X205-S9349 - Upgrading RAM

Ok, so I'm going to be taking a trip to the US to pickup a Toshiba X205-S9349 and I figured since I'm going to be there I might as well pick up some RAM there too, since it's much cheaper. So, of course, I've got some questions:

1.) Is it hard to upgrade RAM in a laptop, or easy?
2.) Void warranty - or no?

Also, do these kits work, and which would you recommend I get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231116
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145157
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134554
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148086
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134555

They are all $50, which to me, is totally worth it - even if I have to go through the trouble of upgrading to a 64-bit Windows platform and all that jazz. The video card can use RAM to make it perform better, or that's what I think I've gathered, so this will help - especially since it's Vista.

Thoughts?

 

Wait.

Is there only 2 DIMM? Meaning I'd have to upgrade to 2 x 2GB sticks?

If so, eff that.

 

Yep, you got 2 slots, so for 4GB, you'd need 2 2GB modules, replacing the two 1GB sticks you've got, or you could just replace one of your 1GB sticks for a 2GB, and have 3GB of ram total.

 

Would it be worth upgrading to 4GB of RAM - or not right now?

Hmm.

 

I plan on doing it fairly soon.... in most things I don't think it'll make much difference, but in Crysis, I get really good frame rates, but it's always seeming to access the hard drive fairly regularly, and i get little stutters here and there when it does... so, gonna try it, sure can't hurt anything, and should hopefully help smooth it out a bit and lower the hard drive access. Checking around it should be somewhere around $160-200.

 

Well, if you need it get it now, and when you are in the states, which is cheaper. The ram prices are pretty much rock bottom.
Really easy to upgrade.
And won't void warranty.

 

Well, that's what I'm debating - whether or not I need it.

I can't really think of too many games I'm going to be playing. I'm an avid WoW player, so that for starters. Probably some CS and what not when I goto LAN's and I'd like to play some of the newer games, but I'm a mostly console gamer, even though I'll be taking advantage of the good specs on the laptop.

4GB necessary?

 

I wouldn't worry about it then if you aren't overly concerned about the latest and greatest games running at highest settings.... everything else I've tried runs great with 2GB, and vista with a few tweaks runs well too. Besides, if you do upgrade to 4GB, you'd pretty much have to upgrade to Vista 64bit, as Vista32 won't use all of the 4GB.

 

As noted the X205 and every other new laptop you'll find on the market has 2 slots (some ultraportables have one though). Max capacity is reached via 2GB sticks, which can be expensive but have come down recently; check the RAM DEALS thread for the best prices.

I upgraded my desktop from 2GB -> 4GB for Crysis. I did notice increased performance - framerates are a bit more stable and there is less stuttering.

Note that with a 32-bit operating system you will only see ~3GB even if 4GB is installed, so only go to 3GB. Dual-channel makes little difference in performance.

 

So would you recommend I upgrade to 4GB and install 64-bit or would 2GB suffice for moderate gaming with the 8700?

 

You can upgrade to 3 GB. Just replace a single stick.

But yes, 2GB would suffice for moderate gaming.

It would suffice for extreme gaming even, but only if you install a SP1 beta - it solves the memory issues with games (and in general).