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    Looking at some memory

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by xMAXIMUSx, Apr 2, 2015.

  1. xMAXIMUSx

    xMAXIMUSx Notebook Consultant

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    xMAXIMUSx, Apr 2, 2015
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  2. cookies981

    cookies981 Notebook Evangelist

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    Why are you thinking of upgrading the ram btw?

    The fastest the processor supports is DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) and that's what your Alienware R2 would have shipped with. I mean sure the G-Skill one you linked will fit and it will work fine the only problems are:

    1. The CAS Latency is exactly the same as the one currently in your laptop: 11
    2. It's DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900), so while it will work the ram will just declock down to 1600 (PC3 12800)

    Therefore, you will see absolutely no performance increase by getting that ram.

    ---

    Now if you want to get a performance increase you'll have to get a ram module with a CAS latency of 9. But to be absolutely brutally honest? The performance difference is tiny, I guarantee that you'll probably won't even notice it. So all in all replacing the RAM will just end up wasting your money.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2015
    cookies981, Apr 2, 2015
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  3. xMAXIMUSx

    xMAXIMUSx Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the heads up to too proficient with ram, i just looking to upgrade to 16 as the unit only came with 8 and there upgrade price was ridiculous. Ill look for some ddr3l with a cas of 9 and go from there thanks
     
    xMAXIMUSx, Apr 2, 2015
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  4. cookies981

    cookies981 Notebook Evangelist

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    Ah yeah fair enough. You have to remember that most OEMs make a decent profit RAM and hardrive / SSDs. Everything else the profit margins are much smaller. So thats where most OEMs tend to charge more for.

    This should work just fine: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231705

    In the very rare case that the Alienware BIOS doesn't like CAS 9 ram (which I honestly highly doubt but just as a warning), G-Skill and Neweggs support is pretty good just send it back to them and exchange it for the CAS 11 version. But like I said the chance of the ram timing causing you any issue is minute.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2015
    cookies981, Apr 3, 2015
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  5. knightp25

    knightp25 Notebook Consultant

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    Biggest noticable difference would be to buy a ssd and swap the drive
     
    knightp25, Apr 3, 2015
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  6. xMAXIMUSx

    xMAXIMUSx Notebook Consultant

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    cool went ahead and ordered those thanks guys
     
    xMAXIMUSx, Apr 3, 2015
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