16gb ram vs 32gb ram Upgrade

I have 8gb and will be upgrading to 16gb ram. But then i saw how there is 32gb ram ... price is double that of 16gb ram.


Now is there any point of upgrading a laptop to 32gb ram? Or its a complete waste? Laptop is an old machine Dell xps 15 9550 i5-6300hq.

 

The RAM of your make is the early type of DDR4 @ 2133mhz. It's not that comparable to current heights of DDR4 2933mhz and 3200mhz, hence, it is suggestible that u get the upgrade to 32GB.
However, before u proceed with the upgrade, ask urself how long would u foresee that this is going to be working till it's end of days considering that this is roughly 4 or 5yrs of age.

The batteries would be in it's last journey now.

If u are considering to put it as ur desktop replacement, i would encourage that u go for it.

 

I just went from 16 to 32 and it was worthwhile since the 32gb was ~ $100 which is about 30% less than price the original 16gb upgrade cost was.

I have issues with the multiple tabs being open in Chrome and having them die and needing to refresh them when I was at 16gb. It happens a lot less frequently now with 32gb and I don't have to kill off chrome processes to open other things like games or other programs multiple times w/ crashes like before. Before spotting the cheaper memory I wouldn't had considered needing 32gb but the price was too good to resist the upgrade.

 

What is the price of the 16GB RAM upgrade?

 

I paid $133 on ebay for the 16gb but more recently paid $89.99 for the 32gb set with a discount using Chase or Amex.

 

Thank you @Tech Junky, I meant @Drew1 though.

 

Depends on how long you expect to be using this laptop and for what exactly.
Having more RAM doesn't hurt (obviously).
8GB is a bare minimum ... but Windows does seem to prefer 16GB as do games, etc.

If you're not planning on replacing the laptop too soon (say in the next two years), then sure, go for 32GB... however, if you are planning on replacing the machine within the next year and half (or two), then probably 16GB to minimize the cost.

Ultimately, it will (again) depend on what you use the laptop for, so going for 32GB might be beneficial (but only if you're not planning on buying a new one in the next year or two).

 

Really depends on what you're doing with it... But just imo, 32GB is worth it. It's the maximum upgrade, and you can squeeze some more performance out of the processor by undervolting/overclocking it.

Should last a decent amount of time and you can recoup the cost if you sell the laptop later on (32GB on a used machine looks more attractive to buyers).

 

IMO, get the 32GB. As jotm said you can leave it in to make selling your used laptop easier down the line, or you can just take the ram out and put it into your next laptop (unless you see yourself wanting 64gb one day in your next machine which is unlikely).

 

@Drew1 do you have 2x 4GB sticks, or single 8GB? If the latter, just add a 16GB stick. 24GB is a nice compromise, and you can always replace the 8GB stick with another 16GB or 32GB if you understand you need more.

FWIW I still use a laptop of the same vintage as yours, with 32GB RAM. I'd put 64GB in it - but it only has single SO-DIMM slot, so 32GB is as much as I can get. But I have a use case for such high RAM consumption (hundreds of tabs across multiple browsers), depending on your usage scenario you may be fine with 16GB.

 

I am pretty sure i have 2 x 4gb sticks so 8gb total. Well i heard its not good to do things like that where you have 4gb and 8gb on the other or like 8gb and 16gb etc because it doesn't match?

But 16gb should be almost more than good enough for everyone right? I mean on avg i use 6.5gb/7.9gb when im doing my thing. So if i use 16gb ram, it would show 6.55gb/15.8gb or so? Or it would show like 10gb/15.8gb because the more ram you have, the more it uses?

 

It's about compatibility of the RAM on clock speed that matters, first in observation before buying.
Size wise can be different, however it's often suggestible that the first channel be lower than the 2nd channel, such that hiccups can be shunned. My Lenovo L340 comes with 4GB 2400MHz soldered on board, and i put in a 8GB 2400MHz RAM to the one and only SODIMM slot available in the system. No problemo for me for the last 1yr of usage.

 

It may be questionable when comparing extremes e.g. 2x 16GB vs 4GB+32GB, but otherwise it's good, e.g. 8GB+16GB is better than 2x 8GB.

It depends. If you do heavy browsing, second scenario is more likely, but you'll get better experience (because less caching) overall.

 

For me this seems to be the case with browsing and general idle windows. Chrome is the biggest consumer by far but, when I was on 16GB the system tended to sit around 8-10 in use w/o restarting chrome to purge things. After a chrome restart and not loading all of the pages it would drop to about 6GB.

With 32GB things tend to sit in the 8-10 while idle and fully loaded ~15GB when nothing else changed other than the doubling of RAM. Chrome tends to have a leak and sometimes can boost the in use to 20GB due to 1 tab just incrementally chewing up more ram as time goes on. Of course to purge things just open the chrome task manager and sort by memory to kill the offending tab.

If coders would fix issues like this the average person could get away with far less ram without seeing bloat issues that make it simpler to add more resources than deal with the issue.

 

Okay got a question here then. So if i plan to use this laptop for at least 2-3 years minimum, would you upgrade to 32gb or just 16gb? Price is like $63 for 16gb upgrade... $124 for 32gb upgrade. I did saw a site where I could get a 32gb for $109 though. So that would be like $46 more.


So if the price to go from 16gb is $63 but can find 32gb at $124.... well that is double the price


but


If 16gb is $63 or instead 32gb is $109, is it a non brainer to go to 32gb?

 

Hey there, with the prices i listed... would you say upgrade to 32gb ram if its $109 to do it as oppose to $124? The thing is i can afford it... but i always thought... well if i never need it, whats the point?


Then again, 7 years ago when i got a 2.5 inch samsung sata ssd... i got the 250gb one because i thought i would never need 500gb or more. But the only reason why the 250gb is filling up is because i been using it since late 2016 so around 4 years or so and did not delete anything. Previously before that, the laptops before that... it never hit anywhere near 250gb... it was at most half.


Also if i do get a new laptop in future, well it will definitely not be configured with 32gb ram. So it make sense to upgrade now to 32gb ram so if i buy a new laptop in future, i can always put this ram into the new ram of 32gb?

 

You are unlikely to be able to move the ram into your new laptop - currently, most laptops are using DDR4 ram, rather than the DDR3 in your current laptop - and, by the time you are ready to upgrade, the standard may well have moved further. However, the 32 GB option might well allow you to live with your present machine for longer, at a very reasonable price.

 

My current xps 15 9550 uses ddr4 ram though... so wouldn't i be able to move it to a new one?

 

It all depends on the next 1000+ days or so of ur daily usage, how much snappiness would u want ur system to perform and in return gives u the kind of expectations u wish by deciding on the size u upgrade...

Next yr, with 11th Gen Intel, RAM clocking speed will go above 4000mhz mark, and we hv no idea what kind of system will Ryzen 5ks demand as minimum requirement. By the time ur 1000days journey ends with the RAM upgrade today, where will u be then? What kind of computing will be norm? ARM? Or still the good old x86? Do we need that much or fast RAM as OSes evolves?

 

Possibly - unless the standard has moved to DDR6, or much higher speed ram. Of course, by then, laptops may come with 128 GB standard.

 

Okay. So based on that, you recommend me to go to 16gb or 32gb? Seems like 16gb is 63 dollars... and i could get 32gb for around 109 dollars. Previously it was around 124 dollars.

 

Indeed. Whether there's a point getting 32GB or not is one question only yourself can answer.

Unless you know exactly what model of laptop you'll be taking AND that model has upgradeable RAM, that's unrealistic.

 

I know it will 100% be a dell xps laptop if i buy another laptop. I want to stick with xps.

 

@Drew1 current XPS 15 uses DDR4 2933, thus you'd better get DDR4 2933 or faster modules.

 

Im confused because the one im lookin at is 2400 ddr4... and i read on amazon reviews that is compatible with the xps 15 9550?

 

You mean the 9570 or 7590 right? I have the xps 15 9550... old machine...

 

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Dell-XPS-15-9550-64GB-2x32GB-2666-MHz-memory-upgrade/td-p/7572388
Hv a closer look before u make any move on getting ur new RAMs for upgrading

 

I took a look at that and confused. That person bought samsung ram... i read to buy crucial ram. So the 2400 ddr4 won't work with its cl 16? What does cl 16 mean and where do i find that info on amazon?

 

It'll be minimum 4266mhz next year with the 11th Gen INTELs, bloke.
2933Mhz RAMs will hv a compatibility problem with OP's old "heart" and system.

 

I checked reviews on amazon and lot of ppl said the 2400 mt/s is compatible with the xps 15 9550

 

I meant XPS 15 9500 (2020).

And/or it may be soldered. If @Drew1 wants to transfer the RAM to a newer XPS, he's stuck with current-gen 9500 at best.

Why would 2933 or 3200 be any different in this regard from other frequencies? @Drew1 will just need to pick the modules with higher CAS latency and pray they work fine, just like with any 2133/2400/2666 module, no?

 

If u had noticed, AMD Ryzen 4000 systems are mostly shipped with highest @ 3200mhz RAMs and minimum of 2666mhz RAMs. 2933mhz falls in between, and we've not yet see any OEMs shipping these with the Ryzen CPUs except 10th Gen Comet Lake(which also works with 2666mhz RAMs) and Ice Lake CPUs.

Conservatively, I would use the default factory supplied RAM specification as a reference for own upgrade. However, considering that clocking speed of RAM will hv some kind of effect(shared memory with iGPU and general processing) on system performance, i won't reject the idea of getting those higher spec'ed ones which can be different from my default to try on for better computing experience.

Too many types of RAMs in the market will make one who DIY on upgrading their system falls easily into hiccups. Even though i had tried with a DDR3 system sometime back, the incompatibility issues will still be there, where i suspect got to do with voltage? Or perhaps something else...

 

@Ed. Yang any memory will run at 2133MHz in @Drew1 's XPS 9550, because Skylake. It won't run any faster than that.

FWIW 3200MHz would be my choice too, but in XPS 15 9500 it will run at 2933MHz anyway.

 

In amazon reviews, most ppl who said it works with the 9550 said they used the 2400 mhz, so is that fine then? The higher the number, the faster it is right?

Only other options are 2666 and 3200 but in all the amazon reviews, like almost every who had the 9550 said they bought the 2400... but the 2666 and 3200 is guaranteed to work?

 

I keep hearing people talk about ryzen... those are deskstop processors right?


So its fine with the 2400 mt/s? I did check prices for the 2666 and 3200 and those are much higher than the 2400 mt/s. On amazon like of 10 plus users who reviewed this crucial ram, like majority of them bought the 2400mt/s... few got the 3200 and 2666. So its fine with the 2400 mt/s?

 

If you buy higher speed memory than the system can support, the computer will automatically adjust itself to accommodate. The differences in speed are not noticeable, especially on an older machine, so it's not worth spending extra money.

 

The higher the number, the faster as long as motherboard supports it. For your XPS 15 9550 which is limited to 2133 MHz, it makes no difference whether RAM will be 2133, 2400, 3200 - it will run at 2133 no matter what, so purchasing the cheapest option is totally justified.

If you decide to keep the RAM for next machine, 3200 would be better - but that's kinda pointless since you don't know exactly which machine exactly you'll have next, so just getting the cheapest RAM that works for your current machine is a better solution.

Ryzen are current AMD processors, desktop and mobile. They are arguably better than anything Intel has to offer at the moment.

Yes, it's fine. Since your machine is known to have memory compatibility problems, make sure the seller you end up buying from accept returns, just in case. But overall I'm pretty sure all will be OK.

 

Thanks. I will stick with the 2400 then.


One other issue i have. Starlight.. im decrypting my ssd right now so i could clone it. I posted the question in my other thread. But if my ssd is over 200gb... how long should it take before it gets fully decrypted? I clicked on turn off bitlocker earlier and it still shows as decrypting... i assume many hours?

 

Also you still use bitlocker right now starlight? I know you helped me a lot when setting it up a year ago or so.

 

Hours, and longer than necessary if it wasn't OP'd and is now almost full.

 

I honestly don't remember, last time I decrypted an SSD was years ago. Recently decrypted an SSHD on my home server by mistake, now that took hours - but with SSD, it should be much faster...

Yes.

 

Would you say upgrade to max 32gb ram or stick with 16gb ram?

 

@Drew1 I personally would grab a single 16GB stick to replace one of your 4GB ones. If I felt 20GB wasn't enough for me, I'd grab another 16GB for 32GB total.

 

But isnt that not good ideas you are mixing different gb of ram?

 

Nah, it's OK. And when upgrading, it often makes more sense financially.

With 4GB + 16GB sticks, you end up with asynchronous dual channel mode. 8GB will work as dual channel, and 12GB as single channel. In most tasks, performance difference between dual channel and single channel RAM is 1-2%, something you won't ever notice in everyday life, and that will be overshadowed by gains from larger RAM capacity if you push it. Only iGPU really benefits from dual channel RAM - but it will use dual channel portion of RAM in your scenario, most likely at all times, and IIRC your 9550 has dGPU so you shouldn't be concerned at all.

 

Well theres no harm in maxing ram right? Like no one goes... i wished i didnt paid more for the max ram?


Like if i max the ram, it would be good for another 5 years at least right... but if i dont max it , then it might have some issues a few years later?

 

@ Drew1

Depends on whether the rest of the hardware lasts that long as well. If your board fries or something then it's a loss either way. Pay now or pay later... Weigh the benefits of the extra $ for a smoother experience. On the flip side if your next system you own takes the same DDRx version you can port it over and keep using the ram for that system. I don't see DDR5 being prevalent for a couple of years but, it's possible.

Of all of the past systems I've owned over the last 5-10 years have been at least 16gb until this most recent one I just upgraded to 32gb because the price was reasonable and less than prior upgrades.

 

16GBs of RAM is enough for now depending on the tasks you do but RAM is cheap these days and prices are expected to drop some more near the holidays. You can easily find 32GBs DDR4 RAM kits for around $100+ on Amazon, Newegg and other sites if you still want to max it out.

 

16GB is the sweet spot right now for regular gaming/use especially when you have programs like *cough* chrome *cough* that eat up a lot of ram.

32GB is if you can get a kit for cheap or you dont want to worry about "running out of ram"

If you want speed or tweaking then go for any Samsung b-die kit, I bought some cheap gskills for my desktop but for my laptop I got some unbranded Samsung ones just 2x 16GB and have them running on my laptop 3200CL18, granted I can tweak it up lower but just have been lazy to go further as my 2x 8GB c-die kits did the same timings that came with my GS65.

The only time 32GB did help me was maxing out unoptimized games like FFXV maxed out 1440p that used up 8GB of vram (2080Super) and then additional 16-17GB of system ram, this could have been alleviated by lowering the settings that is made for 6-8GB> cards or 4GB> cards, when I cranked up the settings it used a ton of system ram but prior to that I would get game crashes or reboots because if the game couldnt get anymore vram or system ram it would try to use more page files etc....

 

Your RAM needs depend on your workflow. Even if you completely max out RAM (which is 64GB for your machine, by the way), in time you might end up disappointed by other components e.g. CPU or GPU.

I wouldn't invest much in this XPS if I were you. You care about security, and this machine has architectural flaws that make it vulnerable. Over time it will only become less secure. I'd get a Tiger Lake (only with TME!) or a Ryzen Pro machine, if I were you.

@Drew1 's laptop BIOS is locked down, he won't be able to tweak RAM and it will run at 2133MHz unless @Drew1 finds someone to mod it...