Which RAM for Laptop?

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DeonH

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Hi and thanks so long for your help.

I have never changed hardware on a laptop. My son wants to change the RAM on his from 4GB to 8GB. From what I've read it differs from PC RAM but still not sure.

Is this correct?

Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook | Makro

Unbeatable Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook Deal. Shop Online or Locate Your Nearest Makro Store. âś“ Reliable Delivery âś“ Easy Returns âś“ Many Ways to Pay!
www.makro.co.za www.makro.co.za

Can you please advise which RAM to buy?
 
DeonH said:
Hi and thanks so long for your help.

I have never changed hardware on a laptop. My son wants to change the RAM on his from 4GB to 8GB. From what I've read it differs from PC RAM but still not sure.

Is this correct?

Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook | Makro

Unbeatable Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook Deal. Shop Online or Locate Your Nearest Makro Store. âś“ Reliable Delivery âś“ Easy Returns âś“ Many Ways to Pay!
www.makro.co.za www.makro.co.za

Can you please advise which RAM to buy?
Click to expand...
Laptop brand and model nr?
 
Mzezman said:
Download cpu-z and run it. It will tell you the type of ram to look for
Click to expand...
This.

Download CPU-Z.

Click on the "Memory" tab, it will tell you what RAM your machine takes. Then head over to the "SPD" tab and check what frequencies the current module supports. Look at the highest frequency and buy that. Don;'t buy a faster DIMM as it will be a waste of money.

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, similarly, a CPU will throttle all DIMM's to the slowest one's speed.

Personal recommendation is to get 8GB and not another 4GB DIMM
 
He would be better off getting a new hard drive first, an SSD hard drive to be specific.
 
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DeonH said:
Hi and thanks so long for your help.

I have never changed hardware on a laptop. My son wants to change the RAM on his from 4GB to 8GB. From what I've read it differs from PC RAM but still not sure.

Is this correct?

Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook | Makro

Unbeatable Arktek Memory 8GB DDR3 1600MHz SO-DIMM RAM Module for Notebook Deal. Shop Online or Locate Your Nearest Makro Store. âś“ Reliable Delivery âś“ Easy Returns âś“ Many Ways to Pay!
www.makro.co.za www.makro.co.za

Can you please advise which RAM to buy?
Click to expand...

Without knowing the laptop details we can't tell you anything.
 
Gudnews said:
He would be better off getting a new hard drive first, an SSD hard drive to be specific.
Click to expand...
This, I have a 10 year laptop. I upgraded to SSD first which had a massive improvement on its performance, only 6 months later did I upgrade from 4gb to 8gb ram. Not so much improvement. Posting this from said laptop.
 
DeonH said:
Thanks. SSD is part of the upgrade. Just not sure what "shape" the RAM must be.
Click to expand...
Well it's normally SO-DIMM, but we need to know what the lappie can handle. Speed etc. Please give us the laptop details.
 
rh1 said:
This, I have a 10 year laptop. I upgraded to SSD first which had a massive improvement on its performance, only 6 months later did I upgrade from 4gb to 8gb ram. Not so much improvement. Posting this from said laptop.
Click to expand...
Depends on the operating system and what you are running in the background. RAM is much faster than an SSD. You should only add an SSD when the RAM is sufficient. 4GB now days is not sufficient sadly :crying:

According to the OP, he will do both.
 
Dan C said:
Depends on the operating system and what you are running in the background. RAM is much faster than an SSD. You should only add an SSD when the RAM is sufficient. 4GB now days is not sufficient sadly :crying:

According to the OP, he will do both.
Click to expand...

Nah, an SSD would make for a better user experience (note, I did not say optimal) than a RAM upgrade. If one is not using Outlook and Teams, only Chrome might cause RAM congestion, but the much faster swap file would help with that.

But since doing both, the above is moot.
 
ponder said:
Without knowing the laptop details we can't tell you anything.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for the help so far.
Laptop is:
Lenovo Ideapad 130-15IKB

This is a screenshot of the Memory Specs ran with CPU-Z
From this I can see it is DDR4 but I'm not sure of the shape/type (don't know what to call it) of the RAM. I know that PC & Laptop RAM differ. Cannot buy the wrong one since I am going to buy online.
I saw this on a spec sheet I Googled:
Memory Slots One memory soldered to systemboard, one DDR4 SO-DIMM slot, dual-channel capable.
From this I understand that 4GB is soldered to the motherboard. Will we be able to add another 8GB? (SO-DIMM?)

Thanks again.

1660399783864.jpeg
 
DeonH said:
Thanks very much for the help so far.
Laptop is:
Lenovo Ideapad 130-15IKB

This is a screenshot of the Memory Specs ran with CPU-Z
From this I can see it is DDR4 but I'm not sure of the shape/type (don't know what to call it) of the RAM. I know that PC & Laptop RAM differ. Cannot buy the wrong one since I am going to buy online.
I saw this on a spec sheet I Googled:
Memory Slots One memory soldered to systemboard, one DDR4 SO-DIMM slot, dual-channel capable.
From this I understand that 4GB is soldered to the motherboard. Will we be able to add another 8GB? (SO-DIMM?)

Thanks again.

View attachment 1364169
Click to expand...
Can you go to this tab:

1660400374113.png1660400428242.png
 
DeonH said:
Thanks very much for the help so far.
Laptop is:
Lenovo Ideapad 130-15IKB

This is a screenshot of the Memory Specs ran with CPU-Z
From this I can see it is DDR4 but I'm not sure of the shape/type (don't know what to call it) of the RAM. I know that PC & Laptop RAM differ. Cannot buy the wrong one since I am going to buy online.
I saw this on a spec sheet I Googled:
Memory Slots One memory soldered to systemboard, one DDR4 SO-DIMM slot, dual-channel capable.
From this I understand that 4GB is soldered to the motherboard. Will we be able to add another 8GB? (SO-DIMM?)

Thanks again.

View attachment 1364169
Click to expand...
What info is displayed when you click the SPD tab? Usually soldered on memory is not upgrade-able.
 
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