The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Alienware M17x R1: Problems with allocating memory when 8gb module installed

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Le Raux, Jun 25, 2013.

  1. Le Raux

    Le Raux Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi guys. I tried to find the solution of my problem here but I couldn't. I bought used Alienware M17x R1 with 2x2Gb 1066Mhz memory, Intel C2D P8600 & GTX260M. It worked perfectly. But.
    When I installed AMD AE38G1339S2-UO 8 Gb DDR1333 bank, it doesn't start correctly. Yes, POST goes well and recognize 8 gigs but when I try to start Win7 x64 it fails (“Starting windows” with no logo). So, I tried to run WinXP livecd and... it started up (because in x86-mode). But when I'm starting memtest86 it halts when trying to test 4-6Gb.

    Thus, I have concluded that memory works fine but my motherboard can't work normal with more than 4 Gb RAM on one channel. So, can I fix that problem by flashing BIOS? Or something more? My current version is R1 A07.

    Sorry for my bad english. And thanks for help.
     
    Le Raux, Jun 25, 2013
    #1
  2. The Bishop

    The Bishop Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Windows XP x86-mode will not recognize memory over 4GB as it is a limitation of the OS (x64-mode will however). From what i can tell, you have the latest bios so this leads me to believe that you may have a incompatibility issue with your motherboard and the new memory bank you are trying to use. Are you running with just the 8GB module installed in slot 1 or do you have a 2GB module installed in slot 2 as well?
     
    The Bishop, Jun 25, 2013
    #2
  3. The Bishop

    The Bishop Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I did some research and was able to locate the following information form the M17x manual:

    CHAPTER 5: INSTALLING ADDITIONAL OR REPLACEMENT COMPONENTS
    Upgrading/Replacing Memory

    Your notebook is equipped with a configurable memory unit. The industry standard JEDEC PC3-8500/PC3-10600 (DDR3) SODIMM memory module sockets are available for memory upgrade.

    The table below illustrates all the possible ways system memory can be configured.

    Total Memory Socket #1 Socket #2
    2 GB 1 GB 1 GB
    3 GB 2 GB 1 GB
    3 GB 1 GB 2 GB
    4 GB 2 GB 2 GB
    6 GB 2 GB 4 GB
    6 GB 4 GB 2 GB
    8 GB 4 GB 4 GB

    So, from this information it looks as if your motherboard cannot use a module over 4GB in size.
     
    The Bishop, Jun 25, 2013
    #3
  4. Le Raux

    Le Raux Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    The Bishop, thank you! It's sad but I'll have to replace the motherboard & processor to R2-revision ( according to this manual it's real) to install more than 8 Gb RAM. And these troubles with auto-dim... meh.
     
    Le Raux, Jun 26, 2013
    #4