The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
 Next page →

    Advice on hyperX 2133 RAM

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by dandan112988, Nov 15, 2013.

  1. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Hey everyone, I just had a rough week and decided I wanted to upgrade my monster. Also, in BF4 I noticed i'm on he edge of running out of ram, 7800MB used sometimes, so I picked up 2 sets of Amazon.com: Kingston HyperX Plug n Play 8GB Kit 2133MHz DDR3 PC3-1700 Non-ECC CL12 SODIMM Notebook Memory KHX21S12P1K2/8: Computers & Accessories . Which from my understanding is the very best ram you can buy. Expensive upgrade at 240, but what the hell. Anyways, this kit takes up all 4 ram slots, any advice after I get them installed in my beast? Any settings I need to play with or enable in bio ect? Or is it install and run at 2133 and be happy?


    Thanks everyone!
     
  2. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    The plug and play should just go, the timings are built in as the stock speeds and are not embedded as an XMP profile.

    It is the fastest stock ram available and I know 2 sticks work just fine, I am not sure on 4 sticks though. You can always adjust the timings in the bios if needed.
     
  3. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Hmm, can anyone confirm 4 sticks working? I just bought 4. 2 sticks would be no good because i'm at 8 right now and on the edge of running out!
     
  4. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    northstar2320 likes this.
  5. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Is the game itself using 7800MB or are you looking at usage since that does include cached programs by windows which it can dump out any time if a program needs it. Windows tries to fill the ram up for fast usage so your system is a responsive as possible.

    EDIT: Interesting I did not realise corsair had put out a 2133mhz 1.35v kit, I wonder how they compare to my samsung modules?
     
  6. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    i just have the game open and a few windows in my internet browser, and we are at the 7830mb mark... i think its causing some of my stutter in bf4..

    sponge, i thought some people were having issues with the vengeance ram, and the hyperx was more friendly towards the m18x r2?
     
  7. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Well at stock speeds both would be pretty identical, it's having more ram that would impact performance.

    Windows will partially load commonly used programs to speed up their startup time if you use them, so even if you are not currently using programs ram will be used to cache these so you can't just look at the total used.
     
  8. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Indeed, I myself once bought Corsair Vengeance 1866 and they simply wouldn't work in dual channel so I had to return them. However, people (Mr. Fox immediately comes to mind) have managed to nail down exactly the botched-up SPD setting that's causing the problem on the R2 and found the fix. I find it somewhat unlikely that after almost two years the new 2133 DDR3L is still suffering from the same problem. I for one will be ordering a pair of them (at least) soon as my replacement-of-replacement AW 18 (a whole different story for another time ;)) arrives.
     
  9. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I am shocked that BF4 is consuming almost 8GB of system memory. I don't know if it truly needs that much or it is just a sign of it being a very poorly optimized game. If you use RivaTuner OSD and set it to show GPU memory utilization, how much of your 2GB of vRAM is it chewing up?

    I am aware of no reason this would not work fine. I have 4x4GB of the 1866 that I flashed with firmware for this memory and it works flawlessly. It is totally plug and play and runs at 2133 with the BIOS memory speed set to "Auto" so I would expect this HyperX to do exactly the same thing.

    Not only does it work correctly, but you can also overclock it... :thumbsup:

    2133-CAS11.JPG
     
    reborn2003 and dandan112988 like this.
  10. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    I'll check on the vram and report back, hopefully this gives me a little boost when running bf4

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  11. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    My vram use is around 1940 mb at max

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  12. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Wow, so you don't have a lot of wiggle room with vRAM either. That's pretty demanding.

    Does BF4 have any kind of built-in benchmark test?
     
  13. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Hmm, not sure if it has a benchmark. ... MSI afterburner is saying it maxed out at 2034 today for the vram.

    I've been having some buyer remorse on this ram purchase. The more I read the more i'm convinced it a waste of money because it gives little to no performance increases in games. I'm thinking of just buying 2 more 4gb sticks of the stock ram that came with my laptop with the part number. Its samsung ram, and call it a day. I really want to buy it but everyone is telling me its a waste of money. Can anyone convince me that buying these name brand high speed ram sticks do anything worth noting to a system?
     
    Mr. Fox likes this.
  14. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    High speed memory upgrades are nice for... well... memory benchmarks. For most games and many benchmarks that are not memory intensive it provides no discernible benefit. You can measure it, but can't really "feel" the difference. Going from 1600 to 2133, you may well notice a minor improvement in system responsiveness. That's a big jump in speed. I went from 1600, to 1866, then 2133, so it basically masked or minimize any kind of improvement that I could detect with normal use and gaming. If it were 2400 or higher it might start to feel more impressive. Just don't expect anything amazing like going from HDD to SSD or a QM to an XM CPU because you will be sorely disappointed.

    Now, from what you are describing about BF4 it seems to be a rather ludicrous resource pig, so you might notice an improvement running BF4 than you would not with other games.
     
  15. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Does Afterburner report double the actual vRAM usage for SLI setups? I know it does for Crossfire..
     
  16. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    No internal benchmark as far as I am aware but there are console commands to give some info while you are playing.
     
  17. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    I read about of god things about the corsair vengeance 1866 stuff. anyone have a comparison of running corsair vengeance 1866 8x2 vs hyperx 2133 4x4? Speed tests or anything?
     
  18. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,172
    Messages:
    10,077
    Likes Received:
    1,122
    Trophy Points:
    581
    I've no direct comparison, however, from what I've read on these forum boards, the Corsair Vengeance memory can be hit and miss. Personally, I've never had an issue with Kingston memory - it's always been rock solid and has never caused me any headaches whatsoever. I've read lots of comments from various people who have run into issues with the Corsair memory.

    Anyway, strictly speaking, if you have 16gb of ram running in dual channel - regardless of populated slots - the faster clocks should prove to be better, performance wise.

    That would be my take on it.....16gb @2133Mhz is gonna be better than 16gb @1866Mhz. Will it 'rock your world?' - probably not noticeable in everyday use, but you might see some slightly higher benchmark results I'd imagine.
     
  19. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Well that depends on the timings too, if your memory runs faster but at much looser timings in non bandwidth limited situations you will get worse performance as your overall latencies are longer.
     
  20. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Corsair Vengeance 2133 @ 11-11-11-27 1.35V.. Grabbing a pair soon as Dell delivers :cool:
     
  21. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Grabbing 2 packs for 16gb? Can you link me which ones ones your getting ?

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  22. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,172
    Messages:
    10,077
    Likes Received:
    1,122
    Trophy Points:
    581
  23. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    Right as ever, Stevie. I meant a pair of sticks though, nothing extravagant. Waiting for a good discount to come out of these incessant Newegg promotion emails.. ;)

    A few days ago RAM was having 10% off. Guess what, they also quietly raised the price on that from the usual 104.99 to 109.99. Still cheaper I suppose but not quite as generous as they make it out to be :p
     
    steviejones133 likes this.
  24. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
  25. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,172
    Messages:
    10,077
    Likes Received:
    1,122
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Yeah - should be fine. UltraGSM had 32gb of low voltage ram for sale here http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...atsink-32gb-ddr3-1600mhz-low-voltage-ram.html that he sold, prior to selling, he tested it in his R1 and R2.

    I think it's only Haswell based machines that cannot utilise memory over 1.35v because of it's "tree-hugging" nature.
     
  26. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Haha, Ok good. I wonder if the corsair 2133 would work at 2133 in a 4x4 configuration

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  27. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Desktop haswell can use 1.5V memory, I guess intel wanted to improve their general battery life numbers and forced people to use 1.35v memory with mobile CPUs.
     
  28. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,172
    Messages:
    10,077
    Likes Received:
    1,122
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Which is a real shame - just because the mobile variant accepts or can run on a battery is no real justification to cut the legs off it before it can walk. Note the 'can', because anyone who is looking at an Alienware (or any other high end mobile solution for that matter) isn't going to be wanting to run it on battery for it's primary purpose.

    Mobile Haswell, with it's 'green nature' should have only ever been released for those who find energy savings attractive - the ultrabook brigade etc -not the performance laptop market. Just my humble opinion, though.....
     
    Mr. Fox and ltcmdrQ like this.
  29. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Ah but many 3rd parties would have used 1.5v memory if it was an option to save money. Since this would impact the largest market segment by far they went with it.

    Due to the development cost of an architecture they will do everything possible to avoid adding in another design into the mix.

    Do I like it? No, but that's the way it currently is with no pressure from AMD.
     
    Mr. Fox and steviejones133 like this.
  30. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I agree with both of you... I don't like it either. You're not alone in your sentiments about the concept behind the 'green nature' of Haswell being a real vice for enthusiasts. Sacrificing performance for a savings of maybe $10-$20 a year on electricity is, to put it bluntly, pretty stupid. If battery life is critically important, buying a gaming laptop of any kind is using the wrong tool for the job. It's a nice little bonus if you can get it thrown into the package for free as kind of an afterthought with the manual graphics switching, but not at the expense of performance... even just a little bit of sacrifice in terms of performance is too much IMHO.
     
    steviejones133 likes this.
  31. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Maybe some "big little" core design could help us here, that way the very silicon of the high performance component as well it's general design can be tweaked for performance while one or two small cores designed for power efficiency could handle idle like tasks.

    In fact I could see 2 little cores and 4 big ones working out very well.
     
    steviejones133 likes this.
  32. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    That's a great idea. If you had absolute control over it and it wasn't a dynamic mess so like so many things are now it would be dynamite. When they try to make stuff "intelligent" it really bites. I like having hardware that obeys orders and doesn't have any say in the matter.
     
  33. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,172
    Messages:
    10,077
    Likes Received:
    1,122
    Trophy Points:
    581
    I think that enthusiasts wants all cores pumping to the absolute maximum, where possible. I can imagine a 2 core/4 core 'mix' not working very well, or being implemented successfully. Sometimes, the more 'intelligent' people try to make things, the more 'imbecilic' they become. Take Windows 8 for example....touch this, swipe that....no thanks.
     
    Mr. Fox likes this.
  34. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Yeah, well that can be taken in more than one unsavory way... but, it is applicable to Windows 8 no matter how you interpret what "touch this, swipe that" means. ;)

    I was thinking something more like "manual switchable CPUs" like "manual switchable graphics" might work as long as it wasn't empowered with the ability to make any decisions on behalf of the user. I would not want anything that is conceptually similar to Optimus or Enduro only with CPU cores.
     
  35. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    It would be quite simple IMO to implement correctly dependant on the power plan.

    1. Power saver - only use little cores
    2. Balanced - dynamically manage tasks
    3. High performance - little cores only manage background windows activities, big cores handle everything else.
     
    Mr. Fox and kh90123 like this.
  36. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Mr. Fox likes this.
  37. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Cool... Let us know how the low voltage memory works.
     
  38. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    will do, should be here any second. What programs can i use to verify that all 4 sticks are running at 2133?
     
  39. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Ok running it at 2158 high 2129 average and consistent [close enough to 2133] I used Intel xtu to stress the memory and saw the frequency on the graph. Is there supposed to be variation like that ? Such as memory rated for 2133 running at 2129? Not sure if it's supposed to be exact. It was plug and play for me . I have 16 gb in 4x4 configuration . Corsair vengeance 2133 ddr3l ram. Looking good so far.

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  40. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Nice! Glad it worked well without any drama. I have not see it fluctuate like that before, but it may be something that low voltage RAM does by design.

    Can you please run winsat mem from a command prompt and post a screen shot of the command window showing the memory performance? Thanks!
     
  41. gschneider

    gschneider Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    248
    Messages:
    568
    Likes Received:
    166
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Hmm I never thought about this.

    The Kingston hyper X 2133mhz ram I just stuck in my machine I never considered voltage.

    with the Alienware 18 should I be using 1.35v and not 1.5v?
     
  42. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Ok I'll run that when I get home and report back. Ran into one issue with the ram, and I'm not sure if it's because of the ram, the frequency , or the low voltage but when running on integrated its super flickers all over the place. This is only on the igpu, with the NVIDIA gpus it works fine.

    Anyone have an idea on what's going on with the igpu with this type of ram ? Looks all staticy/ flickery/jumpy

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  43. sponge_gto

    sponge_gto Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    885
    Messages:
    872
    Likes Received:
    307
    Trophy Points:
    76
    None the wiser myself but have you tried using one or two sticks at a time?
     
  44. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Not yet, just ran it with 4. Very weird because it works perfectly with the 680s, just not with the igpu.. annoying because i use my integrated when on battery. Ill try 2 stick instead of 4 for intregrated when i get home, but sure if that will make a difference though. The things I see on screen is like what you would see when you gpu is clocks wayyyy too high or about to fail..

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
  45. Irakandji

    Irakandji Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    134
    Messages:
    182
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Try down clocking the memory when on the iGPU (1600 or even 1033). The CPU uses system memory for the GPU function so there may be some timing issues. This will at least give you some breadcrumbs.
     
  46. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    The M18xR2 really is not designed for 1.35V. That is primarily for Haswell.

    Go into the BIOS and set your memory voltage manually to 1.5V and see if that fixes the erratic speed changes and flickering when running on IGFX.

    I doubt using 2 sticks instead of 4 will be helpful. Even if it is, that totally defeats the purpose for which you purchased 16GB of memory.

    Yes and no. The 1.35V memory was intended for Haswell, but the entire bogus idea behind Haswell is energy efficiency. Are you using 1.5V memory in the Alienware 18? If you are and it is working correctly, then don't worry about it. More is better if it performs well.
     
  47. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    I posted a video of what I'm getting on IGPU with this ram, YouTube I tried setting the voltage to 1.50,1.55,1.60,1.65 . Same deal. Looks like I have to return these and get the HyperX :(
     
  48. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,626
    Trophy Points:
    931
    the video is marked private so it cannot be seen by members of our community
     
  49. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,426
    Messages:
    58,180
    Likes Received:
    17,889
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Having the igpu on can often limit the maximum memory clock you can set.
     
  50. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    550
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    251
    Trophy Points:
    101
    What does that mean fox, market private ?

    Edit: oh it was private. I just put it public, please take a look

    Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
     
 Next page →