Upgrade RAM on my Alienware M17X R4

Hey i want to buy RAM for my aleiwanre m17x r4. its 7970 radeon with 3610QM.. i was thinking of puting right now x2 8GB 1600 1.5V ram.. not 4x4GB because maybe in the future ill want to upgrade to 32GB so ill have the possibility by putting another x2 8GB RAM.. is this right to do? and which ram you are recommanding to use?

im thinking of buying this..:
CORSAIR Vengeance Performance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM 1600MHZ Laptop Memory CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10 RAM Experts

Thank you very much for your help

 

That's the right stuff, buy it.

 

Do you monitor your RAM usage? Do you ever get even close to using more than 4GB? I got a 8GB 2x4GB 1600Mhz CL9 kit for like $30. Its faster than your memory you linked. If you are dead set on spending $100 on RAM I'd rather get faster memory for that extra 2-3% performance than the 0% performance gain of having 8-12GB of RAM that is always untouched.

 

Faster memory can equal FPS increase or 2-3% performance gain overall as stated above.

 

okey thank you for the recommandation.. then whats the diffrences exactly between the memory i linked to yours? what is better then this? ofc i want the best performance

 

Maybe you should monitor your RAM usage before you decide to buy. A program such as hwinfo or something else can run in the background and report the max amount of RAM you are using. So download it, have in run in the background and use your computer doing the stuff you normally do, and keep an eye on the maxmimum value for physical memory used. Unless you are doing some crazy professional computing on your computer it might be safe to say 8GB is enough...but obviously you need to make sure for yourself.

The RAM I bought and the RAM you linked runs at the same frequency....1600MHz, but the RAM I bought runs at a tighter timing. Tighter timing also increases your performance slightly in certain situations, so you want to minimize the value you see there. I would say 1600MHz CL9 is a good speed and value compromise. If you have a little more money maybe you can buy a 1866MHz kit...I'm not sure about the availability of faster RAM for laptops....but as most people will tell you, the gains you get from anything more than 8GB of 1600-CL9 is really limited...

Just some suggestions, you're free to buy/run whatever you want, and the RAM you linked will certainly work...but my final recommendation is this:

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSQ

or if you want a heat spreader on your RAM,

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G

There really isn't a point in discriminating amongst reputable memory brands so just go by price...I like G Skill but Kingston, Corsair, etc makes no difference as long as the specs are right. Also, be sure to look at the user review to see if there are any compatibility problems....for example the Corsair 1866MHz RAM looks troublesome and I would personally avoid it.

 

you are saying that my laptop wil support 1866?
tbh i dont care about the price i just want the best performanc im playing rough games and would love to get the best out of my machine :] Thanks a lot for your help mate :]

 

It should...I'm running 1600 so I can't say 100% but certainly the BIOS options are all unlocked and available for 1866....in mine at least.

 

I'm currently running 8GB of this: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9

I've just got my second set today, so soon I'll have 16GB going. Currently, it's the tightest timings I have found in the price range I was looking at (9-9-9-24). The Kingston linked above were not available when I originally placed my order, not sure if I would have purchased those instead, but with the price difference, I would say that I would have thought about it.

My first set of RAM that I got from Newegg I had to RMA. But the second set came in perfectly. Hopefully my other set I just got is also good. Like with any electronics, if you order a set and you have to RMA them, don't automatically think that all their products are like that. Some just get damaged during shipping, or just go bad sitting. Now if you have to constantly RMA the same product, then you may need to think about going with another brand. But so far, I love my Corsair Vengeance.

 

With a 7970m and a 3610QM, you will pretty much never get a noticeable frame rate increase. That extra money can go towards something more useful.

 

allright thank guys. right now my machine has x1 4gb 1600 + 2gb 1600 ram.. guess ill just buy another 4gb 1600 ram and run with it thank guys.

 

Hey folks, My alienware m17x R4 is on its way with 6GB. I want to install 16 GB. Does anybody know if this product is completely compatible with the Ivy Bridge architecture and the motherboard. From the description on this amazon page it was designed for sandy bridge. My processor is 3720qm.
Amazon.com: Corsair Vengeance Laptop Memory Kit 16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL10 PC3 12800 (CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10): Computers & Accessories

 

should work fine with Ivy Bridge systems as well as Sandy Bridge.

 

newbie here

so can i use two set of the CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9

for a total of 16GB?

do i need to change the bios? if so how?

thank you in advance

 

It should just plug and play, 1600mhz is an intel supported frequency.

 

Anything CL10 or below, and 1600MHz is fantastic RAM. Corsair and Kingston are some of the best

Apart from benchmarking you will notice 0 performance improvement going below CL10 or higher than 1600MHz

 

currently have

Kingston HyperX PnP 8 GB (2x4GB) in the two slots under m17x,

can i mix

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) in the slots under the keyboard

for a total of 16GB?



some says that it put stress on the pc? is it ture?

or is it better to stay with the same brand?

thanks again