Max RAM possible in a notebook?

Looking for a new laptop. Want lots of RAM, but don't know much about the industry. Nearly every laptop I look at on the major companies websites' (Dell, Sony, Toshiba, HP) have 8 GB as the max configuration. Why is that? Can a laptop support more? If I buy a laptop with 8 GB now, is it possible I'll be able to upgrade that myself in a few years? I just don't know much about what technical limitations exist in this area...

Sorry if this has already been discussed in an existing thread...

 

The main reason 8GB is the usual maximum is that the vast majority of laptops only have two memory slots, and 4GB sticks are the largest we have right now. There are a few laptops that have 4 slots though, I believe the HP Envy is one of them. Pretty expensive though.

What exactly do you intend to do with all this memory?

 

I think Thinkpad T410 is also one of them. (having 4 slots x 4GB = 16GB)

 

Asus G73 , Dell precision M6500... another hp elitebook 8540...

 

Basic applications, internet, but also some gaming. After buying my last system, I vowed to always get the max amount of RAM from now on...

In theory, if they make larger chips in the future, one could upgrade the memory in a laptop? There's nothing about the hardware/system itself that inherently limits it to 8GB (assuming one has a 64-bit operating system)?

 

For 80% of most appliciations 4GB RAM is more than sufficient. As only special applications will require more than that.

Indeed. Both Dell and HP (not sure about Thinkpad?) offer workstation notebooks that support 16GB of RAM! As you might suspect, these laptops are for industrial/business application and you will pay handsomely for them.

As a reference OP, the Dell M6500 (the current king) can pass the seven grand mark with upgrades to spare. Which color will you be ordering yours in?

 

I play games with 2gb of ram and have no issues

your wasteing money.... you need to know how to actually use the RAM to need it

enocodeing, VM , etc

 

You mean like people who buy Bentleys or Ferarris? After all, does anyone really need 600+ hp?

Incidentally, I know that a video editor using After Affects can use every bit of that 8GB (and even up to 16) but buy that time, I hope you're making a lot of money and working in Hollywood.

 

No, the Lenovo with 4 slots is the W510 with i7 quad core. Comparable to the HP Elitebook 8540w and Dell Precision M4500.

 

I downloaded Google Earth the other day on my current Dell Inspiron (2 GB RAM) and tried to access one of features. My computer couldn't run it. I found out you need 4 GB of RAM to use the feature. And this is Google Earth, not even a game!

I'm looking for a very portable computer at the same time (13.1/13.3 inch), so I'm guessing most of these four-slot laptops may be a bit too large for what I'm looking for. This is great info though.

 

8GB for gaming is a waste of money. By the time you'll need 8GB for gaming, you'll need a new system so that your GPU can keep up with said games.

Granted I have 12GB of RAM in my desktop, but I did not get that for gaming. Nor do I ever need more than 3GB of RAM or so when gaming.

 

What are your system specs? I've run Google Earth on a 2GB system without any issues.

 

Even for video editing and After Effects work, by the time you are working on projects where you will need over 8Gb of RAM, you will likely have far more expensive upgrades to make besides ram, unless you have one of those 17 inch i7 workstation monsters to begin with.

In the past 4 years, the need for additional ram has essentially stalled, and I haven't heard of anything in the pipeline now that I can envision changing that.

Greg

 

Sager makes one with 24GB possible.

 

4GB is more than enough for any game.

 

Hmm, not that I'm trying to be difficult, but isn't the prancing horse a symbol of decadence and excess?

 

Go back even just a few years, maybe 2005, and tell someone you've got a quad-core notebook that can handle 8 threads simultaneously, with 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, and a BD drive. The government would probably be at your front door-step by light the next day. I promise 8GB of memory is enough to do everything you said a couple of posts back, and you probably won't ever even come close to using half that, even a couple of years down the road.

 

If I recall correctly, W7 requires 2GB for optimal operation. But of course, 1 or 2 GBs beyond that wouldn't hurt.

 

DDR3 sodimms larger than 4gb do exist. I found a 8gb sodimm made by crucial, and one by samsung (I will post a link for the samsung later on).

Crucial 8gb 1066 mhz:
http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT51264BC1067

However, using two of these in your laptop wouldn't work because processors like the mobile core i7/i5 don't support more than 8gb. There are a few notebooks that use the desktop version of the core i7 and they should support more ram (I think max 16gb?).

 

I have 8gigs in my desktop, 4gigs in my notebook, both run the same programs, including Photoshop CS4 64bit.

Unless you have something you KNOW will use more than 4 gigs, you won't use even the full 4. It's rare that I tap into more than 4 gigs and that is with a ton of things open.

What constitutes a ton?
Well when I work on a website I usually have running:
A thumbnail program
Photoshop CS4 64bit
FTP program
3 Windows Explorer
Chat
2 Firefox windows with a ton on tabs
Internet Explorer
Google Chrome
A movie playing (gotta love dual screens)
Thunderbird running
Notepad or Word
Dreamweaver
Front Page

I once burned a disk at the same time and still barely used more than 4gigs of memory and had no speed issues. You don't need more than 4, much less 8, and have you looked at the prices for it? That much notebook memory is insanely priced.

The only way you will likely is with video, cad, or 3d rendering. Games? VERY few are 64bit, meaning they cannot even use more than 3.2gigs anyhow. You need a 64bit program to really tap into more than 3gigs. Even multiple, simultaneous 32bit programs cannot in 99.9999% of cases.

And no, you will not see much if ANY speed difference like you normally do for memory. Once you cross a certain threshold you get diminishing returns. Currently that point seems to be between 4 and 6 gigs for Win 7 64bit.


Joey123,
That is a dual 4gig kit. Not a single 8gig. Some claim it exist, but no one can seem to find it. Newegg, Crucial, and Pricewatch do not carry them.

 

You can have 16 GB in Asus ROG that one with great RADEON 5870
But I have 8 GB in mine and almost half is not used .. it will be in future ..

 

Unless you do video work, you don't need more than 4gb.

 

I believe some desktop replacement I7s with the x58 chipsets came with 6 slots.

 

I stand corrected.

Sorry, I mixed those up those two

 

@Joey, what you sent is a 4GB x 2 setup. There has never been a single 8GB SoDIMM module as yet, and not that I know of. You may want to have a look at the descriptions carefully.

And it's not rather what the processor can "support" but rather 2 main things besides having an x64 OS: (1.) BIOS (for .eg to able to recognize a 2x4GB setup), and (2.) Motherboard support (No. of SoDIMM slots, chipset etc). Either one of these two components that isn't attained on a computer, it's not possible to attain an 8GB 2x4GB setup, or even higher on a laptop.

People have 8GB for special needs and special reasons. Granted, I have an 6 and 8GB setup in my sig, and a 12GB (6x2GB) setup on my desktop, but I just don't spend money on these things just because of "bragging rights" or "I just want it because the numbers look cool" or even "I want it because that guy has it!" (Well there are people like that). Or even influenced to think that more RAM = better gaming experience.

It is supposed to serve a group of people to aid their memory intensive needs, and gaming isn't one of them, nor does it improve its visuality of a certain game.

The extra RAM allows people to handle the intensive tasks and do more, eg, Photoshop photomerging of multiple photos, Photomatix's HDR merging, video editing, and even VMware.

The reasons why you see few notebooks with 12GB RAM or 16GB RAM setup because they're targeted towards these content development creationists who need the extra RAM to aid their applications and in situations where 4GB doesn't cut it...

And personally right now, 8GB -sometimes- just doesn't really cut it for my Photoshopping and workstation needs. I deal with large format .psd and .psb files all the time with files over 2GB big and tens and thousands of layers, 4GB isn't going to do it at all. Worst is, they all have to be opened at the same time, so your RAM usage will definitely hit more than 10GB at certain times.

But of course, everyone needs a break, and I do play games often, and all the favourite FPS titles; Crysis, L4D2, BFBC2, FC2, COD MW2, and etc. Neither any of them used more than 2.5GB.

So unless if you're doing the same stuff as I do, 8GB isn't really necessary at the moment as these games don't utilize as much, or even the near future. I wrote as much as I can and even examples, so I hope that clears your doubt.

 

I guess my previous experience has led me to the assumption that RAM is crucial for system performance. My current computer has 2GB running Windows Vista Basic, and the thing frequently uses close or more than 1GB just to idle. When you start opening applications like Word, Excel, TurboTax, Internet Explorer, you do start to experience major slow down. I guess I just figured most of the choppiness I experience doing anything on this computer (including games) is RAM related, but maybe that's not the case.

Perhaps I can scale down to 4 or 6 GB of RAM based on the responses in this thread. In terms of games then, would the consensus be that GPU is the most important feature? The system I'm looking at is the Sony Vaio Z with a Core i7-620M CPU and Nvidia GeForce GT 330M GPU. I'm looking for something small and portable for work but with the ability to play high-end games as well. I see some folks say this GPU is weak; others say it is pretty good. But this is the best compromise I can find between portability and power. I'm open to other suggestions though (and no, Alienware won't work because I might have clients seeing this thing. )

 

Unused memory is wasted memory. It's great that Windows takes up so much memory - but it will free it when you need it. For games, generally the limiting factor is the GPU. The GT 330M is a decent card, it's near the top of the midrange cards; however, there is a big difference between this card and even the lowest of the high end cards. This difference becomes more evident when you go into higher resolutions and detail. I suggest filling out the FAQ if you're interested in a new laptop and want good suggestions based on your preferences and requirements.

 

I strongly disagree... you need at least 4GB nowadays with all the new games... like for MW2 , i was using 3.3GB...

The Sager is so far the only desktop replacement with desktop core i7s as far as i know and you only have 3 slots in it... and as for the 24GB RAM support , that's on the assumption that there are 3X8GB modules... realistically , it will only be 12GB as there are no 8GB modules now...

 

I think there are 8gb modules
Goood n ? probably latest apple desktop supports 64GB !

And Here is 16GB Modules for Laptop
if u buy two or four ?

Wery tough prices !

 

Peter-X,
The 16gig says click for an ETA (estimated time of arrival)

It hasn't shopped yet, as in, it's still in development. I think they are getting ahead of themselves as there is barely an 8 gig and hardly anything supports those

Also, that price is WAY low for a 16gig considering the cost of the 8 gigs. Expect close to $5000 Euro for that 16gig stick.

 

Well I just put a 4gig in my lap-top now i have 6 gigs of ram, now when i open alot of high quality pix and video they are alot faster, also when i had
4gigs my "start-up" ram at idle was 28% now it is 19%.

 

Is MW2 64bit?
If not it won't go beyond that. It simply can't.

As mentioned, Windows uses as much ram as possible, up to about 1gig (for Win7 64bit) and can reduce that load if needed. It will also increase how much it wants if it will benefit a running application that can use it. MW2 apparently can. However, it needs to be 64bit in order to go any larger, that is a Windows restriction. On a 64bit os with a 32bit game, you can cross the 3.2/3.3gig threshold in ram, but the game itself never will use more than that, only the rest of the system will. A 32bit app simply can't address more.



Another thing to keep in mind, is that video card, while not bad, by the time you put about 6 gigs into it, the CPU and GPU will be limiting your games, not your ram. You need a better video card than that to really push a game that can use 8 gigs of ram.

You have to look at the whole system, not just one part. Too often I see people put a top of the line CPU of video card and skimp on the rest because someone told the they only needed the best ____ to get maximum performance. You are only as fast as your bottleneck. In this case the ram may bottleneck slightly at 4gigs of ram, but shortly after that the GPU will be next. By the time you reach 6 gigs of ram, I would estimate that video card to be the hindering factor. Possibly the cpu as well.

You typically do not have a lot of other things running when playing games. Multi-tasking is where it helps, particularly if something is rendering.

Those must be some high resolution pictures for you to have seen much difference but I will also assume you opened them all at once. Once opened that ram will make only a minimal difference unless those files are HUGE.

I will bet that 99% of the time you never use that memory.

 

I guess what I am trying to explain is when I open up all of my "high res pix" 2560X1600 I have about 800 of them when they open up I am able to view them faster because there image is loading faster, before with 4 gigs they loaded slower..

 

honestly...you spend most of your time on the computer opening up and closing 800 2560x1600 pictures?

the much more realistic take on that is that you do that ONCE per bootup. are you really going to spend several hundred dollars to save yourself a minute, or two, or 5?

 

I got the 4gig stick for about 130.00, just posting that I noticed a little boost in speed after the up-grade.

 

Insufficient: Did you forget something? What was your computer's configuration before vs after the upgrade? And, was it the exact same RAM?

Sometimes people forget or leave out subtle details (they may take for granted) which could explain the difference.

 

Ummmmmm...
I stand by all I have said.

Let me ask you this, do you really need to open 800 picture of high res at once?
If so, I would really like to know why. Actually, I would really like to know how you keep them all sorted while you work on them.



The only time I EVER cam close to that, was to see if I COULD load up the memory. Which by the way, the limit for CS4 64bit is about 800 pictures, it also slows to a crawl as you approach 3.5- 3.7 gigs of memory for CS4 itself. This was on an 8 gig system with memory to spare. Even using that much memory with "only" 200 pictures open it came to crawl. Dropping to 4gigs, probably would have stopped me before it got to a crawl.

He went from 4 to 6 gigs.
However, his "test" which verifies his claim is still nonsense.

 

For someone who like to drive on circuits, who like is able to handle such a car, and who enjoys the thrill of the speed, a Ferrari (or other) IS More than necessary if they can afford it.

For someone who surfs the web, 16gb of ram is an utter waste.

 

I noticed a slight improvement in video speed when I upgraded from 2gb Elpida + 1Gb Samsung (3Gb total) to 4Gb Crucial. RAM is DDR3 and the video chip is Nvidia 9300M GS. DDR3 RAM was cheap and it was worth the upgrade.

 

32bit can adress up to 4 gigs.

64 bit windows manages 32bit apps and can allow them to address the full 4 gigs of ram.

So theoretically ram usage with a 32bit app can reach 4GB + windows background usage.

 

My understanding is that the program must be written to be able to do that specifically, most are not.
It still changes very little.

 

Can someone clear this question up for me, if you have alot of things running in the background in windows ie weather gadget, cpu meter gadget and other thing like norton antivirus does more memory help? Because with 4 gigs of memory windows was using 27% at idle but with 6gigs it was reading 18% at idle is more memory free ?

 

More memory doesn't help. Unused memory is wasted memory. You only need memory if you're getting low memory errors or have specific programs that can utilize it such as Adobe Photoshop.

 

So should I pull my 2 gig stick and keep just one 4gig stick in laptop ?

 

I used 64 bit OS and it did hog 3.3GB RAM... so MW2 is 64bit game...
and takvor , keep the 6GB... its better to have some spare RAM and rather than not enough RAM...

 

leslieann covered pretty much everything.

The only reason you would be slowed down by insufficient RAM would be when what's in ram and what in the virtual ram have to be switched often.

My last laptop from a year ago was had 4GBs of RAM, and that's what I'm buying in my next one as well.

Splurge on a cpu, a gpu, a screen, but never spend too much on RAM. It's price will always come down and it will be effortless to replace.

 

A follow up question about RAM: I currently have 4GB of RAM with Vista 64-bit. I usually have 20+ Internet Explorer windows open + 3-5 Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint documents + Photoshop (basic editing) + I'll open a game like Dawn of War (with a large map and 2-3 AI opponents).

I'm buying a new laptop in the next few weeks and I was trying to decide between 4, 6, and 8GB of RAM (+1066 or 1333). I'm planning that the next laptop should last me 3 years.

From what I have read on this thread it appears that I should stick with 4GB of 1066? Does anyone think I should upgrade to 6 or 8GB?

 

It depends upon the computer, The Asus G73jh has 8gb ram standard because it has 4x2GB.

But this evening I had music, 10 tabs, AutoDesk Sketchpad, email, Excel, Evernote, Onenote, and a few other random programs and I was less than 3 GB.

Faster memory costs more to upgrade down the line. Some say they feel the difference (benchmarkers) but I do not think it will make a big difference for what you said you were doing.

Even with doing more stuff with large powerpoints and over 40tabs open I rarely get over 3.25GB. I would stick with 4 because anymore will cost an arm and a leg, plus normally it can be expanded.

 

Well, if you feel the need to keep all of those things open at once, you could probably justify over 4GB. I can't say for sure how much RAM you would use, but from your personal experience with 4GB was it sufficient for all those programs at once? It seems to me that you would know best if 4GB did the job for you.

 

It seemed to run fine, however games like Dawn of War would slow down if I used a very large map with several AI opponents. I wasn't sure if it was the 4GB RAM with all the previous mentioned applications open, or the 2.5Ghz dual-core processor, which caused the game to slow down.