M17x RAM Questions

[DarthPierce]

Mine came with 4GB of 1600 and it was in the bottom.

The sticks it came with were hynix they run 11-11-11-28 timings.

I bought 2x4GB patriot 1600MHz (11-11-11-28) and put them in the other slots. I'm very happy with the 12GB 1600setup I have going. (Which incidentally I'm running at 1672MHz at the moment thanks to a 104.5MHz bclk

[legrunt]

I took out the stock ram, put in 4 x 4gb of hyper x 1600 ram and caused myself endless grief. Read the m17x bootloop issue thread started by me to get a feel of what I went through...
M17xR3 - vertex 3 bootloop

[Beradon]

Mine came with 4 gigs of 1333mhz hynix in the bottom

I bought 8 gigs of mushkin 1333mhz for about $40 and put it under the keyboard.

For those of you wondering what our processors 'officially' support:
The i7-26xxqm supports up to 1333mhz
The i7-27xxqm through i7-29xxxm supports up to 1600mhz

Performance difference of memory:
There have been many many tests over the years determining if speed of memory really effects the speed of a system, and for the most part, that answer is no. The performance difference is usually in the range of 1-3%

Here's a link displaying that:
AnandTech - Sandy Bridge Memory Scaling: Choosing the Best DDR3

The simple answer is that if you plan on keeping the original memory in your system, then just pick some that operates at the same speed. Buying and replacing memory in your system with something faster really wont net you the performance you expect for the price difference you'll be paying.

The biggest difference you will find with faster memory currently is if you choose to use the Intel HD graphics as the memory speed directly affects the performance of the on die graphics, more so than any processor performance effect.

[dr no]

Samsung? Didn't expect that one. Bummer about it being on bottom, but I guess I can deal.

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G

Thinking about ordering this. How much of an overkill would 16gb be?

This is what I have coming in the post tomorrow.
8gb is more than enough I gather.

[SlickDude80]

Mine came with 4 gigs of 1333mhz hynix in the bottom

I bought 8 gigs of mushkin 1333mhz for about $40 and put it under the keyboard.

For those of you wondering what our processors 'officially' support:
The i7-26xxqm supports up to 1333mhz
The i7-27xxqm through i7-29xxxm supports up to 1600mhz

Performance difference of memory:
There have been many many tests over the years determining if speed of memory really effects the speed of a system, and for the most part, that answer is no. The performance difference is usually in the range of 1-3%

Here's a link displaying that:
AnandTech - Sandy Bridge Memory Scaling: Choosing the Best DDR3

The simple answer is that if you plan on keeping the original memory in your system, then just pick some that operates at the same speed. Buying and replacing memory in your system with something faster really wont net you the performance you expect for the price difference you'll be paying.

The biggest difference you will find with faster memory currently is if you choose to use the Intel HD graphics as the memory speed directly affects the performance of the on die graphics, more so than any processor performance effect.

I repped this cause it was informative and well written.

At some point in the future, I will be putting in ddr3-1600 ram. It doesn't make financial sense, but i think people that buy alienware are a different slice of society. We wanted high performance laptops so it feels silly to me to not have the best ram. The 1-3% peformance boost is a plus

[Stampy]

I have 2 hunix (hyundai) 4GB and 1600, timings: 11-11-11-28

[SlickDude80]

I have 2 hunix (hyundai) 4GB and 1600, timings: 11-11-11-28

hmmmm...i wonder what is better ddr3-1600 cas-11 or ddr3 1333 cas-9?. I'm leaning towards the tighter timings. I wonder why dell did that

[Stampy]

hmmmm...i wonder what is better ddr3-1600 cas-11 or ddr3 1333 cas-9?. I'm leaning towards the tighter timings. I wonder why dell did that

cause they're cheap... tell me more I am planning on buying ram (The kingston 8GB 1600 CAS 9 timer - not mentionned xD
here is the link... how come there is no timer here? Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G

[SlickDude80]

cause they're cheap... tell me more I am planning on buying ram (The kingston 8GB 1600 CAS 9 timer - not mentionned xD
here is the link... how come there is no timer here? Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G

under "details" tab, it says cas 9...so those are currently the fastest ram that i know of.

Just be aware that if you want to mix and match ram, they will always run at the slowest speeds. This means that if your original 4 gigs of ddr-3 ram is running at cas-11, even if you buy these HyperX sticks that are a much better cas-9, they will downclock and run at cas 11

So if you are going to keep your original sticks, get cheaper cas-11 ram and save money

[Stampy]

under "details" tab, it says cas 9...so those are currently the fastest ram that i know of.

Just be aware that if you want to mix and match ram, they will always run at the slowest speeds. This means that if your original 4 gigs of ddr-3 ram is running at cas-11, even if you buy these HyperX sticks that are a much better cas-9, they will downclock and run at cas 11

So if you are going to keep your original sticks, get cheaper cas-11 ram and save money

Thanks buddy, I am planning on not keeping the original sticks based on what have been said in this forum (a great portion of it said by you). Is the difference between cas 11 and 9 soooo great? that it actually becomes noticeable!?