My new Dell Intel i5 laptop came with 4GB PC10600 1333mhz memory, one 4GB stick so not dual channel, I should have specified 2 x 2GB, oh well!
I could buy another 4GB stick for around £33 though it wont be matched ...
... or I could buy 2 x 4GB sticks for around £65 and they will be matched and then sell my current 4GB stick for £25 on eBay ...
... or I could buy 2 x 2GB sticks for around £33 and they will be matched and then sell my current 4GB stick for £25 on eBay ...
Any thoughts?
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Questions I'd be asking myself:
- Does the chipset support dual channel?
- If yes, do I do anything that really takes advantage of the dual channels.
- Do you need more than 4Gb RAM? Most people don't yet.
If I wanted dual channel, I'd go for an extra 4Gb to be honest. And buy the right speed/spec memory to match what is already in there.
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Yes it support dual channel, though to get the best out of dual channel you need matched sticks, the memory fitted is Hyundai which I cannot buy easily buy, hence I would prefer to fit 2 x 2GB (£33) or 2 x 4GB (£65) from Crucial and sell the 1 x 4GB Hyundai.
The question is do or will I need 8GB?
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Probably not at the moment - I only use more memory when running VMWARE to have servers running for dev work. If you used a lot of say Photoshop then you'd benefit too though.
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>> If you used a lot of say Photoshop then you'd benefit too though.
>>
I do on my workstation and have also taken it off my old laptop to the new, my workstation is therortically less powerfull, Core 2 Duo with XP Pro 32bit and 4GB 667mhz memory and wizzes through Photoshop editing large image files.
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To use dual channel they *dont* have to be matched exactly by manufacturer. Client of mine on one of my bea-spoke PCs was using Photoshop ok on 4 gb, but then needed to run Zbrush as well so another 4gb was needed.
SO I just got another one of similar spec, slipped it in and off we went. Worked perfectly.
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I didn't think that either Zero. The spec needs to be the same, so RAS, CAS, etc. Might be easier to replace both to get them the same I suppose.
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DDR3 is so cheap now anyway if you do want 8GB you can just replace them both. I still have 2GB DDR2 as it is all my motherboard will support (will support 4gb on paper, but the reality is no matter what combinations I try it doesn't work) keep meaning to upgrade but I am aiming to pay cash for most of my car insurance, once that is out the way I will have the money to upgrade.
I do a lot of Photoshop work and a bit of programming sometimes in Ubuntu as its a better environment for it. However I have to dual boot because I don't have enough RAM to make a virtual machine run smoothly. So I need the extra RAM for that.
For the typical user though, even 2GB is still plenty.
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Is it really, really, really as easy to install more memory as the video in the link below shows?
I mean could an IT numskull like me do it?
www.crucial.com/uk/
According to that website, I have 2 x 2GB with two slots empty. My PC could take up to 16GB i.e. 4 x 4GB. Is it worth upgrading, would I notice the difference?
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It is really easy to upgrade. Just make sure you get the right memory.
Depending on what you use the computer for and whether you have a 64-bit operating system running, you probably have plenty of RAM.
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I bought a Lenovo laptop last week and was surprised, but pleased, to see its manual includes detailed instructions and diagrams on how to install, for instance, a replacement optical drive or memory.
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As do Dell and Acer manuals.
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Thats because you have bought a proper laptop from a proper computer company. It also comes with some genuinely useful well written utilities.
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My laptop from work lets you take out the optical drive (there's a lever) and replace it with either a blank (reducing weight), a second battery or a second hard drive. It's not a cheap laptop from a mickey mouse computer company though ;-)
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I had to do a hard drive replacement on a Sony yesterday. I had to remove the keyboard and palm rest just to get to it. And even the cable which had the SATA connector on it was so flimsy.
I now tend to recommend Acer and Lenovo laptops, I no longer recommend HP because most of the domestic ones are flawed in too many ways.
My issue with Acer is though is there is too much crap on them.
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Is it easy to remove the crap?
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>> Is it easy to remove the crap?
Easy, but the secret, on a laptop, is knowing what you need and what is crap.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 10 Jun 11 at 16:24
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>>Easy, but the secret, on a laptop, is knowing what you need and what is crap.
Thats why my Acer's full of it still.
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Acer are terrible for this. I remember almost crying when my (then) £800 laptop took about three minutes to boot when I got it out of the box, and Windows started hammering its pagefile whenever you tried to do more than one thing at a time.
Formatted the drive, installed a generic OEM copy of Windows (using the license key on the base of the laptop), and cured both problems.
Last edited by: DP on Fri 10 Jun 11 at 19:29
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Does it feel slow? If not, no its not worth upgrading.
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Memory upgrades are mostly very easy providing you have access. I've upgraded laptops before where I've had to remove the motherboard just to get at the RAM (Acer One).
The knowledge is just knowing if you need a RAM upgrade and what type of RAM it needs. When I charge people for a RAM upgrade I don't charge for slotting a card into a slot, I charge for my knowledge of knowing it needs more RAM and knowing what to buy.
Most the time though it is very easy - just don't force anything!
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>> According to that website, I have 2 x 2GB with two slots empty. My PC
>> could take up to 16GB i.e. 4 x 4GB. Is it worth upgrading, would I
>> notice the difference?
>>
If you have a 64bit OS then it may be worth having more than 4GB memory though there is no point with a 32bit OS, 32bit Windows will wont address more than around 3.2GB memory so some will say that 3GB is the max necessary though if you have shared graphics memory then this is in addition to the 3.2 and some applications will address memory so 4GB is worthwhile.
My issue is that while Windows 7 64bit will address all the memory I can put in my laptop do I need more than 4GB? Perhaps I have answered my own question, 8GB will enable shared graphic to use memory and still have 4GB + available to Windows.
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I don't think any shared graphics chip will need anything like 4GB! 4GB is plenty for any normal use. 16GB unless its been used as a server is just silly. Until we are editing HD videos on the fly 16GB now is like 256MB was in 1997 pointless on a domestic PC.
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>> I don't think any shared graphics chip will need anything like 4GB! >>
I agree though some can use up to 1GB, the point is that it is a matter of either 4GB or 8GB with matched sticks, 4GB could end up being nearer 3GB available to Windows so 8GB may be an advantage.
I.e. my workstation uses a dedicated graphics card and 4GB memory none of which is taken by graphics where as the laptop uses shared graphics (better battery performance) so some of its memory would be taken by graphics.
I reckon I will buy a couple of matched 4GB sticks a sell the current one on eBay torecover some cost.
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2 x 4GB from Crucial, £60, sorted.
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4GB or 8GB memory - Windows 7 64bit Professional - rtj70
