M18x Memory Discussion Thread

Just to say the ADATA XPG Gaming Series memory came back into stock at Newegg.
Newegg.com - ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model AXDS1600GC4G9-2
I had no problem upgrading the original M14X 4GB 1600 Hynix "PC3-12800S-11-10-B2" memory to 8GB of the ADATA 1600 XPG CL9 memory.

As well as the increase in RAM, the memory operation part of the Windows Experience score increased slightly from 7.7 to 7.8.
That is presumably because the original memory had a slightly worse timing (CL10/11?) while this is 9-9-9-9-24.
(When a vendor describes CAS latency of CL9 but does not give the full timing I wonder if that means it is not quite as fast)

I still wonder if the M14X will have reduced the voltage to 1.35V as it can for this memory. I guess it depends how well the M14X respects the XMP data.

I see they dropped the price $5 since I bought it.

 

corsair is coming out with 1866mhz 10-10-10. thatll be even better.

8GB (CMSX8GX3M2A1866C10): 1866MHz, 10-10-10-27, 1.5V, 2 DIMMs, $150 MSRP
8GB (CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9): 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V, 2 DIMMs, $75 MSRP
4GB (CMSX4GX3M1A11866C10): 1866MHz, 10-10-10-27, 1.5V, 1 DIMM, Unknown MSRP
4GB (CMSX4GX3M1A1600C9): 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5V, 1 DIMM, $40 MSRP

 

after removing all the keyborad areas, i put it back as normal...i realized that the areas at the power button and those lower/ louder volume, etc..are very HOT when I play game...Is that normal ? I'm not sure that it's hot like that before removing stuff...did I put the LCD wires or something ?

 

I replied to this on another thread but that seems perfectly normal to me. Those areas will get HOT (or alot warmer thant other areas) whe you play a game on your system.

Basically, you are stressing the gpu's and they are located under media centre controls and on the oposite side too....ever notice thats where the heat gets vented from the rear when you game? - thats your gpu's doing their job - keeping your system as cool as possible.

Not ALL the heat goes out the rear, some will go upwards as the heatsinks get warm.

Nothing to stress about.

 

Kingston KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 NON-ECC CL9 SODIMM (Kit of 2) XMP - Kingston - KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX

Thanks guys! Is this compatible with the m18x and is it the best ram short of the 1866 MHZ!?

Thanks,

 

Why don't you just get a 1866 MHz ram? Check my sig..

 

@ nappy123,

If you dont want to pay the extra for 1866 ram, you could look at the newer hyperx 1600 modules - about the same price but are plug'n'play.

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G

Or if you did want the 1866 modules

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G

I dont know if you can get them cheaper elsewhere, but as I am in the UK, I havent shopped about in your locality. afaik, NewEgg are pretty cheap anyway, right?

 

Hi Stevie,

Thanks for your response i'll probably go for the 1600 hyperx then. I heard that the 1866, when put into the m18x, run at a max of 1600 anyway? Is this true?

 

The Plug N' Play HyperX will automatically OC ur RAM to 1866..Well at least on my M14x it did, I don't see why it wouldn't do the same 2 ur M18x..Check pic below showing 930 MHz x 2.

 

Not true. I have 16gb's of HyperX 1866mhz in my M18x and it works as such right after install without any issue or changes.

 

What does the P'n'P do to over clock itself? I purchased the Corsair Vengeance 1866 - will I have to do anything to 'over clock' it? I haven't received the RAM or the M18x yet, so I can't just try it out quite yet.

 

I'm not familiar with the Corsair ram but with the HyperX, the PnP version just auto-sets the max speed. The HyperX before the PnP modules, if you had an XM cpu, you could just go into Bios and select a XMP profile.

 

I have this memory also just pop it in and your done

 

Sweet - many thanks for the confirmation.

 

FYI - in case anyone cared, the Corsair 1866 is back in stock at most retailers - it has been out of stock of the past few weeks. It is cheaper than the HyperX 1866 and has a lower CL. I just ordered a pair from Newegg.

 

I have been having random blue screens about three times a week. Error is Memory Management. I currently have 16gb of HyperX 1866 installed. When I do a bios boot diagnostic it gives me the following errors.
Memory - integrity test discrepancy
Error Code - 2000-0123
Validation - 37296

Is anyone else having this issue?
There is no overclocking being made in the bios regarding the memory.

Thanks in advance!

 

What do you mean 'regarding the memory'? Are you overclocking the BLCK (ie - higher than 100?)

 

Has anyone tried out the new Corsair Vengeance Ram in the M18x? I am eyeballing the 8GB 1866 kit to replace my 4 sticks of Kingston 1866 (always liked corsair and they have lower timings).

Has anyone used this ram in the M18x yet?

 

Yes, it is being mentioned on the http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/575657-m18x-memory-discussion-thread-27.html.

Were you able to measure any performance differences with this memory?

Anyone else trying the Corsair Vengeance memory and having good luck with it?

Since you have the Kingston memory, it would be really sweet to see some before and after benches if you end up switching to Corsair Vengeance. I'm still using the stock Dell memory and haven't seen anything compelling enough that would persuade me to invest in aftermarket performance memory, but something like that certainly might. That would be very helpful.

 

Got paid today anyways.....just ordered the 2x4GB 1866 Corsair Kit. I will bench it against the kingston some for you.

Was thinking Vantage and maybe 06 ran off the IGP as well as MaxxMem

 

No sorry I didn't do any benches with my old vs new ram My WEI went up from 7.6 to 7.9 though lol

 

Cool. Thank you, bro.

Have you taken any time to figure out how to OC the HD 3000 IGP for decent 3D gaming performance yet?

Mine is already 7.9 with stock Dell memory. I am even able to set XMP profiles in BIOS with my Dell memory, but I don't know how efficiently it is using them. Even so, the Corsair Vengeance still might be worth a few extra 3DMark points.

 

didn't notice this thread, i just bought the corsair vengance 4gbx4. i love it, my system stays so cool since i switched to ssd and upgraded the ram. and the 12 second boot time i love! lol

 

Looking forward to the results and how they stack up to the Kingston.

BTW, I finally made it up to MicroCenter in Alexandria. Was thinking about getting some stuff to piece together an old desktop. Didn't endup getting anything though. Drove home empty handed 30-40 min drive from me too lol.

 

Any way that one of you all with the Corsair and or HyperX can do a boot diagnostic and let me know if it passes. I have 16gb of HyperX and I get an error every time I run the test. Boots up fine runs okay but I get a random Memory error BSOD maybe once a week. I have replacement HyperX memory on the way for Monday delivery. I'm sure it's just a bad chip.

 

Try running your memory test with one SODIMM installed. If it passes, replace it with the next SODIMM, etc. This should help you identify which module(s) is/are defective. If they all pass, move to the next memory slot and repeat. This will confirm whether you have a bad memory slot, or bad memory.

 

I had 16GB 1866 Vengeance RAM, and never had an issue. I ran Memtest+ for around 8 cycles.

 

I have run memtest as well.. Still have random BSOD. It was under the Bios Boot diagnostic that the error comes up. I'm going to swap out the memory then. That should narrow the error down.

 

The ram error is probably voltage related make sure you set the voltage manually if your having issues. If you didnt its set to 1.5v and that could be all the issue is for you.

 

Uhhhh.....MicroCenter does not have an Alexandria location....they have one in Fairfax and one in Rockville, MD

Paint me confused?

 

Got the replacement HyperX memory and ran the boot diagnostic and no errors came up. Looks like I had a bad module. Thanks for the help guys! Guess that the boot Diagnostic in the bios was right all along!

 

great im glad i was wrong and you do have it fixed

 

Just got my ram, will start testing tonight.

And the "heatsinks" on the corsair vengeance.....just large stickers haha.....nothing there but paper...will help with fit in tighter spaced laptops though not adding that thickness

 

thats screwed up our HyperX have real heat spreader...

 

Well fortunately ram does not run very hot anyways

The tests showed no measurable difference in performance (which I expected) but the ram installed and has been rock solid stated so far at stated specs. It is plug and play just like the kingston and passed 5 hours of memtest just to be sure.

I am finally at the point where 4 GB is not sufficient for me - 8GB is my new min and recommendation for Windows 7 systems. Fortunately ram is dirt cheap right now!

 

ordered some Kingston Technology HyperX 8 GB (2x4 GB Modules) 1600 MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 240-Pin SDRAM KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX from amazon.com. Should be here friday!

 

Just a quick FYI. As stated above I found that I had a bad HyperX module that was causing a BSOD with a Memory Error. Another thing that was always troubling me was that when booting with an external USB 3.0 drive plugged into the system the Bios would lock up and I would have to reboot with the drive unplugged. I would also have the BSOD periodically when doing large transfers between USB 3.0 drives. Since I got the new memory I have noticed that the system will now boot flawlessly with an external drive plugged into the USB 3.0 port. I can only conclude that there is some kind of communication between the memory and the USB 3.0 controller.

Thoughts?

 

videoguy that sounds accurate as basically many errors can occur when a memory stick is bad even video and hd errors.

ryoujikaji sodimm laptop memory is not 240pin i think its 204pin? Did you order desktop ram?

Scook i agree 8gb min and 16gb recomended

 

What's the fastest we can get today with 32Gb? I run a lot of enterprise stuff on my m18x (to many an amazed look from my consulting clients ) and I can't really afford to drop back to 16GB. TIA.

 

I thought it was 1333mhz...until I saw some single 8gb sticks at 1600mhz:

Komputerbay 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 9-9-9-25 Single 8GB Stick with Blue Heatspreader memory, prices - ShopMania

Don't quote me on the quality, mind.....never heard of the manufacturer.

Better still, some Samsung 1600mhz 8gb modules - I imagine better reliability from a big player.

http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.aspx?itemid=1459761473&partno=M471B1G73AH0-CK0

Haven't see anything over 1600mhz............

 

I just recently received my M18x, btw I love it so far. I ordered the system with 4gb(2x2gb) of dual channel memory. I removed the stock memory and replaced it with my 8gb(2x4gb) crucial kit. My question is this. If I open the system back up and put the 4gb stock memory in the slots under the keyboard, would I get the full effect of the 12 gb dual channel or do I need to buy another 8gb kit?
I know you're supposed to buy memory kits to ensure proper density, etc. for the full effect of dual channel, but since these are 2 separate slots, I thought maybe this doesn't apply in this situation. I actually plan on buying another kit in the near future but I figured since I have the stock memory just laying around I could just throw that in for now and have the 12gb.

 

I did that for a bit before getting a 16gb kit. It worked very well.

 

Should work fine.

One thing to be aware of though - if you install the stock ram and it has a lower clock speed than the 8gb, all of it will run at the lowest clocks....kind of negating some of the benefits of your upgraded ram.

 

Thank you for your responses. I figured it wouldn't be an issue.

 

I think that will be ok
I suggest you buy 4x4gb 1866mhz memory
recently buy 4gb 1855mhz memory from amazon be like Discount %50

 

Like I said before, this is pointless if its going to be used with stock ram modules which *may* have lower speeds than the new modules. If the OP has, say for example, 2x2gb stock modules at 1333mhz, any memory installed with greater clock speed will automatically default to the speed of the lowest modules installed.....meaning the OP will not benefit from the faster memory - sure, it will increase overall memory but it would all run at 1333mhz.

 

My M18x is on the way. While searching the web, I found the KomputerBay 8gig off-brand for only $250 for 4x8gb=32gig ram on Amazon:
Amazon.com: Komputerbay 32GB (4x 8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 9-9-9-25 with Black Heatspreaders: Electronics

This version has blue heat spreaders for $40 more:
Amazon.com: Komputerbay 32GB (4x 8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 9-9-9-25 with Blue Heatspreaders: Electronics

I think I will give the $250 version with black heat spreaders a try and let Y'ALL know how it works out.

 

Komputerbay? Never heard of that brand before... $250+ is a lot of money for an off-brand of RAM. I'm curious to see how it performs for you.

I wonder, who really makes their memory modules?

BTW - welcome to NBR. We're glad you joined our community. Congrats on the M18x headed your way. Good choice!

 

I've seen some Komputerbay stuff on sale here in the UK on various websites. Cant say I have ever heard of them before. I was looking for some info on finding the fastest 8gb modules available right now and they came up....

Still, having said that, Samsung also came up too....a Brand with a good name which I imagine is a better option than some obscure manufacturer.

Samsung Single 8gb Module 1600mhz

Also, just a side note which you probably know anyway BUT you will need to have Windows Pro or above to utilise more than 16gb ram....

 

Heads Up! The Komputerbay memory is $250 for 32gig ram (4x8gig SODIMM's) as of the morning of 3/23/2012 the trusty Samsung ram is 179 per 8gig SODIMM 4x179.55 = $718.20. This ram is so cheap Im willing to take a chance. My guess it that its made on contract by Taiwan chip fabricator. I was at the Komputerbay site a few times and thought it was $250 per SODIMM. Then my wee little noodle realized it was $250 for 32gig! At current market prices 16gig goes for around $100, for $250 for 32gig seems fair.