have two questions for a newly purchased g74sx

first, i chose the dh71, and want to change out one of the 750g hdd's, with a ssd, probably 250g. does anyone have any suggestions to get the best bang for the buck? i am looking at the crucial drives so far.
second, the g74 comes with 12g of ddr3 1333 ram. i would like to upgrade to a faster 16g of 1600 ddr3, but the adviser on crucials site recommended the 1333 with a lower voltage only. what am i missing?

 

Crucial M4 drives are really good, reliable, and not expensive. Do you really need 16gb of ram (what is your normal computer use)? Also I highly doubt you would see any real-world performance gains going to 1600mhz or from 12-16gb ram. What processor do you have?

 

i got the i7 2670QM 2.2gh. so you're telling me that moving up to 1600 will NOT give me any gains at all, and 16 gigs is no different than 12, performance wise?

i use my laptop for everything. i'm a marine biologist in fiji right now, i run a lot of software at the same time, while i also do a lot of graphic's work in photoshop cs5.5. i also run ms flight simulator which uses a ton of memory, graphics and processor power. i only play a few games, but multitask like crazy everything else.

without a doubt i will get the other four gigs of ram. but if you are sure about this, then instead of buying an entire 16 gig's of the 1600, i will just match the memory in the system and add the last four.
also, i'm assuming that they are, but with something new, i have learned never leave anything to chance. are the stock drives that come with asus laptops, 2.5"? i like the 256 m4 ssd.

 

With your usage style, definitely go for 16GB of RAM or more. Not only will you have all your RAM in Dual Channel giving you a slight performance boost, but more RAM is always better than nominally 'faster' RAM.

If a 2 to 5% difference (depending on what 'benchmark' is being measured) is something you really need (and/or you will be able to sell the old 'slow' RAM to offset the cost a little...) then go for the full 16GB 1600 RAM module option. But just because you have the 'best' modules doesn't mean your cpu will support it (it doesn't). You need an i7 27xxQM or 28xxQM series processor and supporting chipset for that.

See:
Compare Intel® Products


Hope this helps.

 

my processor is the i7 2670qm 2.2gh. so seat of the pants, if i just buy the last four gig, my machine will run just as fast as if i went out and bought the entire 16 gig's of 1600? so maybe i will just put the money into the 256gig crucial m4 ssd.

 

stevae... good plan.

 

My initial post of you not really seeing a performance gain is because a lot of people just tend to want more ram thinking it equates to a better performing laptop. Thats why I also asked the question what exactly you needed the extra ram for. In this case yes you will see a benefit because you will actually be utilizing that extra ram, and for you more/faster is better. But the best upgrade would be the ssd first.

 

i have seen posts where they are saying that adding a drive to the newer asus's isn't as easy as just plugging it in. apparently there is a little black tab that you have to slide up, insert the ribbon and then slide it back down. is there a vid of this, or pic's?

 

doesn't anyone know of any advice to help change one of the drives of the asus machine? i would also like to find a housing for the 750gb 7200 drive that i am taking out. does anyone know where i can find one of those?

 

Have you checked the service manual? Go to page 62 for HDD information.
Asus G74SX Manuals, Support and Troubleshooting - Laptops

 

thanks. i haven't received the computer yet. i will travel to colorado at the end of this month and it's waiting for me there. so this will help a lot. thanks again.

well i have to amend that statement, as the manual only shows a drawing of the drives, with some arrows and numbers. they don't have any details in writing about what to do or not to do with the cables. so my question still stands for anyone who has actually changed out one of these drives.

 

I have an Asus G73, which in fact has 2 HDD slots instead of 1. If i'm not mistaken, the G74 also has 2 HDD slots.

The problem is though, that only a VERY small amount of them have a HDD caddy in both slots, they usually only have a caddy for the slot which is in use.

My recommendation, is to just unscrew the back panel & have a look. See how many HDD slots you have, and see how many caddys they gave you. From there, you will also see exactly how the HDD slots in. It's basically just a matter of removing 1 or 2 screws holding the caddy in place, then pulling on the plastic tab attached to the caddy which will slide it out.

 

i already know that it has two 750gb 7200 hdd's. and according to the video, they both have caddy's. what i don't know is exactly how you must slide the black tab up or down to remove or replace the ribbon wire. i will just want to replace the fist drive with the os on it, and install a crucial m4 256 ssd. i have read that the ribbon wires are tricky to take out and put back, so i want to make sure before i do it.

 

You must slide the black tab up to remove the ribbon cable. Down will lock the cable in place.

If you're just installing a new HDD, I don't see a reason to have to remove the cable. I was able to remove and install a different HDD without removing the cable.

 

It's hard to explain but like i said, just look at the caddy and you'll be able to see EXACTLY how to do it. It's one of those things which you can figure out just by looking at it.

Just open the HDD panel and take a peek. And no, opening the back panels doesn't void the warranty.

 

thanks, that's good to know. can't wait to get my hands on it!

rishwin, i appreciate your comments as well. I don't think i would have any problems with the caddy. i am mechanically inclined. i was only concerned about the ribbon cables. but tt350z says that you can change the drive without removing them. by the way, i think you didn't see above that i don't have it yet. it is in colorado waiting on me, and i am flying back to the states on the first of dec to get it.