M11x R1 ram Upgrade

Question

I know someone once posted about this but I am really looking for assitance on the following issue. As a gift earlier this year I received an Alienware M11x R1 (probably right before they stopped making them and right before they started the R3).  It came with 4gb of ram but based on the website at the time indicated that it could handle up to 8gb ram.  I have recently attempted to upgrade the ram in the system to 8gb from 4gb with 2 4gb DDr3 1066 mhz chips. When I put in all 8 gb the machine will not boot up and just beeps a tone.  If either chip is put in alone the system boots up fine successfully with 4gb ram.  I can even get the system to boot with one of the new 4gb chips and one of the old 2gb chips, i.e. it boots fine with 6gb ram.  I've used different brands of the same type of memory chip to no avail.  Does anyone have an answer for this?  I tried Alienware support last night as the system is still under warranty, and all the technician could say was we cant cover third party memory chips.  I was like...What!!!?  Since when?  So the, and I believe the memory installed are fujitsu, other companies such as patriot, corsair, Gskill and others that make high end memory chips wont work?  I dont buy that.  The specs of the chips I used were the exact same as the original just larger in memory.  I am beginning to think it is the chipset or motherboard that wont support the full 8gb.  Please someone help.   System Specs: Alienware M11x R1 Intel Core2 Duo 1.7 ghz SU7300 4gb ram (original....currently at 6gb ram) 1gb Nvidia GT335M   Any help would be greatly appreciated.

kameix1 · Answer

I tried to upgrade mine with 8gb of corsair ram, didnt work.... one chip at a time only works :( I thought it was bad ram chips, so I got another set of the same ram and it did the same thing.

webkyaw · Answer

I am running 2x4 gb 1333mhz ram and it works fine, BUT when I use it on battery and have nvidia vid card on, the system will shutdown, so I'm thinking it's not a good idea (but works fine when plugged in). I'm thinking of going back to 4gb of ram or something.

kameix1 · Answer

For what ever reason, corsairs ram does not work in the m11xr1.

kingston hyperx does though.

I rma'ed about 15 sets trying to get a set that would work, finally just gave up and picked up some other brand and it works perfect now

webkyaw · Answer

kameix1, thanks. Do you know if you experienced random shutdowns with 8GB (2x4gb)? I have to check what brand I put in, but I have no issues when power is plugged in, and most of the time it's fine on intel vid and stock speed. Usually I get shutdown randomly when I enable nVidia vid or overclock, and on battery. I am also running 1333mhz RAM and wondering if it's using too much voltage?

webkyaw · Answer

I'll try that, thank you. I haven't seen any dust though as I do keep mine pretty clean. Dell also replaced my LCD/hinge assembly and motherboard already before along with new keyboard so mine is pretty much "new", but I'm out of warranty by 2 months. I've replaced SSD, ram upgrade, and BT module (hardest) so I do know my way around my m11x :)

Also, I'm making sure it's running well for sale soon. My m11x R3 is coming in Monday!!

kameix1 · Answer

It should cap the voltage at whats needed.

So it sounds like there is some other issue there.

Usually you will get a shut down like that due to low voltage to the gpu, or due to overheating.

Try cleaning out your fan really good first.

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