Specifications
The Crucial 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM is a 2GB x 2 kit with a 200-pin SODIMM package. The RAM is designed to be used inside notebook computers and runs at 800MHz. It is important to point out there that for your computer to see all 4GB of RAM you need to be running a 64-bit version of Windows. I am not running a 64-bit version in this review. My system sees 3574MB of RAM, so slightly less than a half a gigabyte is lost.

Installation and General Use
When I first got the Dell XPS M1330 it was running 1GB of RAM which is nowhere near ideal for Windows Vista. When I work I commonly have up to six browser windows open, Outlook, Word, and several IM windows. The problem I had was that the system was very sluggish when it moved from window to window. I particularly noticed it in Outlook when I would change email windows. It would take 10-20 seconds to show me the emails.

I could have went with a 2GB kit since my version of Vista isn’t 64-bit but with the sheer number of applications and windows I run concurrently during a typical work day I wanted the most RAM I could get.

Once I installed the RAM, which was as easy as popping the cover off my 1330 covering the RAM, ejecting the old RAM and inserting the new RAM I was ready to test. The difference in performance from the 1GB or RAM to the new RAM was immediate and very apparent. I could open Outlook much, much faster and when I moved from one Outlook folder to another it was nearly instantaneous where I used to wait upwards of 10 seconds commonly.

Not only were the benefits noticed in Outlook, but everything was faster. There were nice gains to be had in Photoshop Elements when editing photos and when moving from window to window while working. In short if you are running 1GB of RAM on a Vista equipped notebook, your RAM is certainly holding your system performance back.

Benchmarks
I did run a few synthetic benchmarks on the Crucial 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM with Sandra XII just for the sake of the benchmark loving readers out there. I used the latest version of Sandra XII and ran the Memory Bandwidth test and Memory Latency test. The results are below.

SiSoftware Sandra Memory Bandwidth

Benchmark Results
Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 3.38GB/s
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 3.36GB/s
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Windows Experience Index
Current Chipset/Memory : 4.5
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance vs. Speed
Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 5.21MB/s/MHz
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 5.19MB/s/MHz
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance vs. Power
Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 18.89W
Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 183.06MB/s/W
Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth : 182.27MB/s/W
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Int Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 3.25GB/s
Scaling : 3.25GB/s
Addition : 3.52GB/s
Triad : 3.48GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 65.10%

Float Buff'd iSSE2 Memory Bandwidth
Assignment : 3.27GB/s
Scaling : 3.23GB/s
Addition : 3.48GB/s
Triad : 3.48GB/s
Data Item Size : 16bytes
Buffering Used : Yes
Offset Displacement Used : Yes
Bandwidth Efficiency : 64.82%

SiSoftware Sandra Memory Latency

Benchmark Results
Memory (Random Access) Latency : 129ns
Speed Factor : 61.80
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Windows Experience Index
Current Chipset/Memory : 4.5
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance vs. Speed
Memory (Random Access) Latency : 0.19ns/MHz
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Performance vs. Power
Chipset(s)/Memory Power : 18.89W
Memory (Random Access) Latency : 6.83ns/W
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.

Detailed Benchmark Results
1kB Range : 3clocks / 2ns
4kB Range : 3clocks / 2ns
16kB Range : 3clocks / 2ns
64kB Range : 15clocks / 10ns
256kB Range : 16clocks / 11ns
1MB Range : 19clocks / 13ns
4MB Range : 149clocks / 100ns
16MB Range : 184clocks / 123ns
64MB Range : 193clocks / 129ns

Final Thoughts
I was very impressed with the performance of the Crucial 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM in my Vista Ultimate machine. I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone running Vista seriously consider a RAM upgrade, it can make a huge difference in your performance. The Crucial 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 RAM kit I tested here has a great price as well of $$89.99 per stick direct from Crucial.