Upgrading Alienware M17x R2

I was thinking about upgrading my Alienware M17x from 4 gigabytes of DDR3 @ 1066mhz to 8Gigs of DDR3 @ 1066mhz. I was also thinking about adding an extra 500gigs of HDD.

First of all I would like to know if it is worth the extra 300 bucks to add 4 more gigs. Is it noticeable?

Second of all I would like to know if the Alienware M17x can support adding another harddrive? Right now I only have the 500gig 7200rpm single harddrive. Is there another dock inside waiting for me to put another one in?


=) Thanks.

 

The M17x can support a second hard drive.

The empty drive bay is located under the bottom of the laptop - acess cover.

8 GB of memory - most apps will not even use it, so unless you don't mind spending the cash, I would stick to 4 for now

 

Oh thanks =)

 

You should upgrade to a SSD drive before moving from 4 gigs to 8 gigs if you want to see improvement or a "Noticeable Improvement" You'd hardly notice the move from 4 gigs to 8 gigs. I currently have 6 gigs myself and a SSD drive on my m17x-r2.

 

Corry I would spend the $300 on an SSD drive. 7200 drives are extremely slow compared to SSD.

Windows 7 64 bit will support up to 196 gig of ram. The old 32 bit systems could only use around 3.3 gig. 4 Gig is the new minimum standard. Some games and photoshop will welcome the extra ram. That being said you can always upgrade the ram or the additional hard drive later. It is easy to add ram or an additional hard drive later but it is extremely dificult to replace your main hard drive. Also ram and hard drive prices are continously falling. Research SSD drive before making your decision. I switched to SSD drive 4 months ago on my desktop and love SSD. Use SSD for your games and operting system. Use traditional drive for your photo and video.

 

"With an SSD, your system will start up and shut down quicker, applications will load faster and feel more responsive, and even games will perform better as levels load more quickly. With virtually instant data access times, SSDs also outperform traditional hard drives in data lookup, file transfers, and other disk-intensive work.
Longer Battery Life
Using an SSD with your notebook or netbook means you’ll enjoy longer battery life. Traditional mechanical hard drives consume large amounts of power to start up and seek data. With no moving parts, SSDs use less of your precious battery power, resulting in longer running times.
Tougher and More Durable
Because an SSD uses all solid-state electronics with no moving parts, it can handle shock and vibration far in excess of traditional hard drives and will survive wider temperature swings. For durability and toughness on the road, nothing outperforms an SSD."

 

If the apps you use support the extra ram you may see a bug difference. My desktop has 16 gb of ram, and I remember the day we went from 8 gb to 16. Our comp app wasn't using the scratch disk as much. Our 3d app could open much more complex scenes.

I'm getting the m17x with 8 gb. To me that's the new min for production work. I could have chosen a lappy that supported 16 gb, but that 6500 covet wouldn't be as good of a gaming rig. Best of both worlds, m17x. And yes I agree with this bunch, an ssd will make a huge diff.

 

Is It more cost effective to purchase a SSD from newegg and buy the system with the 500gig 7200 or the other way around.

 

buy it with the 500gig from dell and get an intel ssd from newegg

 

That's what I was thinking. What's the brand preference here on the forums.

 

That's what I was thinking. What's the brand preference here on the forums.

 

Intel and OCZ from what I read on this forum, I'd probably go with the intel x-25 160gb

 

the M17x has no probs adding a 2nd hard drive.

Only a few apps will make use of the 4 extra GB, e.g., Photoshop, video editing, 3D rendering...

 

If you buy the traditional hard drive and than decide to upgrade to the SSD later here is the problem. (for some)

1) The SSD will become your primary drive. That means you will have to remove everything off your computer and reinstall. Transfer email, folders, software, keys, ect, driver updates.

2) Drivers need to be loaded in a specific order. You can't just go to Dells site and go down the list from top to bottom. Drivers MUST be loaded in a very specific order otherwise your system will be unstable. For some that can be a real nightmare.

3) If you only have one computer you will no longer have the ability to look up information regarding your upgrade. Enjoy the black out.

4) Here is the kicker. Your Alienware will come beautifully set up. They will supply you with back up disks. Well sort of. Those back up disks will be the operating system and the software. However you will be asked to upgrade from Dells site all the drivers. The problem is that the driver selection for say the DVD will also have 5 or 6 other drivers for other models of DVD. Same with the wifi card, et. Your responsible for sorting out which version of DVD, which brand, which model. I have been this @%$#@ 3 times with my XPS.

5) The headache factor is huge. For some techy people this is actually a fun thing to do but for others it would be a nighmare.

6) Lets say you buy a third party hard drive. You have problems and send computer to Dell. Are they going to void the warranty because you have added someone elses hardware?

7) I have never needed to add an additional hard drive to a laptop. I would question whether there is anything proprietary such as mounting hardware. The last thing you want is a loose hard drive.

8) The new windows 7 64 uses up to 196 gig of ram. To argue that you will see no improvement going to say 8 is rather silly. Also I think depending on your core you are better with 8 than 6.

9) I upgraded my XPS ram at Best Buy and had no problem. The original ram was replaced to keep all the chips the same brand.

 

lol...Falcon I don't think I said no improvement, merely that most applications are not yet coded to use extra memory, even if Windows 7 is.

If you multitask a lot, sure you will see improvement. The latest photo and vidoe apps make use of any RAM you add. Not to mention 3D Studio Max and other 3D rendering software. Even database apps will take advantage of your extra RAM.
But your run-of-the-mill typical user or even gamer is not going to get a signficant improvement in his/her daily use or games enough to justify the expense.

 

LOL, in the time it took you to write all of that I probably could have reinstalled my ssd and installed win 7 on it. I think you have some valid points about some of the issues with ssd's, but in reality they aren't that complicated and can make a huge difference in performance.

 

Can I have one 500gig 7200rpm harddrive and the other a 250gig ssd?

 

Yep. Make sure to have the OS and all of your programs installed on the ssd. Keep media etc on the 500gb drive

 

It's what many including myself have done.

I boot off the 256 GB SSD and use the 500 Gb for storage

my boot time is < 30 seconds