Jump to content











- - - - -

Need help choosing RAM upgrade for my gaming laptop


  • Please log in to reply
14 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 14 September 2020 - 08:39 AM

So, I've finally upgraded just about everything except RAM, it's the last on my list. I've already maxxed out my drive slots, I'm happy with 10+TB internal SSD storage (finally ditched my 2 HDDs and relegated them to enclosures).

I've been putting a RAM upgrade off for a long time because it's tricky...I'm worried I'll have to buy each SODIMM stick standalone (will explain below). And I'm not entirely sure what's compatible, what's stable, what will support overclocking (if I want to play around with that).

My main motivation is...well...just having way more than enough RAM than I'd ever need. My current 16GB is enough for modern games, but some games can push 10-12GB RAM usage (the really resource intensive ones, we're not talking DOS games). And besides that, there has to be enough for the OS and softwares running in background, I multitask alot. In short, 16GB is sufficient, but not ideal long term.

I'm looking to move to 64GB, which is the max my mobo supports. Another motivation is RAMdisks (including the OS itself), and caching. I also want to run multiple VMs at once. Doing things like Android ROM building, kernel building, compiling from source code...that stuff is super RAM intensive.

I've opened my laptop, there appear to be 4 RAM slots, 2 of which are occupied (8GB each). One of them has a "GoldKey" sticker on it, and "warranty void if removed". At first I thought it must be the TPM module, but it's too big and rectangle-shaped. Surely my warranty isnt voided by simply swapping RAM? Or maybe they mean void if sticker is removed?

My model:

Sager NP9876/Clevo P870KM1-G (same thing, but mine is Sager-branded, Clevo is the OEM)

From what I can tell, it came stock with 16GB dual channel DDR4 RAM, 2400MHz. So I take this to mean that any upgrade I choose needs to DC, around the same timing frequencies, and obviously DDR4. The frequencies themselves dont need to exact match stock timing/clock config, but it has to be close, or there is the possibility of instability.

Things get a bit uncertain when deciding how many sticks to buy at once. I'm having trouble finding 4x16 kits for notebooks (cant recall any). So far I can only find 2x32. Is it necessary to fill all 4 slots to get 64GB total? It just seems odd to leave 2 slots empty.

Another consideration: If I buy a multi-stick kit, then test them, I have to return the entire kit for exchange/refund if even one stick fails testing. This can become a long, arduous process. I'm not sure if it's better to buy each stick piecemeal, or as a kit.

Final consideration: The sticks have to be "paired", meaning all sticks have to be exactly the same. Or else I wont be able to take advantage of dual channel. Different timings/frequencies/clocks between each could cause issues too. And of course, OCing. Everywhere I've read says not to mix and match.

The brands I'm considering so far are Corsair Vengeance, Mushkin, and Patriot (Corsair preferred, I own a handful of their products, always a good experience so far). Mushkin is cheaper, not sure if there's a quality sacrifice. Patriot's prices are on par with Corsair, not much exp with their stuff. But I know they're vouched for by many. I'm open to other recommendations though.

Thanks!

#2 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 15 September 2020 - 07:14 AM

Any help with this?

Apparently 4x16 does exist for notebooks, I found these:

https://www.amazon.c...d/dp/B01BGZET9A

https://www.corsair....64GX4M4A2666C18

On Mushkin website I can only find 2x32, but not 4x16.

#3 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 01 October 2020 - 05:32 AM

So, I have to make a buying decision at some point within the next week, and despite my research I havent gotten any closer to figuring out what I need. A little help would be greatly appreciated....

#4 darren rose

darren rose

    Frequent Member

  • Advanced user
  • 455 posts
  • Location:Norwich, Norfolk
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 01 October 2020 - 11:05 AM

Try running the system scanner on Crucial website and see what it recommends - https://www.crucial.com/



#5 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 16066 posts
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum (gate is closed)
  •  
    Italy

Posted 01 October 2020 - 12:52 PM

https://www.crucial....clevo/p870km1-g

 

2x

https://www.crucial....6s4b/ct16710291

 

White, Black or Red?  :dubbio:

 

But does your PC have XMP? :unsure:

 

Maybe the plainer:

https://www.crucial....d8266/ct9949179

would do.

 

 

:duff:

Wonko



#6 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 01 October 2020 - 01:22 PM

@darren rose: I actually did run the Crucial scanner around a yr ago, it didnt produce any recommendations. Just listings for compatible SSDs.

@Wonko: Both of those kits are 2x16. I need 64GB. So I'd buy 2 kits? But the bigger question is, is the RAM "paired"? IOW, if i buy 2 kits, does that give the same dual channel guarantee that a paired 2x32/4x16 give? I'm still not even sure if it's better to fill all 4 slots with 16GB each, or just get 2x32 and leave 2 slots empty. does it make a difference in the end? Some people say 2 sticks = less power consumption, others say that filling all slots is better.

Red, definitely, because it's a power color.....but really, black is more my color. Color isnt a real concern, but I'm not a fan of white. In the end, it's all under the hood and therefore invisible.


I'm not looking to skimp on RAM here. Later today I'm Corsair a call to see if I can get some clarification. With them, I know I'm pretty much getting the top quality RAM on the market.
I'm pretty sure my PC supports XMP, I saw it mentioned in BIOS.

#7 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 16066 posts
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum (gate is closed)
  •  
    Italy

Posted 01 October 2020 - 02:44 PM

Sure, hence the "2x" in my posts.

 

You have 4 slots, 4x16=64

 

Pairing? You have 4 identical sticks, which kind of pairing do you think it is needed?

 

Distribution of risks.

With 2x32 GB sticks, one stick fails, you loose 32 GB

With 4x16 GB stick, one stick  fails, you lose 16 GB

 

On the other hand one stick every n fails, so you have double 4/n vs. 2/n probabilities of a stick failing.

 

More seriously heat dissipation should be better with 4 sticks instead of two (more surface), on the other hand with two sockets empty airflow should be better ...

 

Decision, decisions, always decisions ....

 

:duff:

Wonko



#8 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 01 October 2020 - 10:39 PM

https://ibb.co/CWfKMLT
https://ibb.co/C0pHVw9
https://ibb.co/cYddYQP
https://ibb.co/kMwS0mt
https://ibb.co/TMfsWqG
https://ibb.co/VCkFbmF
https://ibb.co/HtXknC1

I'm not even sure these are necessary, but here they are anyway.

I did call Corsair, they say I would need to order the 4x16 kit to get full dual channel support. The reason being, any particular 4x16 kit is paired to be fully identical. They said that if I ordered seemingly identical sticks piecemeal, there is no gaurantee they would truly be the same, since they use several different suppliers for any given model.

They did also recommend 4x16 over 2x32. The tech also pointed out that 4x16 would generally have higher timing/clock values vs 2x32, and that there is a higher chance of a timing discrepancy with 2x32.

With XMP support enabled (which I do believe is present, but have to check again), the sticks should auto-configure themselves to the timings that is ideal for the hardware. Or I can manually adjust/disable it for troubleshooting purposes. It was also stating that XMP should be enabled when testing each stick.

And of course, what @Wonko already pointed out.

#9 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 02 October 2020 - 06:27 AM

I've decided to go with the Corsair RAM I linked earlier, Amazon Prime says I should get it by the 3rd.

But once it arrives, I want to test each stick upfront, so I can figure out early on if a return/RMA is necessary. With Amazon you have a 30 day refund window, then Corsair takes over and all returns must be handled through them.

Some questions:

1. When testing, is it best to test one stick at a time?
2. For testing, does it matter which slot a stick is plugged into?
3. What is an appropriate testing time per stick to get accurate results?...I'm guessing between 12 to 24 hours each

And then there is the question of which software to test with. I'm considering either MemTest86, or MemTest86+. The former is legacy boot supported, whereas the latter only seems to support UEFI boot. It's no issue either way to create a legacy/UEFI USB for booting these. Or i could just boot the images from E2B/IODD/Ventoy.


All my OSes boot in legacy mode and all my SSDs have MBR partition table. But since these softwares run independently of any OS, this shouldnt matter.

Since I have more recent-ish, modern hardware, I think + is the more appropriate choice. I need whatever test software I use to be reliable, so I get accurate results, reducing the possibility of issues down the road (BSOD, cant boot/POST, etc).

#10 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 12 November 2020 - 09:22 AM

I finally got it installed and thoroughly tested over the course of the past month. I tested one stick at a time, never using the same slot for any of them. I had to verify that the slots themselves weren't defective/damaged. The 5th test was all 4 sticks at once.

For testing I chose MemTest86 Pro, it seems that MemTest86+ doesn't support UEFI booting or DDR4 (the latter detected my RAM as DDR3).

For each of the 5 tests I ran a total of 10 passes, which took about 11 hours to complete for each stick, and 28 hours for all sticks at once. So now I'm thoroughly satisfied that the set I bought are fine, I got no errors on any of the tests.

I'm using the default XMP profile in my BIOS. I may test with custom profiles later, but I had to be sure that everything was stable with stock settings.

So now I'm ready to try Windows 10 in a RAM disk. I suppose browsing the SVBus thread and getting more aquainted with Grub4DOS would be the best path forward before proceeding.

If not, advise now...

#11 antonino61

antonino61

    Gold Member

  • Advanced user
  • 1525 posts
  •  
    Italy

Posted 12 November 2020 - 08:23 PM

I advise that u should get a desktop pc for gaming and everything and get rid of the laptop.



#12 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 05 December 2020 - 02:07 AM

@antonino61: And I advise that you stick with your desktop, while I continue to use what I see fit. I dont ever recall asking for your advice (or anyone else's) in this thread about what kind of PC I should be using. I prefer the mobility of a laptop anyway.

You telling me to buy a laptop, is like a hardcore PC gamer telling a console gamer, to ditch the console and buy a PC instead. To each his own. Your advice is frankly off topic and unwelcomed.

And surely you are aware that manufacturers make very high end laptops that can approximate the power of many desktops, including higher end desktops. These notebooks are referred to as workstations. Some gaming laptops also double qualify as workstations, due to their specs. Which is pretty much what I have. It cost me a pretty penny, but shipped with top end components of my choice. I've had it since 2017, and expect to get a few more years out of it, if I dont upgrade first. But right now there's no need to do so.

Anyway, the new RAM is working great. The sticks passed all the formal RAM tests I threw at them over the course of a few weeks (couldnt finish sooner due to time constraints). No freezes, hangs, instability, etc to note so far.

#13 antonino61

antonino61

    Gold Member

  • Advanced user
  • 1525 posts
  •  
    Italy

Posted 05 December 2020 - 09:48 AM

A laptop instead of a desktop is like a summer villa instead of a house.

#14 Guest_AnonVendetta_*

Guest_AnonVendetta_*
  • Guests

Posted 05 December 2020 - 10:14 AM

@antonino61: On the surface, your example makes sense...until it doesnt.

With either a house or a villa, they arent meant to be portable/mobile.

On the other hand, a desktop is stationary while a notebook is mobile. Have you ever tried taking a desktop on a flight? To your favorite independent coffee house?...Etc...it doesnt really work. I travel alot and I'm always on the go. So for me, a workstation approximating the power of a desktop is what I prefer. What I have lets me do just about everything I could use a high end desktop for. Except maybe having dual monitors, and another thing I cant think of offhand.

And you seem to have missed my overall point, which is that people use what is best for them according to their needs/wants, circumstances, etc. You are indeed like the desktop gaming guy that tells a console gamer to buy a PC, without considering their POV.

And you also like to insert advice where it is unwanted, unnecessary, and off topic. I dont see a point in continuing this particular conversation with you in this thread, since I've already gotten what I'm after.

#15 antonino61

antonino61

    Gold Member

  • Advanced user
  • 1525 posts
  •  
    Italy

Posted 05 December 2020 - 12:04 PM

I advocate the primacy of desktop no matter what. What do u advocate? the primacy of laptops according to ppl's wants, not needs I would amend? well, it is not philosophically correct, insomuch as there is always a more powerful desktop for the price of a laptop. if and when we could overturn this inbalance, you will then be right.






1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users