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    Is it worth to upgrade the RAM.

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by tonyr6, Nov 23, 2011.

  1. tonyr6

    tonyr6 Notebook Consultant

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    I have the Dell XPS L702x 17" which came with 4 GB of RAM. It is running fine but I am not sure if I should double the RAM. If I do Dell sells the RAM but it way too expensive. Is there anywhere that sells it cheaper.
     
    tonyr6, Nov 23, 2011
    #1
  2. funky monk

    funky monk Notebook Deity

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    You can get 4GB sticks for about £15 each. Whether you'll notice a difference depends on what you do.
     
    funky monk, Nov 23, 2011
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  3. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    Definitely need to know what you use your laptop for. I've been getting along fine on 4gb's for a while. My new laptop has 6gb's, but I don't think I've exceeded 4.
     
    Nick, Nov 23, 2011
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  4. tonyr6

    tonyr6 Notebook Consultant

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    I don't game. Just use it for web surfing and watching videos.
     
    tonyr6, Nov 23, 2011
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  5. gull_s_777

    gull_s_777 Notebook Consultant

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    No need to upgrade....
     
    gull_s_777, Nov 23, 2011
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  6. Fenikkusu

    Fenikkusu Notebook Evangelist

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    It'd be a total waste. Even if you did game. Most games rarely use over 2GB of ram and the only real advantage of having all that extra is so you don't have to close programs while you game. For web surfing and videos 4GB is more than sufficient.
     
    Fenikkusu, Nov 24, 2011
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  7. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I'd say it depends on your usage. I've seen SC2 use 3.5 GB of RAM as it was a map where it spawned a crap load of stuff.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Nov 24, 2011
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  8. Sam_A_1992

    Sam_A_1992 Notebook Evangelist

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    No point in upgrading then, even most games rarely use over 2gb. Including skyrim which has now been limited to 2gb after a security patch.

    I use some astronomy programs which can use quite a bit. There is this 1 program that with the entire catalog added (asteroids etc) you need over 120gb of space and atleast 24gb of ram. Now thats extreme.
     
    Sam_A_1992, Nov 24, 2011
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  9. Harry1994

    Harry1994 Notebook Guru

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    if you want to there will be no drawbacks to it and I find crucial the best place to buy ram from.
     
    Harry1994, Nov 27, 2011
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  10. Tim93

    Tim93 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm planning to upgrade to 8gb as I game quite a lot and i've had this problem with the L502x stuttering sometimes. I'm looking at the Crucial 8gb module, specifically CT102464BF1339 8GB, 204-pin SODIMM, but I read that it wasn't 'officially supported' ? What does that mean?
     
    Tim93, Nov 27, 2011
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  11. mhwu

    mhwu Newbie

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    I have just installed 2x4gb of Crucial RAM and things are fine at the moment.

    Bought it from ebuyer which worked out slightly cheaper than the crucial website after delivery charges. (approx £35 for 2x4gb)

    I find that running real player a few web pages and PKR poker at the same time a breeze. Before it would get stuck sometimes.
     
    mhwu, Dec 15, 2011
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  12. palap

    palap Notebook Enthusiast

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    mhwu, can you run a dell Stress Test with Intel video and check if video periodically pauses for less than 1 sec during test. I put 2x4 gb g.scull and started having these pauses.

    thanks
     
    palap, Dec 20, 2011
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  13. 540is

    540is Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you run multiple virtual machines (as in: you use your machine for work)
    then you 8GB is pretty much the standard detail. - if its only for casual surfing and gaming 4gb will do the trick.
     
    540is, Dec 21, 2011
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  14. VPR5703

    VPR5703 Notebook Consultant

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    Gotta agree with the 4GB. I used to run Portal and a few other games on my Inspiron 1720 and4GB did the trick fine. Even when I run a virtual machine on my XPS 17 w/ 6GB, it handles it no sweat. 4GB is enough for the modern user who doesn't do anything insane.
     
    VPR5703, Dec 21, 2011
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  15. rabbitz

    rabbitz Notebook Consultant

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    Is there a difference in speed for 1dimm vs 2dimm? i.e, is 2x2gb faster than 1x4gb?
     
    rabbitz, Dec 21, 2011
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  16. VPR5703

    VPR5703 Notebook Consultant

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    There is a speed difference, but whether you will notice it is up for grabs. Unless you do things that are transfer-intensive like gaming or workstation use, I doubt you'll notice. In general, for the price of 2GB modules, I'd go with it.
     
    VPR5703, Dec 21, 2011
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  17. rabbitz

    rabbitz Notebook Consultant

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    In that case why doesn't OP just add in a 2gb stick for now? It can't hurt either way and 2gb sticks can be found for about $15 new and <$10 used
     
    rabbitz, Dec 21, 2011
    #17