Alienware Area 51m - RAM & HDD

Hi All,

I have just purchased this laptop and waiting for delivery. I had a few questions about RAM and HDD.

1. For Quad channel RAM, do I really have to use 4 16GB sticks or can I use 4 8GB sticks?

2. Is the HDD storage capacity limited to 1TB for 2.5 inch hard drive bay?

I read about this in the Alienware setup guide available on Dell.com and would like clarification.

Thanks in advance

 

1. any 4 so-dimms will do it
2. The only limit is the physical dimensions of the drive, which this chassis probably only supports 7mm thick drives. so those cap at 2tb. Probably. I haven't checked. Either way, i think even at 9.5mm they still cap at 2tb. with anything larger being 15mm, which no laptop can fit.

 

I believe the user manual does state that it supports both 7mm or 9.5mm hdd so you are fine with either one.

 

Thanks for the reply everyone. I was reading up on the 9900 processor and it seems that it supports dual channel memory and not quad channel. So having 2 RAM sticks should be able to do the job rather than 4. Is that correct? It doesn't seem like there will be any real benefit of 4 sticks unless I am going for a full 64GB RAM setup.

 

There is no benefit to having more than 2 dimms with mainstream processors aside from additional memory at a (Slightly) lower cost.

 

There is nothing such as "Quad Channel Memory" It's either Single Channel or Dual Channel AKA SDR or DDR

To get DDR speeds, you need to have RAM in matching pairs, either 2x8 GB or 4x 4GB = 16GB

Here is mine, 4x32 GB:

 

Thanks everyone for your replies. I ordered 2x8GB Kingston HyperX Ram along with a 1TB SSD. Now the long wait for the laptop to arrive.

 

Sure there is quad channel, just not on the 51M (or any other laptop without a HEDT chipset):

 

oh snap... me right now:



@Falkentyne

 

Yeah Skylake-X supports quad channel. Those processors however use different socket compared to 9900/9900k. 9900 supports dual channel. Got this info from Intel processor specifications website.

 

Right, there are platforms that support quad and even six-channel memory, just none in laptops that I know of (nothing I've ever looked up).

 

The HDD 2.5 slot is SATA 6 and based on the manual - it can do 7mm or 9.5mm -
The M.2 and the 2.5 slots have a storage limitation of 1TB -
This means that if you use a 2.5 storage device that is Greater than 1TB - Support will have a reason to deny support services - Dell/Alienware Support will have a reason to deny support services - even repairs and returns
The same is true for the M.2 Slots - If the storage devices used in the M.2 slot is greater than 1TB then Dell/Alienware Support will have a reason to deny support services - even repairs and returns

This is the reply I received when I requested information about supporting the 2TB or 4 TB SSD M.2 sticks.

"the maximum capacity of the SSDs that you can have in your Area 51-m is 1TB each, meaning your system can handle up to 2TB total divided in two 1TB M.2 SSDs. Additionally, please be aware that Samsung EVO and Samsung PRO SSDs are not supported by any Alienware systems." (JP, Dell Technical Support, 08/08/2019)

Into The New - Onto the Root - Upside the Down

Trav...

 

There is no storage size limitation, they don't know what they are talking about. You can easily do 2TB NVMe drives or greater.

 

Sad incompetence. Nothing new though.