Questions Re:M9750

Ok I should be getting my M9750 Tomorrow. I ordered the stats kinda low to save myself some money (really glad I decided against going with 4gigs of ram considering the laptop cant even run all of it).

Here are my questions:

I ordered it with the T5500 Processor. Is it possible to install the T7600 sense the laptop can come with that option? I would rather purchase the chip myself for like $450 then pay $725 for alienware to do it.

I know the laptop cannot run full 4gigs Ram. From what I understand in single GPU config it will detect upto 3 gigs and in SLI it will detect 2.5gigs. Would it be better (from a gaming perspective) to purchase another 8700M for SLI or should I buy a 2 gig stick to upgrade my ram to 3gigs total.

Last question. I have a single drive config (1 160gig HD) If I purchase another HD (I know the M9750 has 2 drive bays) can I still config in RAID (dont know much about raid just that its faster then a dual drive config)?

One more question-With the TV Tuner-Mine does not have it installed...can I purchase one 3rd party (alienware components seem excessively expensive) and if so, what model should I be looking for?

Thanks for any answer

 

The AW m9750 can support 4GB of RAM. The limitation is due the 32-bit OS, and not a hardware problem. Many people get AW systems with 1GB RAM, and upgrades it later. Ask their support SEVERAL times and confirm if they use 32-bit version or 64-bit version of Windows on the m9750. The latter can address 4GB RAM.

The CPU upgrade is possible. Be sure to use arctic silver ( read applying guides ) for a cooler system.

You can RAID it by getting an exactly similar hard drive. For an additional graphics card addition, it is better to get it through alienware. If the heatsink does not fit on other cards, it will get scorched and die.

 

yes, but do let Alienware know you're going to do so. they have to know about every hardware modification you do to your notebook if you want to keep your warranty. they might help you install the processor over the phone (or so i've heard).

depends on what kinds of games you're playing. i would think the extra GPU would provide better gaming though configuring SLI can be painful. 2 gigs of RAM is plenty enough of RAM provided you have windows XP.

i'm not sure how to apply the RAID configuration, but there are more types of RAID configuration than increased speed. i have 2 hard drives on my machine. i use the default one that came with the notebook (7200 RPM 80 gig) for my normal applications and whatnot and my second (Hitachi 200gb) for games and music. i'm assuming you could do a RAID configuration somehow... i mean, whatever Alienware can do on that notebook, you can.

 

From what I understand its not the 32bit issue but the BIOS thats the issue. The BIOS does not support 4gigs whether your running 32 or 64bit.

 

There is a motherboard limitation that prevents the m9750 from recognizing any more than 3 MB of RAM-nothing to do with the OS or BIOS. Unless AW offers a motherboard upgrade for the m9750 in the future, you're out of luck.

 

Yeah I know that...and honestly Im fine considering I ordered 2gigs instead of 4 so I didnt waist money on it. My only questions was whether I should run 1 2gig and 1 1 gig stick and run 3gigs with single 8700M or should I run 2 8700s in SLI with 2.5 gigs of Ram?

 

the other 8700m card would provide better gaming rather than the extra gig of RAM. you're adding processing power versus resource availability. 2.5 gig is plenty enough memory to game on.

 

Hi pilotguy415,
The problem with mixing different sizes of memory sticks is that you loose dual channel memory support. Believe it or not, you can actually add more memory to your computer and make it slower. I would go with 2 1gb sticks or 2 2gb sticks. I know that the system won't use the extra gig if you install 4gbs, but you're going for even numbers. Dual channel is disabled if you put different size sticks in each port.

Gabe

 

Huh...learn something new everyday! lol I guess Ill just go ahead and purchase 4gbs (2x2gig sticks) and buy the 8700 at the same time...thanks for the input everyone.

 

you know there is a guy selling his m9750 with dual 7950 gtx at BST. I suggest you take a look.

 

A little late for that...its ordered and shipped due to arrive be delivered tomorrow

 

The M9750 can use up to 4 total gigs of ram. So if you only have one vc in you would be able to use close to 3.5 gigs of your 4 gigs installed. If you go SLI it would only use 2.5 gigs of your total ram installed. That being sad, you would be much better off getting the second 8700m than you would be with the extra ram. Ram is cheap enough that it would be best to load it up with 4 gigs in a kit to see the most bang for your buck.

The only parts you can add with AW tech support on the phone are the video cards, ram, hard drives, and the tv tuner card. If you want to install a new cpu you have to send it back to AW for them to install or it will void your warranty.

 

Hi,

I am new here. I have been using the m9750 for over 6months now. I am satisfied with its performance till now. i have 2gigs of RAM, a T7200 proc, 160gigs of HDD and one 512MB 8700 nvidia card.

Even am planning to upgrade my lappy. apart from the games, i have many development stuff installed on it, like tomcat, j2ee server, mysql and loads of other stuff, coz of which my comp has started running a bit slow than it used to.

I called up the AW cust care for RAM upgrades. they gave me the prices and told me that the warranty would be void if i buy da RAM from elsewhere and install it.

And abt the OS not detecting 4gigs of RAM, the cust care says otherwise. they also specified in their support center that the m9750 supports 4gigs of RAM ( http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...nBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9NTUyMA**&p_li=&p_topview=1 ). n i asked abt 64bit OS, they said they do not support 64bit windows vista as they hv driver issues. so, if i upgrade my OS, da warranty wud be void.

watever it maybe, i have decided to go for 4gigs of RAM. and for storage upgrade, am thinking of buying a seagate 500GB or 1TB external HDD. i think adding an internal HDD wud add to the weight and the power consumption of the laptop.

I want to know a lil more abt the CPU upgrade. I thought these were customized laptops and that the CPUs are soldered onto the mobo. so, i can change the proc on my m9750, on my own(considering that i dont care abt the AW warranty) ??? if yes, which all CPUs are supported by the AW mobo ?? i would like to go for the extreme core 2 duo CPUs .

One last question, i heard somewhere that microsoft is giving free upgrades to 64bit OS to all the customers of 32bit vista. is it true ? if yes, i would definitely want to upgrade to the 64bit.

any help wud be appreciated.

thank you in advance.

 

you can get up to t7600 ( which is 2.33ghz) i dont know about if a t7600g fits ( which has an unlocked multiplier) but all i know is you cant get an Xtreme processor there.

 

You can only fit upto T7600. No core 2 duo FSB 800 or extreme cpus.

 

thank you brainer and dingbat. if thats da case, i dont think i wud get a new CPU. its not worth da buck.

btw...i spoke to the AW tech support just now. he told me that vista 32bit would recognize(n use) the whole 4gigs of RAM if we have service pack1 installed.

dats great news for me. i am buying the corsair value select 2x2GB PC2 5300 SoDIMM mem sticks @ amazon.

 

Dont get your hopes up bud. If you read the thread about the M9750 with 64bit (cant remember the title). We have established that the m9750 CANNOT run 4 gigs...period. This is due to a hardware limitation and not the OS. The most it can read is 3gigs and if its running SLI it will only read 2.5.

 

well.....i read in a few user reviews on newegg.com(i think) saying that their vista 32bit recognized the whole 4gigs.

and also, the spec sheet of AW m9750 says upto 4gigs of RAM and AW doesnt support 64bit vista.

anywayz, its jus less than a week to go. i might get it by 9th july. will let u know.

btw....when r u expecting your 4gigs ? @pilotguy415

 

You are missing one key part of the upgrade:

If you remove the processor, even to reseat it, the warrant is completely void.
Alienware will tolerate everything except CPU and motherboard changes.

 

@njsrikar, go for 4GB if you insist. "the spec sheet of AW m9750 says upto 4gigs of RAM" included video RAMs.

 

@nirvana.....its not true....da 4gigs is for system memory...not the video memory. the video memory is totally different. check this link http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...nBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9NTUyMA**&p_li=&p_topview=1 .... and also....the intel site...explicitly mentions that the system memory is upto 4gigs. anywayz, the mystery will be solved by 9th or 10th july. lets wait n see.

 

lmao, the MYSTERY had been solved half year ago by hundreds of m9750 owners.
I suggest you get yourself familiar with this.

 

Here I am....I got the corsair 4GB today. Removed the old 2Gigs of RAM and installed the new 2x2GB of value select corsair RAM.



So, guyz, do u want to me check it anywhere else ? My windows vista 32bit shows that I have 4gigs of RAM.

Going to do a Memtest now.

 

well yeah, SP2 fixed that, but remember, you're only using like 2-3gb.

 

There is no SP2 for Vista.

the machine still cant use all the RAM, it just spits back the physically installed for that number.

There is a hardware limitation in the intel chipset which prevents the machine from using more than 4 GB of Ram, including Video RAM.

If it makes you feel better to buy the 4 GB and install it, then more power to you. You still can't actually make use of it.

 

Since you are running Vista go ahead and open up your sidebar and add the CPU meter gadget to it. Once CPU Meter is running look at what your total RAM is listed at...

I have a m9750 w/ 4 GB RAM (see sig) however, since I have dual 8700M video cards with 512MB of video RAM each, my computer only allows me to use 2,814MB of RAM.

You are correct, video RAM and RAM are different but because of memory addressing issues with the BIOS on the m9750, no matter what operating system you run you will not be able to use all 4 GB of RAM. If you are only running a single video card then you will have ~512MB more system memory than my setup so that should put you to ~3.3 GB, but not a full 4GB.

There are a few m9750 users that have installed Vista x64 on their systems successfully and have found that it gave them the same result.

 

@whizzo, mjl2142, tokaygecko.
what a heat-breaking comment.

 

sorry bout that typo, SP1 fixed that issue.

 

@Dingbat - You are completely wrong. If you have a 32bit OS : 4GB Ram : SLi 8700GT's (or 7950GTX's) you will only be able to use ~2.7GB of the 4GB of ram installed. This is not a software issues, it is a hardware issue.

@njsrikar - There are plenty of threads on this around the forums. Check the 2nd or 3rd page I think.

 

really? cause i have 32bit OS, 4gb RAM, 512mb GPU and i can only use 3gigs...

 

^^m15x is different