M18x Memory Discussion Thread

Since Dell is charging bunch of money for upgrading my m18x memory, so I decided to stock it (4GB SODIMM 1333 2x2GB), and now open this topic to discuss about RAMs (size, speed, CL etc...) that good for our purposes as well as the availabilities.

My first priority now are 2 pairs of Kingston hyper x PC 12800 1600MHz (4x4GB). However, they are most likely out of stock right now, and Kingston says that they'll probably be available on may 10th. But on top of that, I have found some complaints about the oversize preinstalled heatsink that interupts the internal air flow causing the laptops overheated (Alienware m15x).

If there's somebody already experienced this issue, please share out ur opinion. If that was true, I'd switch to another without heatsink.

Thanks for reading guys

 

that might be a problem with the smaller laptops. but i had these in my m17r3 and i never had any problems and the m18x is huge so i doublt there will be any air flow problems with this beast now the real question is 1600MHz or 1866MHz hyper x RAM

 

I'm thinkin 1600 hyperx. Uses less power (pretty sure), won't get as hot and you won't notice the 5% speed difference, and the price on the 1600 C7 is not horrid.
$.02

 

Just went to the US Newegg site and they were out... anyone know where else you can buy it at?

 

just order one from newegg.ca $94.99 for my coming in M18X

 

It seems to be sold out everywhere (in the U.S.). Looks like plenty of others have the same idea.

 

According to Kingston, they'll be available on may 10th (u can make an order directly from Kingston, and that'd be more reliable about the availability IMO), plus the first m18x shouldn't be shipped out before May 20th I guess, so we still have plenty of time to look for some back up plans. Anybody having other options?

I would also try Samsung RAM as another option, but the spec (CL 11 compared to CL 9 from Kingston) and price ($67 for a single module x 4) are not really interesting me.

 

wonder if we can convince them to use 1x4gb instead of the 2x2gb for the stock ram.. would be much more convenient

 

The newer ones are available at amazon (was released in may1 2011)

Amazon.com: Kingston HyperX Plug n Play 8 GB Kit (2x4GB Modules)1600MHz DDR3 SODIMM Notebook/Netbook Memory 8 Dual Channel Kit (PC3 12800) 204-Pin KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G: Electronics

There is also 1866 version

 

What is vRam or valueRAM??

Amazon.com: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 1066MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SO-DIMM Notebook Memory (KVR1066D3S7/2G): Electronics

 

And the intel product page for SB says the processors only support 1333mhz or1600mhz?
So how can 1866mhz run??
Read on this topic... something about JEDEC.. what is that exactly??
And any 2166 ddr3 ram available for notebooks??

 

1866 is the highest and was just released, and yes it work native 1866 with sandy bridge laptops without changing settings or bios, that's why it's called plug and play but it's quite expensive and unproved if it actually help performance, the difference between 1333 and 1600 was not much.

 

I got the 1600 hyperX the prices were similar to 1333 version so I did not mind.

 

Link as to where to buy 1866?

 

Sorry, I do have a question. Due to my work, I need 16GB RAM min. I quoted on the new M18x yesterday both 1333 and 1600 16GB+ RAM have quite a bit of price difference....

Is it safe to say that I can go for 1333 first and upgrade to 1600 later when I have more spare money? Or it is not worth to do so at all?

Thank you in advance!

 

That massive price jump is why nobody is buying anything above the stock ram from Alienware and buying it from resellers like newegg. I think it's like $600 for 16gb of 1600 memory, when you can get the same from newegg for $220.

Here's all the HyperX ram from newegg and you can set the speed you're looking for on the left.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Laptop Memory, Kingston HyperX

 

Value RAMs should be known as the cheap RAMs compared to the high performance RAMs with better spec.

the RAM u posted up there is PC8500 which is running at 1066MHz. Imagine that, the higher speed gives the better rate of data transfer per second. So I would say that no matter how large (zise) ur RAM is, the lower speed gives u the smaller bottleneck.

For P67 Intel chipset (that run with Sandy Bridge processors), maximum RAM speed could be up to 2133MHz (but 1866MHz is the top on the market right now).

I dont think thats smart to replace 16GB 1333MHz by another 16GB at 1600MHz, because you will NOT see much difference compared to the money that cost you. And yet, in DUAL CHANNEL memory, to take advance of the maximum ram speed, you have to use all RAM modules at the same speed, otherwise, your system will run at the speed of the slowest module. For example, when you install 2 x 2 GB 1333MHz and 2 x 2 GB 1600MHz ( since there are 4 RAM slots on both sides of the m18x mainboard), then the machine will recognize your RAM at 8GB 1333MHz.

Hope this could help you out.

 

Guys, sorry, I'm confused.

What ram is it I need to order? I want to be able to go up to 32 gigs, so I need 8 gig sticks right?

I bought the base ram and intend to upgrade myself so if anyone can share what the best ram is that I can buy for the M18X with a link it would be much appreciated!

 

i was going to say something about the title of this thread, but i forgot.

 

Like a said above, since the m18x mainboard has 4 RAM slots (2 on bottom & 2 on top, that means you have to open both top and bottom sides of the machine if u intend to upgrade it yourself). You ca refer to the manual document / memory for more detail.

Back to ur question, yes u definitely need 4x8GB stick to make up 32GB RAM. For RAM size, I would say that 16GB is way enough for a laptop nowadays. About RAM speed, that depends on the purposes of using ur laptop. You shouldbe alright with the 1333MHz for daily tasks such as casual games, Internet, emails, etc.. But you may consider the higher speed (1600MHZ, 1866MHz) for some hardware-killing games (Crisys 2, upcoming Battle field 3 or something like that). Please note that the best 8GB Module is now only available at 1333MHz.

I have been shopping around for a while. All I would suggest are:

* Kingston Hyper X 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz
* Kingston Hyper X Plug n Play 16GB (4x4GB) 1600MHz. (this one costs u lil' bit more but keeps u away from headache changing some setting in BIOS).
* Kingston Hyper X Plug n Play 16GB (4x4GB) 1866MHz. (more expensive for smoking speed ^^)
* OWC 32GB (4x8GB) 1333MHz (probably costs you $900)

Please note that none of those except the 32GB 1333MHz are available at this time. (hopefully on May 10th). You should check manufacture website or Newegg for detail.

 

New Egg is only allowing me to purchase a single stick of the 1600 mhz plug and play RAM while it says the purchase limit is 100.

 

Thank you Pion2099 and Seblock for answering!

 

Thank you everybody for the answers..

The m18x supports dual channel or triple channel memory? What is the difference?

 

I foolwed some of the link posted above and they seem to be dual channel memorys?
Any links for triple channel? Benefits of triple channel memory? Does m18x support triple channel?
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G

 

Hilarious!

 

dont know if sandy bridge is any different from the older chipsets.
but to my understandings, laptops use dual channel, desktops use triple channel.

anybody correct me if i am wrong.

 

So far, Sandy Bridge only supports DUAL CHANNEL which allows the systems to multiply ur RAM speed by 2 (that explains why you have to use at least 2 same modules for double speed).

Similar to that concept, TRIPLE CHANNEL allows the systems to multiple ur RAM speed by 3. Mainboard that DOES support TRIPLE CHANNEL ussually has 6 RAM slots compared to 4 of the DUAL CHANNEL mainboard. However, the latest CPU technology that DOES support TRIPLE CHANNEL is the FIRST Gen. of CORE I. There's no sign of TRIPLE CHANNEL for Sandy Bridge yet.

 

The first gen of core i7 do not support triple channel.
and it seems that the second gen also doesn't have triple channel.

ill stick to my notebooks use dual channel, desktops use triple theory until i find a mobile processor that supports it!

and just to make this clear we are talking about mobile versions of the processors, not desktop.

 

You may be confused between CPU and Chipset so leme explain this for ya

CPU is the Center Processing Unit (such as Sandy Bridge)
Chipset is the Control Chipset that located on mainboard. A specific chipset is designed to run with some certain CPU models only. (such as the latest model of chip set that running with Sandy Bridge CPU is Intel P67, I dont know if Nvidia also having another model).

 

ok, i know what they are.

but whats your point?
am i wrong about something?

 

Just for your reference

Kingston Technology Company - FAQ: Triple channel DDR3 memory - Making the most of a virtual infrastructure: an introduction to virtualisation and the role memory plays.

triple channel laptop

MTECH D900F i7 Laptop New release

 

My point is Sandy Bridge can not be compared to other Chipsets because Sandy bridge is not a Chipset

 

yes i do know that sandybridge is not a chipset.
but too must understand a few things.
if the processor does not support support something it will not use it.
the older gen processors never supported triple channel, and will not take advantage of it even if it existed, on a chipset level!

and you know so much.
you should also know, that the laptop in your link is using a DESKTOP chipset, and Processor, it is not a real laptop!
it is a desktop computer that is packaged as a laptop form factor and sold! (the only thing that is designed to be mobile on that thing is the graphics card, and the only reason for that is it would be physically impossible to put one in without adding another inch to the height of the system.

 

Great post, exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

I will stick to 16 gigs for now and go for the 1866 as soon as I find a place that sells it.

 

Amazon has the 1866 mhz RAM for sale currently. Price is $159.00 +S&H. They are currently out of the 1600 mhz RAM though as well.

 

lol that seems kind of overpriced -_-

 

New Egg's listed price is $163, they just have a $15 off right now. So Amazon is cheaper if the discount goes away.

 

Okay, Lets head back to your earlier post

1/ You were WRONG by saying "The first gen of core i7 do not support triple channel"
Understanding Nehalem's Memory Architecture

/2 You were WRONG AGAIN buy saying "notebooks use dual channel, desktops use triple"
Janicom.Com - 6GB (3x2GB) PC3 10600 DDR3 1333 SO-DIMM Triple Channel Memory
Janicom.Com - 6GB (3x2GB) PC3 8500 DDR3 1066 SO-DIMM Triple Channel Memory

So what do you think if a SODIMM is not for a laptop uses?

Other than that, Why would it matter using a desktop hardware on a laptop. Just couple clicks away, then you would see lot of ppl out there wishing to have Ge Force GTX 580 or even GTX 590 (which are desktop versions) available on this m18x. Keep in mind that GAMING LAPTOPS tend to use desktop hardwares regardless the power consumption. Likewise, as a Gamer, I do NOT give a shiet about whether or not a desktop hardware exists on my laptop. That's y i'm here, for an ALIENWARE m18x.
If you do, here is the link for ya Apple - MacBook Air - The next generation of MacBooks.

 

Desktop i7 9xx series uses Triple Channel, almost 0 real world benefits

I had a i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz 1.2v, one of the best overclocking 920s in the world.

I didn't care because it was too ahead of its time back then.

Core i7 8xx series uses dual channel

Core i7 notebook versions all use dual channel

Core i7 (clevo/sager) w/ x58 use tripple channel, still no actual benefits.

Core i7 sandy bridge desktop/notebook use dual channel

Core i7 sandy bridge-e will use quad channel

tri channel will be dead soon.


who cares about memory anyway, 8gb is good whether the speed is 1066 or 1866.

 

this will be my final response to you, not to let this thread go out of topic, and it seems you are unable to accept what other people tell you.

you have once again pointed to DESKTOP hardware in both links,
there is NO triple channel in notebook/mobile processors.

laptops are designed to be as mobile as possible and so have certain power, heat, and efficiency standards where desktops not have to stick to those.
and if you dont care about the practicality and proper design of your gaming rig you can always buy from that company in the post, with desktop hardware not only is it more powerful, it is in an entirely different class, and cannot be compared to an M18x. or even better yet go buy desktop.

 

Seblock, your just not getting it.

Go back to the post you quoted, notice that he(madoon) states twice he is talking about mobile processors and not desktop processors. Yet all the links you post are regarding desktop processors.

Your arguing a different subject entirely.

 

Dear knuckleheads,

Please knock it off.

Thanks!

-JC-

 

It's all about the way he said that laptops use this and desktop use that, and that laptop can NOT use triple channel. Then I tried to convince him there're laptops using triple channel out there. (who cares thats laptop or desktop hardware)

I now agree that thing is getting off the purpose of making up this topic, and will not talking about this anymore. Sorry for misunderstanding Madoon.

 

Would you be able to provide the link please?

 

Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G Plug n Play 8GB 4GBx2 204-Pin DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 Dual Channel Laptop Memory Unbuffered Non-ECC CL9-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com

$100 in stock for a short while, feel free to rep me.

 

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX

Newegg is back in stock.

 

I got those on order + a new Intel 320 160GB SSD. Can't wait till all of that + M18x arrives

 

Thank you very much for the suggestion. I have placed my order for Kingston HyperX Plug n Play 8GB (4GBx2) 204-Pin DDR3 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G, Unbuffered, Non-ECC, CL11 at $129.99, http://www.directron.com/1866c11s3p128g.html Thats quite cheap compared to $149.99 (after discount) from Newegg. Thanks again.

 

Newegg is the same price.

 

Removed by Mod. All selling goes in the NBR marketplace only. Make sure to read the BST rules.