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    Gaming performance SSD or 8gigs of ram upgrade

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Uzii305, Jan 28, 2011.

  1. Uzii305

    Uzii305 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which would my frames per second benefit the most from??? Right now im gaming wit SU7300 and 2gigs ram with the standard 160 gig HDD. Wat upgrade do the experts recommend?? Thank you
     
    Uzii305, Jan 28, 2011
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  2. roxxor

    roxxor Notebook Evangelist

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    Upgrading to 4GB of RAM is the most likely to give you a boost. Going from 4GB to 8GB will not increase FPS. Upgrading to SSD will not increase FPS (but will give a nice boost to a lot of other things).
     
    roxxor, Jan 28, 2011
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  3. Benchmade 42

    Benchmade 42 Titanium

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    What are you going to run that will require 8 gb of ram? x20 internet explorer/wmv/itunes/winamp/worldofwarcraft/starcraft2 simultaenously?

    LOL
     
    Benchmade 42, Jan 28, 2011
    #3
  4. Voodooi

    Voodooi AFK for a while...

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    4GB = Gaming
    6GB = Music Production
    8GB+ = Heavy Adobe/Maya

    Upgrade it yourself to save $$$.

    Grab another 2GB of Ram and if you can afford it, an SSD from newegg. SSD isn't require for gaming, however it's nice to have. If you can't afford it, just get a 7200rpm 500GB also from newegg and you'll be set.
     
    Voodooi, Jan 29, 2011
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  5. Akari

    Akari Notebook Evangelist

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    The only thing SSD will effect is load times, and even then not so much. But in all everything is nicer, Windows responds faster, it boots much faster, and there's less noise, heat, and much less risk of drive failure (mechanical drives aren't great to lug around all day).

    The RAM will do nothing at all for gaming past 4GB (most applications can't access more than 4GB anyways, ex. Photoshop).
     
    Akari, Jan 29, 2011
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  6. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    the only way to get better fps is to overclock the CPU and GPU...and hope that the game is well optimized!
     
    thegh0sts, Jan 29, 2011
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  7. surfxombie

    surfxombie Notebook Evangelist

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    4G & faster drive, that should make the game less pausey in transitions.

    To increase fps you are going to have to look at:
    • Overclocking CPU & GPU (depends on game which gives best result)
    • Reducing the detail (esp post processing)
    • Messing with the games configuration (see relevant gaming threads)
     
    surfxombie, Jan 29, 2011
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  8. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    Totally agree about 4GB being right for 90% of people out there. However, x64 Photoshop can access as much memory as your system has.
     
    slickie88, Jan 29, 2011
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  9. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    Or VM's. Although I don't know you'll be doing many VM's on the M11x considering the low powered CPU.

    SSD also greatly improves battery life.
     
    HTWingNut, Jan 29, 2011
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  10. Rjdeli

    Rjdeli Notebook Geek

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    fps boosts will not come from either one of these upgrades....

    ssd- might improve the stuttering when loading into new players, zones or monsters.

    ram- will do almost nothing assuming you have 2 gb and your not using it all and playing off the pagefile.

    The biggest boost to your fps will be more video ram better cpu... but since you prob have a m11x and that's not possible without pinmod.

    I would recommend a fresh install and clean up your running processes while playing the game, basically cut back on system resources, adjust for best performance in windows.

    Of course if i had to choose either of these two upgrade i would strongly suggest the ssd over 8 gb of ram. I have both and i could have done without the ram seeing as how i barely use 2 gb of it with my pagefile turned off.
    hope this helps good luck!
     
    Rjdeli, Jan 29, 2011
    #10