1st time upgrading and clean installing Windows, M17x R4

So my M17x R4 should arrive in a week or so, and I've decided to upgrade the storage and RAM as it's cheaper than having Dell do it for you. And while it's open, might as well repaste the CPU and GPU.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSQ
Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit
Newegg.com - Prolimatech PRO-PK1-5G PK-1 Thermal Compound - 5 Gram

The parts above should work with the system, right?
16 GB RAM, replacing the stock 6 GB by dell
M4 as the boot drive, 500GB HDD as the data drive

Additionally, after reading through the various guides here, I just have a few questions:

After backing up the factory configuration, do I need to anything (bios related, etc.) before opening up the system to upgrade / repaste?

Does it matter which bay I put the SSD in?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/561599-m17x-r3-cpu-gpu-re-pasting-guide-w-pics.html##
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...r-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html#

The above guides are written for the M17x R3, can I still follow them exactly for the R4? (Particularly the driver install order guide as the R4 has Enduro, while the R3 does not) The iGPU driver is included with the AMD driver, right?

Finally, can I install the drivers from the CD instead of the website? Dell's website isn't making it easy for me to distinguish which driver I need or don't need.

I know it's a lot of questions, but any information to help a noob is appreciated

 

Here is what I did. I ran the Dell setup on the mechanical drive and then created a Win7 backup. I then restored that backup to my SSD. The one thing, both my SSD and mechanical were the same size. I then read somewhere that going from a mechanical image to a SSD image was bad so I ended up installing from the disks.

I got the 16GB of Corsair 2 of these...
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9
and it JUST works. No problems. I wouldn't imaine you would have problems with the G.Skill.

I would say the install order would stay the same. I used it when doing mine and not a single problem. If I remember correctly, the intel chipset drivers may have installed the intel video drivers or they were included in the ATI package. I cannot remember execpt they were in one of the packages.

 

Thanks! Did you have to configure anything in the bios before clean installing?

 

I am about to receive my R4 as well in 2 weeks and planning on a clean install. However, I will be installing Windows 7 Pro instead of the home edition it came with because home edition does not support more than 16GB of ram. Also, doing a clean windows installation (not from dell) removed all bloatware.

I have read somewhere that adding a SSD drive you should put it in HD bay 1 instead of bay 0 because bay 1 is SATA3. can someone confirm?
When you do this, just make sure to change startup on BIOS to make SSD the primary bootup

I am not considering repasting my CPU/GPU because I am not sure if that voids warranty.

 

It does? I thought Alienware warranties covered this sort of thing... Would they even find out?

 

Dell_Bill_B, company rep and friend of the forum, addressed this continuing fallacy:

" No. You will not void your warranty if you open the case and repaste. You are free to do whatever you want with your system. Your money. Your system. Enjoy it. Tweak it. Play with it. Tear it down to your heart's content.

The only thing that will void your warranty is if you damage any of the components performing ANY activity. That would include not grounding yourself and shorting something (hard for us to prove), screwdriver slip that damages something, Furmark madness for an hour (also hard to prove), etc. Even in cases where you have damaged the system, we can bring it in to the depot, for a fee, repair it and reinstate your warranty.

If a tech ever tells you differently, feel free to point them to this post and shoot me a PM with their Rep ID, which they are required to provide upon request. I'll point them to the appropriate internal documentation."

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ttling-see-post-191-later-26.html#post8398547.

 

One final question: browsing through Newegg I found this deal:

Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT180A3K5 2.5" 180GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

180GB for $140. Would there be any problems getting this SSD instead of the Crucial M4? I noticed it has a Sandforce based controller; how are the reliability of those?

 

YES, put ur SSD in hard drive bay one(one in the middle) cz thats SATA III 6GBps
the other one is 3gbps i guess

and it is recommended to repaste
i bought MX - 2 but still didnt get a chance to repaste

have u considered the Samsung 830 SSD ?
those are pretty good and currently many sites are offering deals
try Slickdeals

 

no both ports are sata3, the msata port is sata2!

 

So any issues with Sandforce controllers on AW? The Intel SSD is fine right?

@Aceleo - I saw that deal, but this one is better

 

"If a tech ever tells you differently, feel free to point them to this post and shoot me a PM with their Rep ID, which they are required to provide upon request. I'll point them to the appropriate internal documentation."

This kind of support is why I went with an Alienware. Really hope that this continues to be the case in the future.


That being said I have been messing around with the clean install all day and finally got things the way that I want them.

XennOX is correct both drive bays are running SataIII - I have two samsung 830's in raid 0 and they scream. Also installed the fresh OS to an 830 msata 64gb . What was difficult was getting the recovery partition erased. I forgot to do that the first time I installed windows on the msata ( also installed it on the raid 0 stripe for comparison of booting times - not that different tbh ) so I had to use the disk partition text based interface from the windows disks... and it finally cleared! Anyone else considering fresh install to the msata - Delete the recovery partition first ( AFTER making alien respawn backups of course )

Also have the 2x8gb vengeance memory... just worked as well.

 

May be a silly question , but why do you need to backup alien respawn ? Does doing a clean install void the warranty or something ? chance to damage something ?

 

I believe it has nothing to do with your warranty. With the backup of alien respawn, in case something go wrong, at least you can go back to the OOBE with your original hard drive.
Correct me if I am wrong.

 

I was under the impression that AW computers didn't come with bloatware from what I've read.

 

They don't. Alienrespawn is a backup utility that is useful to use when you first get your system. Before installing and upgrading software and drivers, slap in a disk or usb drive and create a "fresh out of the box" restore.