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    Upgrade Suggestions?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by pokemon123, Jul 4, 2011.

  1. pokemon123

    pokemon123 Notebook Consultant

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    I was thinking of either upgrading my RAM from 6gb SC to 8gb DC... or should I get an ssd? would 64gb enough or would you guys recommend the 126gb? If so the ssd, I would then need a caddy for my stock hdd for my files. I don't have access to ebay because I dont use paypal... I would greatly appreciate if someone can give me a link to a proper caddy on amazon or something... Sorry if this has been asked before. Thank in advanced :D
     
    pokemon123, Jul 4, 2011
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  2. MikeYbarra

    MikeYbarra Notebook Enthusiast

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    6GB is enough RAM unless you are doing some serious application work. I don't think many games will eat up 4GB themselves that you would play on a laptop. The SSD is by far the single best upgrade on PCs in some time. 128GB is minimum required, 256GB if you can afford it. You will be happy.
     
    MikeYbarra, Jul 4, 2011
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  3. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

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    If you can do the 6GB into a DC, the performance will also improve if compare with the SC 6GB. And Like MikeYbarra said, if you not going to do a extreme RAM hungry like Adobe Photoshop or Virtual machine app or heavy video processing stuff. If not, 6GB is will be enough.
     
    CGSDR, Jul 4, 2011
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  4. pokemon123

    pokemon123 Notebook Consultant

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    how would is DC the 6gb? not really a crazy computer guy but trying to learn.
     
    pokemon123, Jul 4, 2011
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  5. everythingsablur

    everythingsablur Notebook Evangelist

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    You need to upgrade to 8 GB to enable dual channel. Dual channel = two equal RAM channels, in this case two 4 GB DIMMs.

    6 GB is single channel because the RAM installed on your computer is asymmetrical (4 GB and a 2 GB).
     
    everythingsablur, Jul 4, 2011
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  6. niko2021

    niko2021 Notebook Evangelist

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    You should've newegg'd the ram. Kingston 8 gb HyperX 1600mhz for under 100. Great ram for way less than dell charges. I'd recommend at least the 120 gb from intel. If you want, get the elmcrest series. Idk if it'll take full advantage of the sata 3 tho. Heard some people don't get the exact read/write speeds on the m14x. A 64gb wont hold too much. You'd have probably around 60 gb usable, maybe a little less. Barely enough for the OS and a few games.
     
    niko2021, Jul 4, 2011
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  7. pokemon123

    pokemon123 Notebook Consultant

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    thanks for the advice guys.

    I was thinking of getting crucial m4 or c300. i read that c300 has a better random reads than m4? so go for c300?
     
    pokemon123, Jul 5, 2011
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  8. FlipBack

    FlipBack Notebook Evangelist

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    Actually, the first 4GB's (2GB's in each channel) operate as if it were dual channel. It's only the extra 2 that operates as single channel.
     
    FlipBack, Jul 5, 2011
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  9. nkdv

    nkdv Notebook Consultant

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    SSD, anyday! cost you more, but pay you back dividends in performance!
    Now gotta search for a caddy ... hmmm
     
    nkdv, Jul 5, 2011
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  10. pokemon123

    pokemon123 Notebook Consultant

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    yah im just not sure of the proper caddy to use and i don't use ebay so the one that was provided on the 2nd hdd install guide doesn't help me lol
     
    pokemon123, Jul 5, 2011
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