Best RAM possible on M11x-R2

I'm trying to get the largest, fastest, lowest latency and lowest voltage memory out there to upgrade my M11x-R2, but I'm having trouble finding what would be compatible.

At the moment I'm looking at the "ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model AXDS1600GC4G9-2"
Newegg.com - ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model AXDS1600GC4G9-2

Can some one advice me if this memory would work, and if it doesn't what is the closest thing that would? Maybe same config. but with 1.5V instead of 1.35V?

Thank you very much.

 

R1 & R2 has RAM capped at 800MHz (at stock, increases with CPU overclock). So if you are getting 1600MHz RAM, consider the throttling into your equations.

I have an R3 (max 1333MHz) and i am VERY happy with the 1600MHz Kingston HyperX 8GB kit which i got on sale. It throttles down to 1333MHz which brings the timings down to 8-8-8-23 but there JEDEC table doesn't go down to 800MHz so i'm not sure if it throttles down that low.

 

I think you are mixing different specs.

I guess that the 800MHz that you are talking about must be the I/O Bus Clock, but the 1600 you are talking about can't be MHz (There is no DDR3 memory that fast) I believe you are talking about the Data Rate which is measured in MT/s.

On DDR memories always the Data Rate is going to be the double of the I/O Bus Clock. If the speed is caped at 800MHz on M11x-R1/R2 then there shouldn't be any issues with using a PC3-12800 module, the only doubt would be if the system can provide 1.35V or if it's set on 1.5V

 

I understand that you know your stuff, but there's no need to be pedantic just to show-off. You know EXACTLY what i was saying.

Very well, i will speak in technical terms:

The stock RAM speed of the R1/R2 is capped at a Bus Clock of 400MHz (x2 = 800MHz / PC3-6400). I am very happy with the PC3-12800 kit which i purchased for my R3, even though it throttles down to PC3-10666 but that tightens the timings down to CL8. The JEDEC table for that RAM though doesn't specifically express a compatibility with PC3-6400 but if it did you would be looking at CL5 timings.

Both the stock & upgraded RAM kits both ran @ 1.5V though, so I'm not sure how the system handles 1.35V.

The fact that you knew there is no 1600MHz RAM suggests that you knew that i was referring to PC3-12800. I didn't mess up my units at all, if I'm referring to PC3-12800 as 1600MHz then 800MHz HAS to be PC3-6400. You knew that.

 

Sorry if I sounded pedantic, that wasn't the idea at all, I seriously thought you had confused the values.

What I was looking for, and didn't knew, was that 400MHz cap on the R1/R2. My R2 came stock with PC3-10600 modules, so that 400MHz cap didn't made sense, but on further investigation I found that Dell apparently used whatever they had on stock for the R2 so some of them have PC3-8500 modules and others have PC3-10600 modules. Apparently they kept in mind that when you overclock the FSB then you memory will overclock too so no R2s have PC3-6400 modules in them.

For all intentions and purposes having more than 4GB of RAM makes no sense for my applications (I'm not running virtual machines, nor heavy databases) and given that the only change in going for a faster module would be (maybe) a little better CAS then I would say that it makes very little sense to spend money on upgrading the RAM on a R2.

Still, thanks a lot for your help and replies, it's nice when someone takes the time to analyze other peoples technical issues, and again, sorry if at some point I sounded like a know-it-all, if that was the case then certainly I wouldn't be here.

 

I apologize, i blame the White Zinfandel i've been drinking, it makes me read things in a certain tone which makes people sound cocky. If i read something and it makes sense to me i think "Surely they saw that, what are they playing at?!".

I had an R2 before sending it back and having it replaced with an R3, and AFAIK there was PC3-6400 RAM in there running with CL9 timings. R1/R2 stock bus is 400MHz, stock R3 bus is 667MHz.

The stock bus clock is 400 but if you overclock your CPU (ie to 150MHz) then that increases the bus to around 450MHz. It really depends on how much that SLIGHT performance increase is worth to you, if i still had my R2 i would probably have bought that same RAM kit & had it throttle down to 450MHz with pretty tight timings (probably CL5).

If you stuck to the base 4GB RAM then it may be worth it, but if you decided to let Dell upgrade the RAM for you then you overpaid for sure and then upgrading that RAM wouldn't be very cost-efficient at all.

 

Hi

Wanting to upgrade from 4gig to 6gig/8gig just wondering what memory i should buy and where from i live in the UK budget is about £100

Could anyone with a bit of knowledge help me out with what and where to buy from? i would really appreciate your help.

I found this ;

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=A595BE18A5CA7304

What do you think?

 

I thought I'd post in here instead of starting a new topic. I currently have the stock 4GB of RAM in my M11x-R3.

I was looking at 2 versions of 8GB of RAM as suggested by Crucial. One is the one the poster above me has linked to: 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-8500 upgrades for Alienware M11x (Core i5/i7) Laptop/Notebook, CT1268938 from Crucial.com

The other is this one: 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 upgrades for Alienware M11x (Core i5/i7) Laptop/Notebook, CT1268930 from Crucial.com

I realise the difference is the speed and latency. My question is which would I be better choosing? I understand that lower latency but higher speed is better. However which one of those 2 would be best for the M11x-R3? The most intensive thing I'll be doing on the laptop is gaming, so no video or photo editing. And I'm not too fussed about battery life as the laptop is plugged in for the large majority of the time.

Thanks in advance.

 

I bought this 2x2GB HyperX kit over a year ago and it's worked out well for me...

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model KHX1066C5S3K2/4GX

Though, it's been out of stock for a long time and I'm guessing they don't make them anymore. Taking into account the DDR3 800 cap I bought these because they were 1066 (didn't need any more than that) and the lowest CAS latency I could find, but what I didn't realize was that the CL5 rating is only possible using Intel's XMP profile which isn't supported on any of the M11x R2 processors (I think it's only for Intel's "extreme edition" processors but I could be wrong). It defaults to CL6 and as far as I know you cannot change this in the BIOS. If you running at stock 133MHz the ram will be 400MHz, but with the processor overclocked to 166MHz the ram gets overclocked to 500MHz.

Honestly in day-to-day usage I don't think you will notice a difference with any of the specs. Reliability should be priority above all, then maybe the voltage for battery concerns but I honestly don't even know if that will make a noticeable difference either.

 

...is this good stuff?
I ordered two sticks but wasnt sure of the speed etc etc ...

It was advertised that it is for the M11x R2.

I have no other info other than this pix about the memory:


$25.50 for two sticks (8 gig) sounded pretty good to me.

 

Yep, it's OK. if you have I7-920XM or I7-940XM you could buy faster one but it costs 61$ with promotion code right now while usually it is 72-75$

 

Its an I5 with 3 gig so Im hoping this is a nice bang for the buck upgrade.

 

It was a deal of your life then