Help with adding RAM to my new laptop.

[HS5964]

Hey all, I want to upgrade the RAM on my new laptop, but I have a few questions. It came with 4 gigs, but it's upgradeable to 8gigs. It runs great with 4gigs, but I might as well unleash its full potential. I know it takes DDR3 Ram, but is that all there is to it? Do I have to worry about speeds, pins, connectors, brands or anything else like that? Or is all DDR3 Ram created equal?

Is there anything else I need to be aware of when it comes to replacing it? I've added RAM to a PC before, but never to a laptop. I just want to make sure I don't screw anything up.

Thanks.

 

[bobkn]

According to Crucial:

Computer memory upgrades for Acer Aspire 5755G Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

your laptop has two memory slots. If it came with two 2GB SODIMMs, then you'd have to replace them both to install 8GB total.

The laptop uses DDR3-1333 SODIMMs (small outline DIMMS), with 204 pins.

 

[HS5964]

Ok, so there's not any speed ratings or anything like that when it comes to RAM? Just get some that fits and it's plug and play?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[seavixen32]

Have a look at this short video:

 

[whs]

Just a word of caution before you spend any money. Unless you have a lot of CAD applications, the upgrade to 8GB will not buy you anything. I have 3, 4 and 8GB systems and do not notice any performance difference. Even when I do video encoding (a really heavy duty task), hardly more than 2GBs are used on my 8GB system.

 

[HS5964]

Really? Not even with gaming? I mean, it runs all my games perfectly fine, I just figured it might make them run a little bit better/easier.

Or not.

 

[seavixen32]

More RAM means you're not using the pagefile so much.

I upgraded my RAM from 6GB to 8GB and didn't notice any improvement in performance.

The best performance boost these days is upgrading to a SSD.

 

[whs]

I really doubt it. Do the following - when you run a game, look into Resource Monitor > Memory tab. That will show you on the colored bar how much RAM is being used. You will probably be amazed how little that is.

 

[whs]

More RAM means you're not using the pagefile so much

With 4GBs of RAM, the pagefile is only used by some very special programs. That btw. is the same with 8GBs of RAM. Those programs do not use the pagefile because there is not enough available RAM, but for other reasons. With normal processing, the pagefile is never used.

The best performance boost these days is upgrading to a SSD.

SSDs are gereat for general performance increase. Games, however, generally do not acces the disk very often. So even an SSD will not buy a lot. Best boost for games is a fast CPU, a super graphics card and fast RAM.

 

[M1GU31]

when i game it uses 2.5gbs to 3gbs depends what i'm running lowest ive seen it is 2gbs but crysis 2 went up to like almost 3gbs

 

[seavixen32]

More RAM means you're not using the pagefile so much

With 4GBs of RAM, the pagefile is only used by some very special programs. That btw. is the same with 8GBs of RAM. Those programs do not use the pagefile because there is not enough available RAM, but for other reasons. With normal processing, the pagefile is never used.

The best performance boost these days is upgrading to a SSD.

SSDs are gereat for general performance increase. Games, however, generally do not acces the disk very often. So even an SSD will not buy a lot. Best boost for games is a fast CPU, a super graphics card and fast RAM.

Can't argue on that one Wolfgang as I never use games.

Thanks for putting me right.

 

[whs]

So you have plenty of RAM, don't you.

 

[bobkn]

Ok, so there's not any speed ratings or anything like that when it comes to RAM? Just get some that fits and it's plug and play?

Thanks for the reply.

1333 is a speed rating. (PC-10667).

I agree with the other posters that going to 8GB may not help much, if gaming is your purpose.

On the other hand, for less than $50....

 

[HS5964]

I really doubt it. Do the following - when you run a game, look into Resource Monitor > Memory tab. That will show you on the colored bar how much RAM is being used. You will probably be amazed how little that is.

I did as you said, and I dunno, I may be reading the info incorrectly, but with my game running (Along with all my other normal programs), it seems as if the system is using up a little more than 3/4's of the total ram. Now keep in mind, even with all my programs and the game running at one time, it was running smooooooooth as butter with all the graphics at max settings. I'm posting up a screen shot of Resource Manager both with the game running, and without the game running. Tell me what y'all think.

 

[marsmimar]

The snips of your resource monitor show over 3GB RAM in use while the game is running and a bit less than 1.5GB when it's not. The thing about Windows 7 is it's much better at utilizing available RAM compared to previous operating systems. RAM is always faster than a pagefile/virtual memory running on a mechanical hard drive so if RAM is available, 7 will use it. If you upgrade to 8GB, it wouldn't surprise me if RAM usage remained pretty much the same.

For me, the biggest advantage to upgrading now is the low prices on RAM and making sure your computer can handle more memory intensive games that are sure to come out in the not too distant future.

 

[whs]

As Lee says, if you want to plan for the future, an upgrade may be OK. But for the time being you are fine. 8GB would provide more RAM for caching, but that is not such a big deal.

Considering that the RAM upgrade would cost you around $50 and an SSD is $100, I would rather go for the SSD. That would give you a lot more overall benefits.