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    R3 upgrading ram from 8 to 16 gb?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by cdnalien, May 22, 2012.

  1. cdnalien

    cdnalien Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi all,

    I have an R3 with 8 gb ram and the 500 gb hdd...I have decided to upgrade to a ssd. My question is is it possible to upgrade the ram from 8 to 16 gb? If so, which ram should I get?

    thanks
     
    cdnalien, May 22, 2012
    #1
  2. Yiddo

    Yiddo Believe, Achieve, Receive

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    You can use any PnP RAM upto 1600 but it will only run at speeds of 1333 max so 1333 is what you really want.

    You will need 2 sticks of 8gb and any make is fine I personally use PKR in the UK or Crucial/Kingston.

    Unless you intend to utilise the 16gb of RAM it really is not needed especially as the CPU is not powerful enough to do serious enough processing to actually warrant 16gb. No matter what I do I have never seen above 7gb before even when running a ton of apps, games and having 3 OS running at the same time.

    SSD is the best possible upgrade you can get for these models.
     
    Yiddo, May 22, 2012
    #2
  3. T-ravisty

    T-ravisty Notebook Consultant

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    All you need to do is open up Corel Painter 12 and then BAM! Instantaneous 87% RAM used... an every computer I have ever used! Be it mine, a mates or the uni's... o_O"
    No idea why it's so heavy... But add Photoshop to the mix and it's a nightmare... As I tend to work with both open.

    Or After Effects, which also chews it up, if you use either of these regularly, I'd suggest 16GB... However 8GB is fine for the small work I do on this machine, as you said, the CPU can't too too much heavy lifting...
     
    T-ravisty, May 22, 2012
    #3
  4. CEUOTC

    CEUOTC Notebook Evangelist

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    Only reason l got 16gb for my R3 was well because l could :D

    Regards.

    C.
     
    CEUOTC, May 22, 2012
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  5. cdnalien

    cdnalien Notebook Enthusiast

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    thanks a lot for the responses guys. I do tend to have many programs (including photoshop) open at the same time.

    I guess my question was whether the 8 gb I plan to add has to be from the same maker/company as the 8 that is already in the machine, or is it fine as long as its 1333?
     
    cdnalien, May 22, 2012
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  6. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    As long as your machine POSTs and passes Memtest with no errors, it really doesn't make a difference.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, May 23, 2012
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  7. Rishwin

    Rishwin Notebook Deity

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    Note - the M11x has 2 RAM slots, so this is only a viable "upgrade" if you currently have a single 8GB stick in there. If you got 8GB stock from Dell it will be 2x4GB sticks.
     
    Rishwin, May 23, 2012
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  8. cdnalien

    cdnalien Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes I got 8 gb stock from dell...so I guess I have to buy two new 8gb sticks then
     
    cdnalien, May 23, 2012
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  9. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    ^^ That's correct. Your 8Gb configuration is actually 2 x 4Gb
     
    katalin_2003, May 23, 2012
    #9