Upgrading Memory

Hey guys,

Quick question. I am going to be adding 2 4GB DDR3L 1600 MHz sticks to my Alienware 17. Is there anything i need to other than install them? I am just not sure if there is something in the BIOS that needs to be changed or if it is just as simple as it should be by just installing the 2 memory sticks and turning on the computer.

 

just install them, no need to make edits to the BIOS.

 

I don't recommend mixing brands, but it shouldn't harm anything. As long as they both have the same frequency and voltage, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

My recommendation is to match up the frequency, voltage and CL rating on the modules and you should be fine.

 

OK guys. I got it installed. Everything seems to be running fine. All diagnostic testing came back fine as well. The only thing I notice is that on start up when I enter my password to enter windows the password dots wont show up until about a second or so after I start typing. I don't think that is related though it might be.

 

Probably unrelated, might be windows preloading more stuff in the background. You have HDD or SSD?

 

Yeah I am going to say its unrelated. I just logged in after coming home and had no lag. I have an SSD. I am actually watching it pretty closely right now because it seems to have slowed down a little bit. I've only had it for a few months. I didn't notice the slow down until I uninstalled about 10 games I had on here.

 

One other question is before I installed the new ram I had 532 GB available on my SSD. Now with the additional 8 GB I installed it brings my total memory to 16 GB. 8 GB stock and 8 GB after market. I now see I have only 518 GB free on my SSD. Is this normal?OK that makes since. One other question is before I installed the new ram I had 532 GB available on my SSD. Now with the additional 8 GB I installed it brings my total memory to 16 GB. 8 GB stock and 8 GB after market. I now see I have only 518 GB free on my SSD. Is this normal?

 

OK after speaking with someone and doing some research I suspect that it is my page file. I have hibernation disabled in my power settings. But if I originally had 8GB of ram and before I installed the additional 8GB of ram I had 532GB free on my SSD but after installing the additional 8GB of ram bring it to a total of 16GB of ram I then had only 518GB free on my SSD would the additional 8GB of ram increase the page file 14GB? That would be be the difference between 532GB and 518GB.

 

if you have 16gb of RAM you don't need the page file. i've disabled mine and i have 16gb.

 

Yeah I am thinking about disabling mine as well. I also figured out my question above.

 

if you went 32gb you could even do a ramdisk.

 

You should not completely disable your page file. Page file can be set to 2-4GB so that it would not go over 4GB, but it should not be completely disabled. You can run into issues down the line.
More on this:
Understanding the Windows Pagefile and Why You Shouldn't Disable It

 

I have about 250MB page file.. Some games do require pagefile so its good that even if you have 16GB RAM, you at least have some page file...

 

does BF4 require page filing?

 

Well I'll be leaving the page file alone. Especially because I am going to be getting Watch Dogs when it comes out and it looks like its going to use up all my resources if I plan to play it on decent settings.

 

Change your page file size so it maxes out at 4GB - Windows really is badly programmed on this - if you have 2GB Of ram it'll do a 2GB page file, 4GB 4GB, 8GB 8GB and so on, in reality you don't need a huge page file with more ram.

 

I hate to relight this thread but it seems I am having blue screens now. 3 days after installation. First blue screen said it was a driver from Alcohol 120% and then after having the computer going for about 2 hours it blue screened again saying it was an nvidia driver. Can this be because of the new additional memory?

 

did you try whocrashed? see what it flags up as iffy. Could be memory if it was fine before though. Try a memtest, try even the alienware diagnostics?

 

Well I just pulled the memory. I'm running my virus scans again. When installed the memory the first time I did diagnostic through the BIOS and even did the full scan on the alien autopsy and even the mem test through windows and everything was fine. So I guess if everything works this time without a bsod I guess it's them mem. But I've had the mem in since Sunday without issue until today. Only thing I did different was run my virus scans but even that shouldn't be an issue. It almost seems like the computer would be for a few hours then blue screen.

 

Fans aren't running as much or at higher speeds like they were since the additional memory was removed

 

Looks like it's the additional memory

 

Do not turn the whole page file. You should have left 800 mb for error messages. You lose the ability when you do so.

 

Yeah I set a small page file to cover edge cases.

 

best to have it on the OS drive or on another drive?

 

I'm returning the memory. I ran cpuz and found there is Samsung memory stock. The Kingston memory was the right type but for some reason Alienate doesn't like it. This is the second Alienware 17 that i have had do this. Memtes86 + gave no errors during a 10-12 hour test either so I'm not sure why the memory causes blue screens. Also I noticed which each pass Memtest did it slowed down and was on pass 3 when I woke up this morning. Something tells me that's not right because I've read where people have gotten 7 passes out of one night.