M17x R2 Ram Upgrade...

Hey everyone,

Ok so I got my M17x R2 with 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM...and now I want to upgrade to a 8GB RAM!

So I just wanted to ask where should I buy the RAM from and which one?

Also on installing the RAM, do I have to just put in the RAM(s) into the slots or is it a lot more complex than that!?

Thanks,
Darthmaniac

 

I bought these, 4GB DDR3 1066/1333MHz 204-PIN SODIMM SAMSUNG LAPTOP RAM on eBay (end time 10-Nov-10 01:40:59 GMT) should be here today and will test

but I think that any brand will do as far as it's 1333Mhz 204-PIN SODIMM (DDR3) PC10600

very easy to replace, (video on youtube) and am sure if you search on this forum you will find some links to cos I posted some

 

Thanks SpideRMaN but I prefer not buying from eBay, had some bad experiences earlier! I was looking for something from Newegg(since I'm in the USA) I came across Newegg.com - Patriot Signature 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model PSD34G13332S

Should this be fine,'cos I'm a complete noob when it comes to RAM brand and performence!

 

Get G.Skill. It has very good reviews....and the price has recently gone down on this set:

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSQ

 

I also bought the same one SkylineRider mentions above but cannot install it until my m17x arrives.

 

Do you actually need 8GB? if not the money would be better spent on an SSD

 

Remember not everybody "needs" and SSD either. They are so tiny you can’t fit much on them and you’re constantly installing/reinstalling and plugging in externals etc. So in the end having an SSD can be much slower than a mechanical drive!

 

I agree. SSD>RAM, unless if you either need the storage space, or you are running VMs, or something.

EDIT: I think 6GB of ram on my desktop (i7 930/hd5870 CF) doesn't make it any faster tham my laptop with 4GB of ram (in sig), unless if I am transcoding, or running a very heavy game at balls-out settings. Once you hit 4GB (nowadays), there is a point of heavily diminishing returns.

 

I find an SSD is much more important and everyone in a m17x can take advantage of it by using a smaller SSD for WIN 7 install (7gb with drivers), Photoshop, office, browsers, couple games (play everyday) and other media files and the rest of your games and media can go on the secondary HDD which would be a 500gb, 640gb or 1tb....I had a 60gb OCZ SSD and 500gb in my m15x and had no issues and it was blazing fast for everything from response time, to bootup and even loading maps and benchmarks....well worth it...if you have had an SSD then you would know the benefits and having a second HDD in the m17x takes care of that issue.

 

Been there, done that. Got old plugging in externals and I honestly saw no benefit except during benchmarking. I like picking up the computer and knowing I have everything I need with me.

 

Then you are seriously doing something wrong. My desktop crawls for the first 3 min, while I can fully launch IE9, Word 2007, and all the silly gagets I have on my sidebar about 30seconds after pressing the power button on my laptop.


SSDs should make your entire system feel more responsive, maybe not at first, but once you compare back to a HDD based setup, it should be apparent. My desktop, fast as it, just couldn't hold a candle to my m11x, despite having more ram...


In terms of laptops, just get a larger SSD Past 120GB, there is a strange line to straddle, but 120GB should be enough for several games, office 2007, and windows 7 with about 60GB to spare... I know it was for me! [even with two ISOs I mount to get my silly games working when I don't have an external DVD drive (I bought them, not pirated )]. Though if that is not enough, I have read the momentus XT is fast enough, while still having upto 500GB of space availble

 

Yes apps load faster, but that made little difference to me. So it takes a couple seconds to open word, give me a break. Or 30 sec vs 60 to load the OS. I usually go to sleep or hibernate anyway so it only takes a few seconds to come back. I was wasting much more time having to install/reinstall, move data back and forth from external/internal etc so it wasn’t “saving” me any time. That is why it was not a positive experience for me, it was holding me back.

Playing games is what I care about and with a 256gb drive it was not enough for me. I’d rather get to play my games faster (because they are already installed and ready to go) then have the load times be quicker. Many of us Steam users have a huge library (mine is 90gb and I do not have that many games yet) in just that one program, and constantly removing and redownloading games just causes problems (plus there are license limits on some). Not everyone is the same. I need all of my docs, utils, ISO’s, music, emulators and (current) games on hand since I use them often. Wasting one of the 2 drive slots for a small SSD doesn’t cut it, that only leaves one drive for all my stuff. My videos library and old backups I have to keep on an external since they don’t make big enough drives yet and they are rarely used.

Anyway, most people will probably be fine with a SSD + mech drive, but I hate seeing people recommend it blindy. I like the way you put it in your previous post “unless if you… need the storage space”. Obviously with many people running RAID0 with large drives, larger storage is more important that raw speed for some people.

 

One of the reasons I'm contemplating removing the blu-ray drive and installing Intel 160GB X25-M Raid 0 for a 320GB SSD boot drive, plus a 750GB mech drive. Can't get much better than that

 

2 x 512 SSD's and a supplimental 1tb sounds even better (except for the pocketbook)

 

Then clearly, you didn't care. For you, it's a little difference. For me, it made my laptop a large leap faster than my desktop. When I open up Windows Live Mail, I don't have to wait some 30sec for it to start up. I don't have to send my computer into hibernate, since it boots ridiculously fast. I don't have to put off Windows Update reboot requests, since it will only take a minor amount of time, compared to a HDD. I don't have to wait for some silly HDD spinup after leaving my computer at idle. It's instantanious. I now think my desktop is slow, which seems insane, however fast it is.

RAID0 is also supposed to help gain speed... massive RAID0 setups were utilized in the past, and still are, to help realize this. While not their primary purpose, know that not every RAID0 setup is created for the same purpose.

With this many SSD being utilized, and even being put onto netbooks to help palliate their general CPU deficiencies, and the general scarcity of RAID0 setups in a laptop (sadly...), it's ability to change an user's computer usage experience is much more significant than, "I carry all my files (and then some?) on my laptop."

I work from my computer, and I cannot find enough documents and games to fill it. I have 9 games installed [mostly RTS titles, then Halo 2 Vista, and Portal ] and I still have 40GB free on my laptop. Somehow, I cannot find the time to play more than 1 or 2 for the entire day

At worst, use a Momentus XT, it will help in a few circumstances, while still providing a lot of storage space.

Recommending 8GB of RAM for increasing speed outside of a few rare usage profiles (what you are doing, in effect), is a much greater waste of money than buying a more expensive SSD (yes... even so), which WILL improve almost every computer task (again, the difference was subtle... I didn't realize how much faster my laptop [SSD] was, until I tried out my desktop [HDD] for a bit). I know my desktop is now sluggish... when by it's specs, it should be smashing my teeny m11x into the ground, and then some. In gaming it's faster, though that is an artifact of dual HD5870 vs a single 335m...

Think of it this way... I thought my old Sony SuperSlim Pro was fast (1998?). It ran windows 2000, and seriously took some 5min to get to the login screen (about 3min, +2min from experience - it loads the next bit much faster if I let it finish a few tasks first), and about 5min to the desktop. I didn't think of it much, back then, because I was used to it. I was used to the slow HDD that laptop had. When I was messing around with it a few years later, I found out my new laptop was indeed much faster (Dell Latitude X200 - newer HDD), and I was no longer acustomed to slower HDD. A semi-decent SSD is leaps and bounds faster than any mechanical HDD. It does have a smaller storage space, however, the m17x has two HDD bays. Laptop drives now go upto 750GB (within 9.5mm). That's about 75 games, if each takes 10GB. If you can play 75 different games within a 1 month period, or so (2-3 a day, never the same game), then... I'm done taling to you.

 

That does sound great. Actually I forgot. With the Blu-ray drive removed, I can put a 1TB 12.5mm HDD in the system. That the route that I'm going to go. 1TB + 160GB X2 RAID 0. If only M17x didn't have a 4K issue.

 

OR... you can just buy and SSD AND 8gigs of Ram

There you go, problem solved...

/end thread

 

^^^^DR650SE....go with raid 0 in SSD and 4k speeds should not be an issues anymore with having dual SSD.....yes the m17x will still need some sort of driver fix to take care of the issue but here is the 4k speeds on my SSD raid 0. The scores would be much higher if the 4k issue was taken care of my raid SSD 0 helps alot and makes the system extremely SNAPPY.










SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT

 

Ahh definately good to know. Thanks Faiz, I know the speeds were good in my M17x, but didnt remember what they were at the 4K level. Thanks!

 

I think the important thing to note is 8gb ram is overkill for most people(myself included). Very few will actually need it and they probably already know who they are. Many people like to go one step beyond the norm just to make sure that it’s not holding them back in those rare instances.

On the SSD issue:
SSD is better if you want the read/write performance, and space is not as important to you

HD is better if you want the space, and raw drive read/write performance is not as important

 

Agreed with dajohu I always tell people that they only need 8GB if they know they need 8GB. If you *think* or are unsure, than you don't need 8GB.

 

My M17x has a i7 940xm and Crossfire 5870s with the 4GB RAM.

I want my games to run at a high FPS, or at least without stuttering(which I got a lot with my old M17x r1)

So in terms of gaming and multitasking( school work etc...) will the 8 GB RAM make a difference???

AND I'VE GOT a 1TB HDD ON RAID1, I dont really care about the marginal increase in speed....

 

You shouldn't see any difference in games when going from 4GB to 8GB. It's rare to see a game use more than 1.5GB, let alone 4GB, so the extra memory won't really be used.

As was mentioned before, if you don't know if you need the extra RAM, you probably don't need it. The types of software that need a lot of RAM are generally quite technical, and the people who use this software will know if they need more memory. For anyone else, 4GB is usually fine.

 

Are you sure you don't mean 500gb in RAID 1? They don't make 9.5 mm 1TB drives yet and you can't fit 12.5 mm in both drive slots (so I've read).

If you have 2 x 500GB drives then the only way to get 1TB is using RAID 0.

 

I've got 2x500 GB HDDs in Raid 1........ I guess I probably won't need the 8 GB RAM now....but with my present configuration I should be able to play CRYSIS and Mass Effect 1 & 2 etc. without any stuttering right?

 

Yep Jr. Darth Vader ,

You should be able to smash both games with ease! Extra RAM will just improve the loading times for the games oles.
Just remember to have all the update patches installed as well for both games.

Cheers.