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    Need help wtih Alienware 17 ram upgrade

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by xyfrank5699, Dec 1, 2017.

  1. xyfrank5699

    xyfrank5699 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello guys,

    I originally purchased the alienware 17 on 2013 and after years now it turning pretty slow. I'm thinking to upgrade the Ram, just got a couple questions:

    1. Can I upgrade the DDR3 to DDR4?
    2. Any recommendations for Ram? for example brand etc.
    I'll post my pc config here:
    [​IMG]

    it seems that i have 4x 4GB Rams right? so do I need to buy 4x new 4GB Rams or I can just go 2x 8GB to make it 16GB? any further details about how to install and upgrade would be appreciated. Thanks!
     

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    xyfrank5699, Dec 1, 2017
    #1
  2. Danishblunt

    Danishblunt Guest

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    No need to buy new ram.
    You cannot upgrade from DDR 3 to DDR4.
    The slow notebook is probably caused by slow storage drive, rather than RAM.

    You should upgrade to an SSD, pretty sure you got a normal harddisk.
     
    Danishblunt, Dec 1, 2017
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    ll_r1d0_ll and Dennismungai like this.
  3. xyfrank5699

    xyfrank5699 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks a lot. I guess thats the case, any suggestion for an SSD? thinking to choose between samsung & intel
     
    xyfrank5699, Dec 1, 2017
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  4. Danishblunt

    Danishblunt Guest

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    Get whatever deal is best for you. If you can get a good intel for a good price go for that, vice versa for samsung.
     
    Danishblunt, Dec 1, 2017
    #4
  5. Dennismungai

    Dennismungai Notebook Deity

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    I'd actually recommend an alternative vendor: Crucial.

    Take a look at their MX300 series.

    The budget sweet spot is 525 GB.
    Their priciest (and fastest) model is the 2 TB version.

    Disclaimer: I own a pair of 2 TB Crucial MX300 SSDs and they're excellent performers.
     
    Dennismungai, Dec 1, 2017
    #5
  6. EepoSaurus

    EepoSaurus Notebook Deity

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    EepoSaurus, Dec 1, 2017
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  7. Reciever

    Reciever D! For Dragon!

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    You can upgrade RAM but its not going to change your experience in the way you would expect

    Grab an mSATA SSD and convert your current drive to storage
     
    Reciever, Dec 1, 2017
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  8. Stoney Lawson

    Stoney Lawson Notebook Enthusiast

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    Definitely do a SATA SSD, not m.2, as the sata can be faster than standard m.2 drives
     
    Stoney Lawson, Dec 2, 2017
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  9. EepoSaurus

    EepoSaurus Notebook Deity

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    There is no option to put an m.2 drive in the 17r1
     
    EepoSaurus, Dec 2, 2017
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  10. Fugaziman

    Fugaziman Newbie

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    I beg to differ...I have a 2013 alienware 17 which has 2 x 1TB normal drives and an 80 GB MSATA SSD. In my case the hard drives are in a raid setup and the MSATA is used for caching. I'm going to replace it with a larger drive and use it for my primary boot drive.

    This may help you...It's the alienware owners manual which tells you where things are and how to remove or install things. http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_alienware_laptops/alienware-17_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

    You either have the option of fitting a standard ssd in one of the two standard hard drive slots, using alienspawn or windows backup to backup your current windows installation and installing or restoring on that or getting a MSATA ssd and fitting it into it's dedicated slot and restoring or fresh installing to that one.


    Oooops...ignore this....didn't notice the M2 bit
     
    Fugaziman, Dec 2, 2017
    #8