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    Upgrading m17xR3 from 4GB Ram

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by esteve, Oct 13, 2011.

  1. esteve

    esteve Notebook Geek

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    Hello,

    I bought my m17x R3 with base memory because I've replaced memory before and I know its a (fairly) painless procedure. I do a lot of development and I need the extra RAM for running VMs, eclipse, mobile emulators, firefox with tons of tabs, etc. and at 4GB I seem to be reaching my threshold. Now that I finally have some money, I want to make the upgrade, but I'm unsure what brand and speed to buy?

    I have heard there is essentially no difference from 1333 and 1600 (I have the 2720 so that is an option..), does this hold true? Does anyone know of some good deals out there? I was considering just using the original memory and filling the 2 empty slots, is this acceptable? Should I be upgrading to 8 (2x2GB)? (2x4GB)12? (4x4GB)16?

    Thanks!
     
    esteve, Oct 13, 2011
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  2. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    Kingston seems to be good. 2x4GB. If you the money 4x4GB.

    About the speed, if you use the IGP it will boost performance.
     
    Brabostaan, Oct 13, 2011
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  3. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    what ram did your computer come with 1600s? 1333s?

    mine came with 4gigs 1333 and i went out and bought 2x4gigs of gskill 1333 cas9 ram for a total of 12gigs. It was only $40 so it was a very economical upgrade. Its working great.

    I will at some point upgrade to 1600 all around. THe difference in performance between 1600 vs 1333 ram is about 1-2% so isn't much...but it will bug me until i upgrade it :D
     
    SlickDude80, Oct 13, 2011
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  4. esteve

    esteve Notebook Geek

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    Pretty sure it came with 1333, would it make a difference if I mixed speeds? Whats the difference between PC3 10666 and PC3 10600, do both work in this laptop? Also is Cas Latency & timing important, or is this nitpicking?
     
    esteve, Oct 13, 2011
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  5. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    no you're not nitpicking

    you can mix speeds...for example buy 1600 ram...but ram will only run as fast as the slowest pieces, so the 1600mhz will run at 1333mhz

    I don't think there is much diff between 10666 and 10600, but the hynix ram that came in my system was 10666 so i suggest you buy 10666. Both should work

    You want cas9 1.5v. You can get 8 gigs of ddr3 cas9 1333mhz pc-10666 for about $45. So this upgrade is a no brainer

    For example: Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBSQ
     
    SlickDude80, Oct 13, 2011
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