# Increasing RAM Question for Laptop Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737 "2014-07-22T13:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/1 "2014-07-22T13:42:54Z")
Have an old asus laptop. Its asus u45jc-a1. I3 processor with 4gb ram. It has 7200rpm 500gb hard drive but i replaced it with a samsung 256gb ssd. Laptop is lagging always when opening many chrome windows. I know the laptop is older processor i3… but i like this laptop mainly b/c its 14.1 size and not that big and not too small. I want to upgrade the ram and from what i check online, my laptop can do 8gb. Is my laptop 4gb but its 2gb sticks each? Im not sure about this. If i were to upgrade and want 8gb ram, i have to buy 8gb ram total thus two 4gb ram sticks correct because i have 2 slots available? Do i need to make sure the ram is compatible with laptop only? Im checking amazon so is this the one im going to need? > **[Amazon.com: Crucial RAM 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CL11 Laptop Memory CT102464BF160B :...](https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3-Laptop-Memory-CT102464BF160B/dp/B006YG8X9Y)** > > Amazon.com: Crucial RAM 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz CL11 Laptop Memory CT102464BF160B : Everything Else But i have to get two 4gb sticks instead of one 8gb stick? I dont want to buy some ram and find out its not compatible with my laptop. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/2 "2014-07-22T14:37:59Z")
First, are you running 64-bit Windows? Go to Start, right-click on Computer and select Properties. What does it say under system type? Your laptop specs 4GB maximum, but you should be able to use two 4GB sticks if they are 256MBx16. So you need sticks with 8 chips on a side, like [this one](http://www.amazon.com/Mushkin-Enhanced-Essentials-Laptop-991644/dp/B003TSTDNU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406039822&sr=8-1&keywords=991644). Ultimately I doubt you’ll see much if any improvement from the upgrade though. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/3 "2014-07-22T14:44:16Z")
You most likely currently have 2GBx2 sticks. You want to use both slots, so you should buy the 4GBx2 kit. Laptop RAM is 204 pins. According to the [Crucial compatibility tool](http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-memory-for/ASUS/u45jc), that RAM should be fine, but again, get the 4GBx2 kit. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/4 "2014-07-22T14:44:28Z")
Yes its 64 bit windows 7. I understand but i rather try the upgrade. Are you sure its 4gb max? Someone a while back posted 8gb was actually the max but this was a while ago so not sure if i recall if its correct or not. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/5 "2014-07-22T14:45:47Z")
Thanks, another question. Taking out the old ram and installing the new one should be easy right? Is there a way i can damage the ram if i do it wrong such as pull it or jam it or whatever? Im not very good with things so i tend to trial and error a lot. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/6 "2014-07-22T14:48:40Z")
According to [Newegg](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220772) 8GB should be supported. [Installing RAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1oTz-F6xME) is incredibly easy. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/7 "2014-07-22T15:32:17Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > Is there a way i can damage the ram if i do it wrong such as pull it or jam it or whatever? Im not very good with things so i tend to trial and error a lot. Yep. You can break the RAM sticks or mangle the connector they sit in if you manhandle them. Also, as I posted in your other thread, I doubt that this upgrade will do your system much good. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/8 "2014-07-22T21:15:13Z")
I don’t know why people keep saying it’s unlikely to help… Having the system lag while having lots of chrome tabs opens sounds precisely like the system is running out of RAM and tagging the swap file… which on a 5400 RPM laptop drive is slower than a figure skating turtle who’s competing with Tonya Harding for Olympic gold. 😛 Edit: And then I bother to read the rest of the OP. Yeah, maybe with an SSD in there it’s possible the RAM isn’t the only issue. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/9 "2014-07-22T21:19:46Z")
Definitely use the Crucial tool mentioned upthread. It will tell you exactly what you have, what you can add, and will even sell it to you. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/10 "2014-07-23T00:38:04Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I don’t know why people keep saying it’s unlikely to help… Because the OP said in the other thread that the laptop used to be faster. While the slowdown is almost certainly caused by the system running low on available RAM, the real culprit is all of the bloatware and little processes that have installed over the years eating up all of his existing RAM. If you add more RAM, all those little things will just chew up the extra RAM as well, leaving only a marginal and temporary gain. Clean the system up first (a format and re-install is a big shotgun approach that will get rid of just about anything). Then, if it still doesn’t have the performance you want, then you might consider adding more RAM. I run firefox, not chrome, but my general impression is that they are both roughly equivalent with respect to memory usage. I’ve got a bunch of tabs open right now and I’m using 1.5 GB out of 4 GB. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/11 "2014-07-23T00:43:11Z")
I just opened about 30 tabs spread over 3 different browser windows, making sure to open about 8 or 9 youtube videos (trying to use up more memory per page). I managed to get the memory usage up to about 2.5 GB out of 4 GB. ETA: Running linux, btw, but that shouldn’t matter much. The memory usage between browsers should be roughly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/12 "2014-07-23T03:36:56Z")
Someone in a forum posted Asus U45JC A1 Memory System Memory Standard Memory: 4096 MB (2 x 2 GB) Maximum Memory: 4 GB Expansion Sockets: 2 Memory Comments: PC3-10600 1066Mhz DDR3 SDRAM Does this mean the original one i posted won’t work because its 1600 mhz? So would this one work then? > **[Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L 1066 MT/s (PC3-8500) SODIMM 204-Pin Memory...](https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-8500-SODIMM-204-Pin-Memory/dp/B008LTBJFM)** > > Buy Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L 1066 MT/s (PC3-8500) SODIMM 204-Pin Memory For Mac - CT2K4G3S1067M: Memory - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases I see its mainly for mac but my laptop is asus. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/increasing-ram-question-for-laptop-question/693737/13 "2014-07-23T04:44:05Z")
Someone else mentioned 4gb ram is the max i could use on the laptop. Can someone else confirm if i could use 8gb total thus 4gb each one or not as well?