Would like to upgrade to 16GB ram, 1600mhz 2x8gb. Recommendations please! Also questions about HD, and Windows 8

Hi, I have the standard 1600mhz 8gb ram in my r4, my specs are in my signature.

I was looking at this one Corsair CMXS16GX3M2A1600C10 16GB Vengeance Performance So-Dimm 1600MHz CL10 DDR3 Memory Kit: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

I would like to upgrade, should have done when I bought it! What do you recommend that's a decent price? Also I was wondering if there is any point in buying an SSD, will it make the computer much snappier once it's started up?

Lastly I was wondering if anybody has upgraded to Windows 8? I know you can easily get a startup windows 7-like start menu, I'll just pay for the best one. But is there anything else windows 8 offers, and I can just upgrade without voiding my 3 years warranty with dell right?

Thanks

 

Ram wise, you can get faster ram, but its the least cost effective upgrade probably. I got the cheapest but fastest 'normal ram' 1600mhz and cl10 you want cl10 or lower ideally (the hynix ram that comes pre installed is cl11) which means it's slower.

Komputerbay 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 10-10-10-27 with Black Heatspreaders 1.5V: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

seller seems good with warranty and they sent it quick as well. have had no problems with my sticks.

I would definitely get a SSD if possible. I have seen the NON pro version of the samsung 840 SSD 256GB for ~£125

I moved mine to a SSD about 1 days after I got my machine with the normal HDD but I always like the snappyness of a SSD.

In terms of windows 8, I would recommend a clean install if possible, to avoid any driver issues. Make sure your BIOS is the latest A11, and if you want to be fully windows 8 'compliant' in the BIOS use UEFI mode and AHCI and disale legacy support, it allows for windows 'fast/secure boot'. Using UEFI you can boot to login from cold in ~10 seconds.

 

What's the best deal of 16 GB Laptop RAM on the US market these days?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

In my opinion the RAM upgrade is completely unnecessary and you will notice no benefit from it. So I think you should add that money to your SSD budget, as that is REALLY worth it, my computer is super snappy and everything loads instantly!

 

Nah it won't void your warranty. I just updated from Windows 7 a couple days ago, so I guess I can recap some of my experience with it for you. The metro start screen is pretty different, and tbh I haven't really found a use for it yet. It would be more convenient if I had a touch screen.

I'm using Classic Shell as my start menu replacement. It's free and it works better for me than the W7 start menu did. I'm not sure why Start8 costs $5 (haven't looked into it), but this is working really well so far. It's very customizable and can support custom icons. I grabbed a pack of 213 icons here to pick and choose from. Not all work but many of them do, including a custom Alienware icon.

As far as Win 8 vs. Win 7 the bootup time is a bit faster under UEFI. I spent some time disabling unneeded startup programs today and it's pretty quick. The copy/transfer window shows you realtime transfer rates, which is awesome, and the overall UI feels snappier/more responsive than 7 did.

I use my laptop almost solely for gaming and so far it's performing exactly the same. No better, no worse. All of the games I have that were listed as "incompatible" by the Win8 upgrade wizard had no issues and I'm still running Skyrim with 240+ mods & ENB just fine.

Also here's a copy/paste list of stuff that's supposed to be improved in Windows 8 over 7:

Spoiler

Win 8 improvements
Client Hyper-V (So ability to run VMs built right in)
Much better battery life (by about 30%)
File History (similar to Apples time machine)
AppContainers sandboxed apps.
Slimline memory usage.
ForceASLR and High Entropy ASLR (HEASLR) ..security (Takes advantage of Ivy Bridge' RNG)
"Supervisor Mode Execution Prevention" (SMEP) support
Eliminates access to win32k.sys (Eliminates many security flaws/exploits)
Tickless kernel..lets processor sleep
Reset and refresh your PC (instead of total re-install)
ISO & VHD native mount (Supports Native boot VHD ... boot into OS from a VHD file works great creates a 40 GB harddrive by default for 8 rest is old system D:...dual-boot)
Native PDF reader
Enhanced Task Manager..see at a glance exactly which app is causing your hard drive to grind to a halt,
Windows Defender (True AV...basically now MSE)
Trusted boot (More secure)
Windows Store (Free apps)
SmartScreen (More secure than 7's version)
Storage Spaces (New Drive Extender replacement from WHS could make a good Home Server)
New ribbon for File management (can pause restart file transfers and has graph)
OS itself consumes less RAM and CPU cycles than Windows 7
Windows 8 is that it boots a lot faster than Windows 7
Many hackers have already gone on the record to say that Windows 8 is (and will be) very hard to break into.
Already optimized for SSD ( http://forums.mydigitallife.info/...n?p=621681)
Screenshots... Windows Key+Printscreen automatically save a PNG to Pictures
Support for ReFS the new file system, newer better than NTFS
System Wide Search.
Better File Management.
Better Device Management
Better Dual Monitor support.
Better Memory management
Registry is more compact and faster
Boot time: 9 sec cold > 5 seconds warm. Amazing
Seamless Cloud Integration (SkyDrive is pretty awesome).
USB 3.0 support.
Full touch support (This OS is killer with touch displays)
New picture login
Built- in Enhanced version of Narrator...MUCH IMPROVED for those with disabilities... fun for rest of us
..and many more little improvements... its fast!

Beneath the user interface, Windows 8 is in almost all regards a more efficient, more secure, more reliable operating system. From high-speed, hibernation-powered booting to Connected Standby and a tickless kernel, it takes the solid Windows 7 foundation and makes things better.

BTW, do yourself the favor of getting the SSD. Worlds of difference.

 

I already have a 256 GB Crucial SSD and I am up to 8GB RAM on a 4 year old X61T.

If I move up, I'd want to do it for the RAM.

 

SSD will give noticeable performance boost as opposed to ram upgrade

 

I think we all know that. That's why I went to SSD before when I went from 4G to 8G.

 

Cheers for the Answer, but the thing is... I open up lots of tabs, and quite a few 1080p video. A lot of the time my Ram usage goes 90+ and then shockwave crashes. If I was to get an SSD now, I'd have to reinstall Gta 4, which will be tiresome with all my mods...

If anything I'll upgrade when Gta V comes out. And yeah, the only game I play is pretty much Gta. I sometimes play Bf3, and I tried crysis 3 / far cry 3, not really my sort of thing. Free roam is perfect for me. I think I'll benefit from the 16GB ram more for now, and don't want to go through the hassle of upgrading to SSD, I think I might as well leave windows 7 until I do so.

Thanks for the tip!

 

I have the same issue. TONS of TABS.. And then Browser Plugins/ Extensions start crashing and I get memory is full thing from Windows 7.