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    advice needed on new r3 what to upgade first

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by weddingvideos4u, Oct 9, 2011.

  1. weddingvideos4u

    weddingvideos4u Notebook Consultant

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    Have a system replacement on order.

    its a r3 with these specs
    210-34925 1 Alienware M17xR3 : Base Nebula Red 0.00 0.00 S
    213-14318 Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2860QM (2.50 Ghz, 8MB, 4C) 1 S
    230-11836 Display : 17.3in 120Hz w/ 3D Bundle WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD 1 S
    319-10631 Camera : Integrated 3.0 Mega Pixel HD Camera 1 S
    370-15259 Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel 1 S
    400-22273 Hard Drive: 320GB (7,200rpm) SATA Hard Drive 1 S
    429-15641 Optical Drive : Blu-Ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Drive
    451-11606 Battery : Primary 9-cell 93W/HR LI-ION 1 S
    490-13095 Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M 1 S
    555-13552 Bluetooth : European Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card 1 S
    555-13550 Wireless : European Dell Wireless 1501 wireless-N 1 S

    I will be using for Video editing.

    so need as much ram as possible 16gb 4x4gb but which types is best?

    how much will the system improve with an ssd drive looking at samsung 256 m4?

    anything else i need to do?

    thanks for any advice
     
    weddingvideos4u, Oct 9, 2011
    #1
  2. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    the first thing i'd do is install a SSD, then ram
     
    SlickDude80, Oct 9, 2011
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  3. jwolf7722

    jwolf7722 Notebook Deity

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    SSD--Best notable performance.
     
    jwolf7722, Oct 9, 2011
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  4. weddingvideos4u

    weddingvideos4u Notebook Consultant

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    whats the best / cost effective 256gb SSD to use?

    also any sweet deals on ram 1333 or 1600? speed
     
    weddingvideos4u, Oct 9, 2011
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  5. DarthPierce

    DarthPierce Notebook Consultant

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    I think the general consensus aronud this forum is to go with the crucial m4 for cost/perf/reliability.

    Intel might be more relieable, but tends to be much more costly.

    OCZ/kinston/other sandforce drives are a little better benchmarking, but lower reliability.

    As for ram, this is what I got: Newegg.com - Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model PSD38G1600SK

    Though this might be an even better deal
    Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-12800CL11D-8GBSQ
    it wasnlt an option when i bought mine.
     
    DarthPierce, Oct 9, 2011
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  6. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    Crucial M4, cant go wrong.
     
    Brabostaan, Oct 9, 2011
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  7. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Crucial M4 is this is your first SSD. If it isn't you could look into some others.
     
    widezu69, Oct 9, 2011
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  8. jwolf7722

    jwolf7722 Notebook Deity

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    There are about 50 threads about SSD's and which one to choose.

    Crucial M4 (cheaper) and Intel 510 both have been recommended by the majority of the people on here. I like my Intel 510 as it has worked perfect from day one.
     
    jwolf7722, Oct 9, 2011
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  9. Stampy

    Stampy Notebook Consultant

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    The biggest noticeable improvement will definately be the SSD drive as people already said it, because the mechanical hard drives are old technology. But maybe it would be interesting to know how much RAM those softwares of yours use on a daily basis? Video editing can be quite demanding, maybe you would know how much ram you used on a previous machine?
    Then there is the new question poping... if you used more than 4GB, would it still be faster if you upgraded the SSD, leaving the stock 4gb? No idea just throwing that question out there cause I'm curious :D
     
    Stampy, Oct 10, 2011
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  10. weddingvideos4u

    weddingvideos4u Notebook Consultant

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    My desktop an alien area51 ALX hex core 4.1ghz which i do most of my editing on has 12gb and could do with more! so answer is i use 12gb daily!

    the software breaks the rendering down to each core so hex core has 12 threads so ideally it could do with 24 gig ram as thats 2gb dedicated per core/rendering thread.

    the r3 is 4 core/ 8 thread so 2 gb per thread would need 16gb of ram, although some is needed for background and other programs so ideally it needs more than 16gb!

    the itel specs say 16gb max for sandy bridge is this right for 2860QM?

    however cost per gb is crazy for 8gb moduals, think 16gb 4x4gb is sweet spot!

    think answered my own question now.

    crucial 25gb m4 ssd seems good price compared to intel at the moment.
     
    weddingvideos4u, Oct 10, 2011
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  11. Stampy

    Stampy Notebook Consultant

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    Well then you better add this up for people on the INITIAL post. Because you HAVE to let them know you daily use 12 gigs.
     
    Stampy, Oct 10, 2011
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  12. weddingvideos4u

    weddingvideos4u Notebook Consultant

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    I have nw ordered the crucial 256gb M4 SSD and 4 x 4gb 1600 Hyperx cl9 ram.

    think that should do the trick. aything more than 16gb if possible is un economical.

    thank you for any advice given.

    as for in the initial post I hadnt worked it out at that point
     
    weddingvideos4u, Oct 10, 2011
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  13. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    Fabulous! The M4 is a headache free drive. Just install and use. i highly recommend it
     
    SlickDude80, Oct 11, 2011
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  14. weddingvideos4u

    weddingvideos4u Notebook Consultant

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    Just a quick question does anybody know how many monitors the nvidia 580 will support on this set up? r3

    anyway to get 3 screens? laptop plus 2 would be perfect!
     
    weddingvideos4u, Oct 11, 2011
    #14