Is upgrading laptop's ram worth it?

Discussion in 'Tech Discussion' started by kenar, May 18, 2019.

  1. Chrono Vlad

    Chrono Vlad 『Banned From Drinking』

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    Not the OP but here's the specs....

    i3-7020U 2.30 GHz Dual-core

    GeForce® MX150 (2GB)

    4 GB DDR4 SDRAM (Number of Total Memory Slots 1)

    1 TB HDD

    Full info here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/ID/content/model/NX.GYPSN.001
     
  2. runsing

    runsing status : bleeding, health -10/s Novel Updates Staff

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    the screenshot shows 2 important things
    one, your laptop has one free slot from another stick of ram*
    and two, your hdd usage (not space), is at 100%, which shows your ram is clearly not enough (for 'your' usage), and your hdd is doing all it can to compensate for it.

    *without knowing your laptop's exact model, this is not 100% sure

    without going into too much technical, i would suggest you get another stick of 4GB ram. preferably the same brand and speed. prioritize same speed over same brand. meaning, it is fine if you can't get an identical stick, but make sure it at least have same speed. you can check your ram brand/speed by using a software called CPU-ID

    why another 4GB? why not an 8 or a 16? simple. modern laptops, even the most basic ones, are capable of running the memory in dual-channel mode. therefore, a 4+4 is normally faster than a single 8. unless there's special circumstances.

    next, i would suggest getting an **ssd. 240GB at the very least. avoid the 'value' or basic version of any ssd brand, if possible. it is not that they're bad, mind you. they're still far faster than a normal hdd, and you will still see a massive improvement in your system speed, even with the cheapest basic ssd. its just that their read/write speed is only 60-70% compared to their better brethren, which were not that much expensive.

    **2.5" sata ssd

    ***what to do with your current hdd? there are two route two go. one, use a 'hdd caddy'. what this caddy do is, it replace the dvd-writer in your laptop (if you have one), with a second hdd compartment. meaning you can have both ssd and your original hdd in the laptop.
    second route is to buy and external case, converting the hdd into an external usb hdd

    ***ignore this entire paragraph if your laptop has an m.2 slot for ssd. your current hdd will stay where it is, if you're buying an m.2/nvme ssd instead

    depending on your available budget, i would suggest an ssd first, ram after.

    windows 10 is fine even 4gigs of ram. it is your hdd that's being overworked now causing your systems to slow response. (click on the Disk 0, look at the response time)

    @Chrono Vlad i would suggest an ssd first since you only have 1 slot of ram. if you have the budget, then goes for the ram too.
     
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  3. Chrono Vlad

    Chrono Vlad 『Banned From Drinking』

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    It's not my laptop :blobrofl: the owner is @kenar
     
  4. kenar

    kenar ヽ(`・ω・´)ゝ

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    nice suggestion. There's a free m.2 nvme slot in my laptop and if i go with ssd route, the most I can afford is 128GB one. But,
    your words makes me think again if I should go with adding more ram and I can afford buying 4gb stick ram. My laptop originally have an embedded 4GB ram plus one slot free which upgradable up to 16GB(I dont think I need that much ram). Inv said that no matter how many GB ram you have, you'll run to bottleneck eventually so he suggested that I should get SSD instead which is a good point imo. :hmm:
     
  5. runsing

    runsing status : bleeding, health -10/s Novel Updates Staff

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    eventual bottleneck..it is quite hard for anyone not doing photo/video editing to even reach that point. in fact, several years ago when i first reached 16gigs of ram on my pc, i was able to get by with almost anything even while turning off swap file. (though i eventually turn it back on)

    one thing that's worth mention is not all entry-level laptops are capable of booting from an nvme/m.2 slot even if they have one. it is one of 'artificial' bios limitations often imposed by manufactures, unfortunately. those affected laptops are able to use nvme/m.2 ssds, but only as secondary drives.

    therefore, you should consult with your laptops tech support first, before buying any.
    2.5" sata ssd, (replacing your current hdd's spot) on the other hand, is a safe route to go.

    btw, (though this might be depending on where you are), current 4GB of ddr4 ram is roughly equal, or only a little bit cheaper than a 240GB ssd. therefore, opt for 240GB if possible.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
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  6. JadeWhiteSkin

    JadeWhiteSkin please rescue~

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    ive been wondering, but whats your budget and where are you from? depending on that alot of what has been said here (relating to what to buy/wether to buy something at all) could be useless to you

    also if your ram limit stops you from taking any actions because its too full, you CAN use a ust stick as RAM extension. Its horrible and i dont recommend it, but it is possible. the usb stick will die alongside my heart though.
     
  7. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    There was a time when Microsoft offer Win 10 'upgrade' for free. There were also times when you're forced to either accept upgrade or be scared off about how Microsoft will stop offering support for Windows 7. Nowadays, the majority of manufacturers also sell laptops with Win 10 built in, regardless of whether or not the construction can support it.

    Ai-chan find it almost impossible to find a good laptop that runs Windows 7 nowadays. Even 4GB RAM with Celeron are sold with Windows 10 built in.

    To Kenar-kun: Why not backup all your files and 'downgrade' to Windows 7 Professional? Tell Ai-chan where you buy a copy of Windows 7 Pro if you do, all Ai-chan see on Lazada are people selling serial codes, and Ai-chan doesn't trust those sellers.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
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  8. kenar

    kenar ヽ(`・ω・´)ゝ

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    this reviewer said that he use the ssd for OS.

    my budget is about 27$ :hmm: and I'm from Indonesia. My currency is weaker than US dollar and electronic part like computer parts are a bit pricey in local market.
    yeah, I wish I can do that but I don't know if the driver is compatible with win 7 :blobReach:
     
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  9. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    Well, as long as you don't mind the watermark and a few configs gui disabled, windows 10 can be used for free even without a license.


    Windows 10 pro comes with free windows 7 downgrade rights, so you don't need to buy windows 7. Albeit you can.
     
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  10. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    What version of windows 7 does it downgrade into? Ai-chan has heard people who downgrade from Windows 10 report various issues such as games not running, softwares won't run, runtimes and drivers missing and general windows issue.
     
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  11. lnv

    lnv ✪ Well-Known Hypocrite

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    Windows 7 pro.

    As for stuff not working, that depends on your drivers, some laptops are made to support both (like my business laptop), others just work, others you gotta disable driver signing and force install the drivers while others have issues.

    Or do you mean when they downgraded while keeping their files? I would suggest fresh install.
     
  12. Ai chan

    Ai chan Queen of Yuri, Devourer of Traps, Thrusted Witch

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    No, Ai-chan means that when they used Windows 7 Pro, everything worked fine. Then Microsoft offered free upgrade, so they upgraded to Windows 10, but wasn't satisfied with Windows 10. So they downgraded back to Windows 7 Pro, only to find out that the softwares they previously used without a problem wouldn't work anymore, some performance issues were detected and RAM usages was pretty much as high as back when it was Windows 10.
     
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  13. kenar

    kenar ヽ(`・ω・´)ゝ

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    a heads up, my laptop is back to normal (no high disk usage) right now after updating my windows with ram usage sitting about 65% usage,
     
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  14. MelBunns

    MelBunns Active Member

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    My friend upgraded my laptop to 8gb a while back, huge difference! I totally recommend it! Apparently you need to check whether or not it's possible on your laptop though.
     
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  15. kenar

    kenar ヽ(`・ω・´)ゝ

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    it's possible for my laptop :blobsmilehappyeyes:
     
  16. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    I’ve seen that a lot and often it’s an incompatible harddrive. Windows 10 is just harsh on hardrives + doesn’t pull their specs correctly so it always shows as 100% even if it’s only r/w at a few Mb a second.

    Granted, it happens more when ram is below specifications. I’d recommend returning the laptop and getting a new one since upgrading both hard drive and ram is not realistic
     
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  17. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    :blobrofl:I had to get above 16 gb of ram and run the os on an ssd to fix the issue on my desktop @kenar :blobdead:

    Not all computers are made alike. I hope it works for you now!

    Also I still have to get a new computer because the video card overheats when I try to do anything other than open one tab of chrome hahahaha :sweating_profusely:

    This is why I recommend you returning a product that obviously does not run properly sold as is, if you can. Get something that works instead :blobReach:

    Ofc your laptop has room to improve so taking advantage of that to make it work isn’t a wrong answer
     
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  18. Shio

    Shio Moderator Staff Member

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    That being said, my laptop only have 2 GB of RAM. I really need to upgrade my RAM since I edit a lot of image.

    The lag was lol. I can't move the brush without slight delay time
     
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  19. Lia45

    Lia45 New Member

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    If you want to do that you should have at least 8GB of RAM. A number of laptops still let you open them up, and RAM is relatively cheap. If you have 4GB, upgrade to 8GB, as the additional memory will probably cost you less than $25. I'm using Windows 10 Home and it works on it very well.
     
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  20. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    I disagree on needing more RAM or SSD.
    Since you are on a budget simply optimize your system.
    Adjust Windows Appearance for best performance.
    Use fewer extensions
    Defrag hard drive regularly and use other tools built into Windows.
    Maybe use an extension to limit the number of tabs you can open.
    Peace!

    Source: My miserly safe who discovered that buying expensive laptops is a waste of money unless you have a HP warranty that gives you free repairs and a new laptop every 2 years when you make up fake reasons to send it in for too many repairs :blobangel:
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2019
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