it locks.
How goes two identically configured Lenovo ThinkPad T420 laptops?
For our benchmarks, our test system is configured as follows:
Laptop Model: Lenovo ThinkPad T420 (BIOS Revision 1.22)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2520M (Sandy Bridge 2.50GHz, Turbo Boost 3.00GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB)
Chipset: Intel QM67
Display: 14" AUO LED backlit LCD @ 1600x900
Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 4200M 1GB with Optimus
Hard Drive: Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB
Wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1
Compared Hardware:
- G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBSQ 2x4GB (DDR3-1333) @ 9-9-9-24
- G.SKILL F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ 2x4GB (DDR3-1066) @ 7-7-7-20
- Kingston HyperX PnP KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G 2x4GB (DDR3-1600) @ 9-9-9-27
All tests were ran with the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 4200M 1GB dedicated graphics card active, and the laptop's power scheme set to "High Performance" to obtain the most accurate benchmark scores.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look, Installation, Test System
3. Benchmark: AIDA64 CPU
4. Benchmark: AIDA64 FPU
5. Benchmark: AIDA64 Memory
6. Benchmark: PCMark 7
7. Benchmark: 3DMark 11
8. Benchmark: PassMark PerformanceTest 7.0
9. Benchmark: SuperPI 1M, Cinebench R11.5
10. Conclusion
