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    Which 16GB 1600mhz kit for M15x works that will run at CAS 8 at 1333mhz?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by King of Interns, Mar 9, 2013.

  1. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    I want to upgrade to 16GB of ram but I would also like to bump the speed a little as well. I know of some 16GB kits that run at 1600 cas 9 that will in effect downclock to 1333mhz and cas 8 in the m15x. Although it won't make much difference at all it will boost speed a little.

    Which ones work. Does Corsair vengeance work?

    Cheers

    KoI
     
  2. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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  3. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    Thanks for the reply. I will look into it. Perhaps it is cheaper than kingston Hyper X. Pretty pointless upgrade I guess but heck why not :D
     
  4. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    Actually through further research it turns out 1333mhz running at CL 7 is just as good if not a little better than 1600mhz running at CL9. I think I am gonna wait on this until 1866mhz CL9 is released then tweak it to CL6 at 1333mhz :D

    Unless it dies the M15x has many years of life left!
     
  5. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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    Hmmm it's only better in latency. In memory bandwidth the 1600mhz memory will still be faster. My ram running at CL8 1333mhz is slower than my gf's m14x cl9? or 11, 1600mhz but the latency on mine is just a bit less.
     
  6. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    That's true, the m15x still has many battles to fight. It's an amazing machine.
     
  7. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    Sure Cl8 is slower but CL 6 is definitely faster!

    Unfortunately faster memory might not come with DDR4 around the corner. CL 8 tweaked to CL 7 might be the best the M15x can have.
     
  8. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I've been looking through online retails here in UK and none seem to stock anything other than CL 9 10 or 11.
    Definitely no mention of CL8 or 7! Or can you modify 1600Mhz CL9 to run at 1333Mhz CL8? If so how? In the BIOS?

    I'm thinking about removing a lowly 2GB stick to pump my machine upto 8GB and wonder if this Cosair 4GB 1600Mhz at CL 9 is a good choice for my M15x?
    Seems cheap? Corsair 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Laptop Memory.. | Ebuyer.com
     
  9. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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    I don't think even CL6 memory will be faster @ 1333mhz compared to CL9 memory running at 1600mhz since the bandwidth is faster. 21.28GB/s vs 25.6GB/s.
    Even then, one won't notice much difference between them unless you're purely benchmarking.

    1333mhz CL8, whether 8GB or 16GB is all the M15x needs. All we need are lower power consuming cards with better performance than the current 7970M/680M and the M15x will be golden. :D


    @fatboyslimerr, Most 1600Mhz ram rated at CL9 will resort to running at 1333mhz CL8 on the M15x since the M15x memory controller supports 1333mhz max. However, you won't notice much difference as I said earlier from the ram in real world scenarios unless you're benchmarking. 8GB from 4GB is a great upgrade on these machines.
     
  10. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    Thanks ssj, makes sense. Any issue running x1 4GB 1333Mhz CL9 along with a 4GB 1600Mhz CL9? Would it be better to have both 1600Mhz CL9?
     
  11. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Pick up some sammy 30nm ram, mine is doing 980mhz CL9.... should be good for lower latencies at lower speeds.
     
  12. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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    It's best to run two of the same memory sticks, however that setup will work fine.
     
  13. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    Tempted to pick up x2 4GB Cosair vegenance CL9 1600 Mhz for only £36! Absolute bargain if you can't calculate exchange rates!

    Would you actually notice this increase in RAM and timings day-to-day assuming both sticks would be running 1333Mhz CL8 automatically?
    All I really do is powerpoint/word and about a million PDFs, web browsing and itunes all at the same time. Other than gaming obviously but games don't tend to use much RAM???
     
  14. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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    In everyday tasks I doubt you'll notice any difference. Even in games I highly doubt you'll notice much of a difference.
     
  15. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    CL8 not really. Cl 7 yes. It is as fast as CL 9 1600mhz. CL 6 YES!

    Then again faster memory only helps in certain situations. So even CL 6 would only be really noticeable when doing certain tasks.
     
  16. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I noticed in some diagnostic tools I use 96% of my RAM! I'm thinking for me more RAM is better than faster RAM? Some cheap CL10 1600Mhz perhaps?
     
  17. ssj92

    ssj92 Neutron Star

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    More Ram > Faster ram in the scenario you are using 90%+ of your ram. My Macbook Pro had 4GB of ram and it ran very sluggish. I noticed I was running out of ram, upgraded to 8GB and now it runs way better.