M17XR3 Alienware

Hello

This is my first post ever or being part of any forum ...so please bear with me "New Fish" ...

I'm posting this so that I might be able to help someone out there regarding Alien ware M17XR3 laptops.
I will describe the M17X has the standard specs when I received it and then describe successful changes that I have made.

When I received the M17XR3
Windows 7 Home Edition ~booting Time was (60 Sec)


Hard drives.

2 x 320Gb Hard Drives in Raid mode Changed

Currently: Running (non Raid)
I can give you a few good hints to upgrade to Win7 Ultimate.
1 x SSD 120GB ( with Original Alienware Windows 7 Ultimate (Bay0)
1X 1TB Toshiba Hard Drive (Bay1)

Memory

2 X 4Gb Toshiba modules

Currently Running

4 x 4GB Kingston Modules. 16GB (install these myself) those in the know, know its not easy to get trough the bits to install the other 2 modules..

I have also used RAMDISK to create a RAMDISK Drive (5GB) running Windows TEMP CACHE and Google TEMP files in it. I have also install Office 2007 and Corel Draw)

The speed on this is :6.1Gbytes read and 4.5GB Write. (Its INSANE). Flawlessly working.
Google and programs load and run so fast its unreal.

Current Boot Time: 25 Seconds only. It's quite nice to see the performance gains.

I have setup everything myself from the bios to system install and all drivers.

I have all the names of the software used and how to get it.

I have also Customize the desktop , icons , start up, sounds …will post a link for a video on youtube soon to show the end product..J

If there is anyone that requires help let me know and I will happily help.

Other notes:
I also have build a damaged (2005)Toshiba P100-434 Dual core 4Gb Ram into a full wotking laptop.
Replaced the Screen
Replaced Battery and Power supply Plus Cables internal.
DVD Drive
RAM
Installed : SSD 120Gb Drive with also Win7 64Bit Ultimate
Previous Boot time: 3Min
Current after Repair and upgrades: 35 Seconds
Also running RAMDISK at 1GB (For Windows Files And Goolge) Really Fast for a 8 year old machine.

Other upgrades
ACER Mini desktop X3800
Previously Running: Vista, Dual Core 2Gb DVD drive. (Boring really) Boot time 2 min
Currently Running
Win7 ultimate
SSD Drive 120Gb ,8 Gb , RAMDISK Drive 2GB, Bluray Player , Upgraded mini 1Gb Graphic Card.Boot Time 36 Seconds.



If there is anyone that requires help let me know and I will happily help.

Tomcat1974

 

Thanks for the help offer. It's always good to see willingness to assist within the community. +1 Rep for that.
How is it for gaming? Any benchmarks or thoughts on that side?

Have you thought about overclocking? Or do you think it's just excellent the way it is?

You should also post this on the Owner's Lounge, we could use your help in there :thumbsup:

 

welcome to NBR

 

Hi...Nice to see a reply on this....Thank you


On the gaming side...

Well I have managed to put in 1Tb Drive on the second bay as described..
From it it runs : Call of Duty Black Ops, Splinter cell Blacklist, Fifa 13, Assassins Creed 3 and many many others...about 650 Gb just in games in it without a problem so far...considering its a 2011 laptop..
...Haven't check figures just yet but I will and let you know what i'm getting on fps and benchmark values..
I have played crysis 3 for about 6 hours on very high settings and I was the one suffering after...LOL old age I'm guessing ... ))

I have also enabled the overclocking in bios and incresed the values a bit, (not to much) and to be honest I dont see a massive difference as i find the laptop to be extremely quick as is.. I know there is a lot quicker ones out there but It def does the job with a few of the upgrades meantioned..

There is enough space to run a game from the Ramdisk drive I created (5Gb) and will let you know the results...Not quite sure if this makes any difference when it comes to results ..what to you think?
From a logical point I would assume the game would run better because of the speed Im getting in Ram at 6.1Gbytes but I will try..

 

Hi Thank you...

Like the specs on your baby...

Was wondering if my M17XR3 can run corsair ram like yours but not sure at all or where to find it... (
any tips my friend..