Buying m17xr3 and planning to do aftermarket harware upgrades.

I'm a first time forum poster, but have been reading NBR forums for a long time now.

I am planning on buying the Alienware m17x r3 within the next couple weeks, and most of the questions that I have had regarding this purchase I have found answers too on these forums, with the only concern being that some of the post dates are from months ago or even 2010 and I'm looking for as up to date information as possible.

Configuration I'm planning on buying:

Intel® Core™ i7 2860QM (2.5GHz,3.6GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
750GB 7,200RPM HDD
17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED w/ NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000

I'm planning on upgrading RAM, HDD to SSD and Wireless Card because they are cheaper to buy and install than have built by Alienware.

KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX - memory upgrade
2X4 X 2 or 2X8 X 2

Samsung 830 - 256 or 512 GB

Killer Wireless-N 1103 - Wireless Upgrade
3-antena

My questions are:

1. Moving my OS to the SSD from what I can tell is a in-depth process requiring a CLEAN Win7 install, since the SSD is smaller in capacity than my starting HDD, and a re-install of all drivers? Could anyone provide a link to the most up to date process for this?

2. What is the total Memory the m17x r3 with the i7 2860QM can actually utilize if upgraded. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc GB? Is the memory I listed a good choice?

3. Any suggestions on anything in my potential buy is also welcome as this will be a HUGE upgrade for me and I am trying to for a problem free scenario

 

For your first question, see http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...-storage/648498-cloning-hdd-parition-sdd.html

For the rest, have you thought about asking laptop specific questions here - Alienware M17x

 

It's not a question of whether the laptop can handle 32GB of RAM, because it can, but I'm pretty sure Windows 7 has a limitation of like 16GB so I'd assume anything past that is wasted.
Memory Limits for Windows Releases

 

MS is so retarded. I can easily understand the physical limits for the 32bit, but c'mon.. why cap the 64-bit.. they just have to charge a premium..

 

If you really need 32gb ram and you can afford it, you can most definitely afford to upgrade windows version.

However, almost no one needs more than 8gb of ram except for really heavy tasks, let alone 16gb.

 

Ya I was wondering what the limitations were on if it was hardware or software related. I wonder why Alienware offers up to 24 GB Ram then from the pre-builds on the website?

@jclausius - I went through the Cloning HDD partition to to SSD and it doesn't have a set of CLEAN install instructions as I've read that is the longer but better approach for Windows 7, as it will automatically detect the SSD and deactivate all the functions that an SSD doesn't need, like Defrag, etc.

 

Because they also offer upgrades to the versions of Windows which support that much RAM. You can't buy 24 GB unless you select Professional or Ultimate.

 

I don't need any particular amount of RAM, but was more curious what the limitations were so that I didn't waste money buying RAM my computer wouldn't recognize or utilize.

 

Clean Install means that you simply put in the new drive, format it and load windows from scratch. install fresh and updated drivers and then all of your applications. Its actually fairly quick to do, and gives everything a fresh start with no bloatware or any other crap you dont want on your machine.

 

Thanks BluePill. I'm familiar with what the CLEAN install is, but I guess my big concern is screwing up the process, as it will be my first time. I am looking for instructions essentially, that I can follow from booting up with the HDD installed. Backing it up. Installing the SSD. Loading Win7 on it, and then formatting the HDD and reinstalling it as a secondary HD. I have found lots of forum posts with part of the process but none that cover it from beginning to end. If Alienware provides a Win7 disk in the purchase box, then it will be very easy to do the SSD clean install, but I haven't found anything that confirms that.

 

Just so everyone's on the same page, Win 7 Starter/Home Basic/Home Premium have a 16GB limit. Win 7 Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate have a 192GB limit.

I'm sure there's stuff out there. Searching may provide the answer:

For example, I didn't read through this, but something there may help - how do i clone windows 7 or move it to a new harddrive?

OR

Perhaps there is a message here on NBR that may address this - site:forum.notebookreview.com acronis clone - Google Search

 

Also make sure to take heed of the advice here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...498-cloning-hdd-parition-sdd.html#post8344821

 

Thanks! Through that link, and the m17xr3 link I did find the same set up clean install instructions. I do want to just make a clone as it seems from reading that wont work well since my HDD will be bigger than my SSD?

EDIT: I DO NOT want to just make a clone though. I am going the full clean install on the SSD.

 

NP.
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