advice on alienware accesories (cooler,ram,ssd )

hi there, thanks to the help of steve on here (i am truely greatful ) i managed to recently buy an alienware m17xr4 and i was just looking for some advice on some upgrades for it

i am a complete noob when it comes to upgrading etc, so please be gentle with me?

i bought it with the standard 500 gb hard drive and standard 6 gb ram, i will eventually be looking to upgrade both of these, i will also be looking to buy a cooling stand for it to help keep the beast icy cool
ive looked at various reviews for the stands, but most are fairly old, and id rather ask advice from people who specifically have this laptop as apparently you need a cooer that blows air into the right places (so any advice will be much appreciated)

as for the ram, im looking to eventually add 16gb ram (maybe 8 gb at a time if possible) do i need to get the same make of ram that comes with it or can you mix and match ram? (ie crucial with whatever comes with it from dell), and do you have to put them in as pairs ? (ie i would have to buy two 8gb sticks rather than having one 8gb stick with dells 4gb stick that comes with it)

i am also wanting a solid state drive for the op system etc, recently bought a new pc and i love how fast it boots up etc, so i would like to have the same speed in my laptop, again does it have to be a certain type to fit in the alienware laptop?

i was going to ask advice on a bag aswell , but i went with the orion 17inch messenger one from dell (expensive, but i am hoping it will be excellent padding etc and given its specifically designed for alienware hopefully it will do the job)


the only other thing was a screen protector, ive seen in various places people saying you need to protect the laptop screen, is it really that necessary, and if so could someone recommend me a decent screen protector (preferably one with anti glare if i have to buy one)?

i appreciate anyones time who reads this, and advice will be given the respect it deserves, thanks a lot in advance

 

I'm no expert but what I'd say is you don't need the same RAM that Dell provides, just buy your own sticks... but I wouldn't recommend getting 1 stick from Corsair and the other from Kingston, get the same brand... And one thing I've read is that using 2 of the DIMM slots is better than using 4 (i.e. if you want 16GB, get 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB) But... You can mix and match if i recall correctly

Basically why make it a hassle, just get an 8GB stick from whichever brand you want, and buy another 8GB from the same brand later if you must.

About the screen protector... I don't know, but I hate screen protectors. I have never in my life used any screen protectors on phones or laptops.. and never gotten any noticeable scratches either. I'd say it would take away from the beautiful and high quality build and display... but maintaining your expensive laptop display must come first. If you can't keep it scratch free without a protector, get one... you can always take it off later.

The notebook cooler... I've read that the Cooler Master Notepal U3 is really good, and it has 3 fans which you can adjust to any position.. so you can put them pin point accurately where your laptop needs them.

And the hard drives, as far as I know all standard 2.5" hard drives fit... I would highly recommend the OCZ Vertex 4, I think it's a fair price and blazing fast performance as for the bag, I don't have one yet.. but I've heard good things about the Orion and I'm sure it's got plenty of padding and lots of pocket room for your accessories...

Hope this kinda helps I'm really tired so apologies for any nonsensical stuff

 

lol no need to appologize my friend, thanks a lot for the advice, any advice is better than knowing nothing (ie my present state - i also had under 2 hours sleep, so i fear my spelling and grammar are even more shocking than usual!)

 

So if I remember correctly you bought from the UK, so I was under the same circumstance.

First RAM, buy whatever, cheapest would be best, there are faster ones out there, but komputerbay does 16GB kit (2x8GB) for £40-50 depending on whether you want heat spreaders on them. They were rated CL10 (lower the better = faster) the default ones in the M17x are made by hynix I think, they are rated at CL11 and will most likely be installed under the bottom cover (easy to access) the other 2 slots are under the keyboard which is hard to get to, so bear that in mind. Its better to pair RAM sticks if possible, jsut for reliability issues.

Cooler wise the machine already runs cool, the HD3 cooler looks good and the U3 has movable fans, so have a look at those, I personally don't use one, highest temps I get is 65 playing games. I might invest in one later down the line.

SSD, in the UK at least they've started going up in price, I was lucky and got a samsung 830 256GB, £130, but they retail for around £160+ now. Get a good one if you can, just keep an eye out for any deals. Any 2.5' one will be fine, just make sure the height does not exceed 9.5mm.

I have the orion bag and its good, its about the size of carry on luggage for a plane, so get ready for its size, the laptop compartment is big, its padded but there is a bit of free space around the laptop, but it does the job. It's really hard to find a bag which fits, so you made a good choice.

Screen protector wise, I don't think your going to need it, how often are you going to come into contact with the screen? It will be in the bag, which is a separate compartment anyways.

You running windows 8 or 7? we will cross that bridge when you get there I guess, I recommend a clean install, under windows 8 I boot from shut down to login window in just under 10 seconds, I can't see why yours wouldn't too.

 

Same system here and upgraded to the 128 gb ssd from crucial (m4)
best upgrade you can do

for RAM I still have the stock 6GB and never was short on this

 

1. SSD: there are several good brands of SSD's you can look at; the crucial m4's, the vertex 4's, and the samsung 830/840 pro are some of the most popular and reliable drives around here. If your looking for the fastest speeds you can get and have the cash, I would recommend the 840 pro as it is one of the fastest drives on the market and seems to be pretty reliable.

2. RAM: I personally went with brand name RAM so that if it does end up failing, I know I can send it in and get it replaced under warranty, plus having some of the lowest timings available is always nice right? (I know it doesn't matter to much though.)

3: Cooler: I never have bothered with a cooler as I move my machine around a lot and a cooler would just be another thing to carry around. If I were to buy one though, the coolermaster u3 would probably be the one I would go for as it comes with 3 adjustable fans, and the base looks super sturdy.

Hope this helps you out.

 

thanks guys, i managed to get this:
500GB 7,200 RPM + 32GB mSATA Caching SSD

so hopefully that will speed things up somewhat, and i can look to upgrade it later. ill have a look at the u3

 

Since it's kind of on topic, I had a ram question. I ordered 8gb of Kingston HyperX 1866Mhz ram under the impression that it will be a plug and play replacement for the OEM M17x r4 ram. The r4 will recognize and run memory at 1866mhz without any tweaking or modification, correct?

 

My R3 recognized the 1600 I installed in it with no issues so there's no reason it shouldn't. I think Dell is even selling systems configured with 1866 now aren't they?

 

I think it varies from model to model and what is plug and play and what is not. Sometimes you have to mess with the XMP settings in the bios to get the right speeds I believe, but I'm far from an expert when it comes to RAM.

 

msata isnt as fast as normal ssd at the moment

 

I couldn't find a general consensus on it from searching either, some people said it would work while others didn't. I appreciate the help though guys. I guess the easiest way to find out is to try it and see

+rep when I can

 

no problem dude!! Hope it works for ya. If it doesn't, I believe that the corsair 1866 ram works just fine (plug and play). I might try flashing my ram to 1866 if I can find a decent guide on how to do it and if I grab a 2920xm, but we shall see.

 

If the 1866Mhz RAM doesn't work you can always downclock it and benefit from tighter timings.

 

I ordered mine with the standard 6GB of Ram and 500Gig Hard Drive. The first thing I did was transfer the drive to a new SSD and replace the Ram with 16GB. I put the original back in the Alienware shipping box for safe keeping in case I had to return it for repairs in the future, and to have for resale later down the road.

SSD I bought the Crucial M4 256GB SATA III from Newegg for $179.00 to $199.00

HHD my secondary HDD is the 750GB Seagate Hybrid drive for $129.00 to $159.00

RAM I got 16GB of 1600 MHZ Kingston HyperX for $59.00 for each 8GB KIT, Total $118.00 for 16GB

Cooler I got the TargusGaming Chillpad for $39.00 from Amazon

Also Got the Alienware 17.3 Backpack from Amazon for $59.00 vs. $99.00 from Dell

Some prices vary depending on when you get them and what sells or rebate are at the time.

 

dont know if i can link a site without breaking the rules , so im just going to name the ram?

would this work in that laptop (2x8gb sticks)
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML16GX3M2A1600C10) [CML16GX3M2A1600C10]

(i dont quite understand how some ram will work with certain laptops, but thats more be being ignorant of technology than anything else)

but id rather ask before i buy than to find out after i should have just asked?

 

No thats the wrong type of ram, thats for a desktop, i was wondering why I saw low profile.

Ideally you should have ram speed/size (laptops are SODIMM) but in the recent i7/i5 etc they are able to take faster ram/downclock ram if needed, so if you buy 1600 but its 1366 then it will downclock your ram automatically. The m17x R4 needs 1600mhz ram, but it can accept 1866 ram as well.

 

Thanks man, I'll keep that in mind. Would Intel XTU be the best way to downclock the RAM?

 

should downclock automatically. If you buy 1600mhz ram for the M17x r2 I believe it will automatically downclock to 1333mhz. (older processors don't support the faster speeds). don't see why it would be any different here.

 

lol fail, I knew ram would do that if you mismatched them (all automatically downclock to lower frequencry) should have realized the laptop would do that in this case too. Thanks tony

 

ok going to bite the bullet and buy the things

last minute checks - will this ram
Corsair CMXS16GX3M2A1600C10 16GB Vengeance Performance So-Dimm 1600MHz CL10 DDR3 Memory Kit

and this ssd

Crucial 512GB M4 SATA 6Gb/s 2.5 inch Internal Solid State Drive



definitely work/fit in the alienware?

 

They should be fine, although make sure you check the prices, I think I saw the 512GB M4 for £270. They both should fit, I got CL10 16GB kit (2x8GB) RAM for under £50 with heatspreaders on them as well.

 

cant find anywhere near that price for the ram :O can u message me where u got that?

 

I'd say

16gb of ram paired sticks (if you want 16 that is)
SSD (best most reliable you can afford ...infact you may want to make this a priority ...IMO Samsung or crucial we don't get the mercury or mydigitalssd)
And a cooler pad( I have the zalman, but the U3 does make a lot of sense)

 

Link is below for ones I got (I got black heat spreaders, but they will do the same job) not the biggest brand in the world but they work and they give you a decent warranty/guarantee. Clocked/ the timing is the same as the Corsair vengence at CL10.But at £13 cheaper.

Btw because of the heat spreaders its quite a tight fit. but they will slot in dont worry.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007PZWWYK/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

SSD wise, keep an eye on hotukdeals, just search SSD every few days and you should find a decent deal, seems like memory prices for RAM and SSD have gone up since christmas/november time.

 

Well I bit the bullet and ordered, went with the 256 m4, that crucial ram , and a u3 cooler, now I just need a half decent cheap mouse and I'm sorted

 

congrats dude!! and I'm personally a fan of razer and the R.A.T. products. I have a razer orochi that does great in both wired and wireless mode, plus it comes with a nice neoprene case for when you need to take it on the go.