What Is The Best SSD for Alienware M14x R2? How Do We Install Dual Storage Drives HDD & SSD in a Laptop?

Sowny on 25/07/2017 - 09:50
Last edited 25/07/2017 - 10:02 by 1 other user

Guys,

I own Alienware m14x R2 since 2013 and I don't wanna get rid of it. I have also installed dual OS, Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu, and the performance is average but, I wanna boost up the speed now. I don't use Alienware for gaming as RPi3 with Recalbox and XBOne are good enough to kill time!

Now, my questions are,

1. What is the best SSD < 500 GB?
2. What is the best RAM in 8GB? (How about "Kingston SO-DIMM KVR16LS11/8 1.35V (Low Voltage) 8G DDR3 1600")
3. Has anyone tried to install both SSD + HDD in a same laptop? (When I opened the laptop, I don't see any space to install SSD without removing HDD. I was under impression that we can install both HDD + SSD)

And finally, it's worth upgrading?

Cheers,
Sowny

• 

  altomic on 25/07/2017 - 10:02

  +1

  according to the dell site it has space for a sata drive and a mSata drive. also it has an optical drive.

  you can remove the optical drive and install a SSD with a caddy (caddys are around $3 from aliexpress).

  then in the bios boot from the ssd/caddy drive. use the original HDD as storage

  RAM - it takes dual-channel DDR3 and usually for dual-channel configuration, the memory modules must be of the same type and capacity. so get the same speced memory as what you already have. (apparently)

  I upgraded my 2012 macbook from hdd w/ 4 gb to SSD (primary) + HDD (storage) w/ 16gb - it's pretty damn excellent for speed.

  as for your machine -it would cost ~ $100 to upgrade it with additional ram and SSD (if you do it cheaply) you will notice a huge difference in performance.- remember the SSD doesn't have to be 512gb or anything over the top. I bought second ssds for all my upgrades. bought a bunch of m.2 128gb SSDs for $28 each - have the SSD as the primary drive holding the OS. the HDD holds the crappy storage/data.

  Storage
  Interface • SATA 2.0 (3 Gb/s) or SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s)
  • mSATA
  Number of hard drives two
  Drives supported • one 2.5-inch solid-state drive or hard drive
  • one mSATA solid-state drive
  • Support for Intel Smart Response Technology
  Optical drives one
  Drives supported • DVD+/-RW
  • Blu-ray reader and DVD+/-RW combo

  • 

    Sowny on 25/07/2017 - 13:28

    Ah, I see.

    I need optical drive as I have to burn discs. If I remove the Optical drive, then can I use it as an external Optical drive when needed? If so, how?
    Currently, factory fitted 2GB + 4GB DDR3 RAM installed in two channels. I'm planning to throw that 2GB RAM and install the new 8GB one.

    About the price,
    * 8GB Kingston RAM costs $79 in MSY (http://www.msy.com.au/home/12483-kingston-so-dimm-kvr16ls118…)
    * 252GB Samsung SSD costs $135 in MSY (http://www.msy.com.au/hard-drive/14928-samsung-850-evo-mz-75…)

    • 

      altomic on 25/07/2017 - 14:28

      +1

      to use the optical drive externally then buy one of these USB cables for AU$2.67 delivered.

      ram - check out used on ebay. recently (for the last 12 months) 204 Pin laptop ram has just been stupidly expensive. the last great deal was au$66 for 16gb (2 x *gb) ram delivered from amazon - thanks Scotty

      also SSDs can be cheaper. I scored a SanDisk SSD Plus 240GB for $76.80 Delivered @ Futu eBay

      SSD caddy AU$2.96 delivered

      • 

        sowny05 on 30/07/2017 - 18:49

        Mate, is it a good deal? If not can you let me know if you come across any deals?

        http://www.msy.com.au/pc-components/14426-sandisk-ultra-ii-s…

• 

  Sowny on 25/07/2017 - 19:34

  You're a star Altomic!

  I've placed orders from AliExp. Lemme look for a similar deals on SSD and RAM.

  Cheers!