Alienware M18x R2 RAM upgrade

dawnchorus

Commendable
Sep 30, 2016
3
0
1,510
I have a Alienware M18x R2 laptop running Windows 10 (64bit).

I currently have 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (4x4GB) installed but am looking to upgrade to 32GB (4x8GB).

A couple questions;

1) Would upgrading to 32GB even be possible and if so, would it be beneficial?

2) Is there a particular type of RAM that is best suited for this upgrade?

3) What are my most affordable yet quality options for RAM (I am based in Australia) and where should I be looking?

Any information or help would be greatly appreciated.

Specs as follows:
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz

Video Card - AMD Radeon R9 M290X (x2)
Manufacturer ATI
Chipset AMD Radeon R9 M290X
Dedicated Memory 4.0 GB
Total Memory 4.0 GB

Operating System - Microsoft Windows 10 (build 10586), 64-bit


If anymore information is required let me know.

 
Solution
http://lifehacker.com/performance-tests-show-that-16gb-of-ram-is-overkill-1724827429

This is a clear answer, 32gb wasn't even tested because 16gb is already overkill. the full article can be found here:
http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/page3.html

Don't be fooled by the 7-zip results on page 1 as you really don't need this speed, 32gb ram isn't worth it. especially not for playing wow.

Why do you actually want to upgrade if I may ask, your specs seem good and the GPU in a laptop will always be the biggest bottleneck.

Sem_4_

Commendable
Aug 15, 2016
33
0
1,560
I think it is possible to upgrade the alienware to 32gb RAM but unless you do very heavy video editing or use programs like Autocad (heavy use) it is not benificial to perform the upgrade. Even 16gb of RAM is more than enough especially for gaming. You can look it up on google to see performance difference in gaming when using 16 vs 32gb RAM, the difference is very close to nothing.

If you would still like to perform the upgrade i think it is hard to find 2 sticks of 16gb RAM and even if you find them they are very expensive. so unless you have 4 RAM slots the upgrade would cost very much and you wouldnt have much choise regarding brand of the RAM sticks. Really if 32gb ram was needed there would be more sticks on the market.
 

dawnchorus

Commendable
Sep 30, 2016
3
0
1,510



Thanks for the response, could you recommend any sites with respective performance reports?
I mostly play World of Warcraft these days so it's not such a big deal.
I recently upgraded to an SSD which was fantastic.
 

Sem_4_

Commendable
Aug 15, 2016
33
0
1,560
http://lifehacker.com/performance-tests-show-that-16gb-of-ram-is-overkill-1724827429

This is a clear answer, 32gb wasn't even tested because 16gb is already overkill. the full article can be found here:
http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/page3.html

Don't be fooled by the 7-zip results on page 1 as you really don't need this speed, 32gb ram isn't worth it. especially not for playing wow.

Why do you actually want to upgrade if I may ask, your specs seem good and the GPU in a laptop will always be the biggest bottleneck.
 
Solution

dawnchorus

Commendable
Sep 30, 2016
3
0
1,510


I was offered by a family friend who has a excess of RAM sticks related to his employment, Wanted to look further into it and find out prices for comparison.

Thanks for your info. My GPU will definitely need an upgrade within the coming year.