RAM Upgrade

[Dropkick]

I've been thinking about getting a new laptop because of my computer being so slow. I read somewhere that RAM is the most underrated part of a computers performance so I've decided to upgrade my laptop for a fraction of the price of a new one. Try to get another few years out of it.


I've about 510mb of RAM at the moment which is 255mb chips in two slots. I've ordered 1gb of RAM - which cost about €40 - to replace one of the 255gb chips so that'll leave me with 1.255gb overall which should give a performance boost. Theres videos on youtube showing how to replace it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvCEm...os=ejx561SXPwM).


Anybody upgrade their computers/laptops themselves? My laptop is about 5 years old now but going well except for the slowness at times.

[Hersir]

Yes, I used to work in a computer shop and I have built many desktop computers and changed RAM and components on laptops. It's very easy to upgrade the RAM.
First you turn off the power (d'oh), close the lid, put the laptop upside down. Unscrew the battery lid, take out the battery and there you should see the RAM slots inside. I would also recommend to clean the dust from the CPU fan while you are upgrading the RAM, compressed air works very good for this. My cousins CPU fan stopped because it was full of dust, and his CPU got burned. It was a old machine though.

5 years is a very long time for a laptop, I guess the battery dosnt work so good any more?

[Neophyte]

Yes, I added and extra gig to my laptop. It is a pice of cake, and the only tool you need is a Philips screwdriver.

If you have not yet looked into Linux you should. It works much better than Windows on less powerful harware and requires less memory.

[Dropkick]

Yes, I used to work in a computer shop and I have built many desktop computers and changed RAM and components on laptops. It's very easy to upgrade the RAM.
First you turn off the power (d'oh), close the lid, put the laptop upside down. Unscrew the battery lid, take out the battery and there you should see the RAM slots inside. I would also recommend to clean the dust from the CPU fan while you are upgrading the RAM, compressed air works very good for this. My cousins CPU fan stopped because it was full of dust, and his CPU got burned. It was a old machine though.

5 years is a very long time for a laptop, I guess the battery dosnt work so good any more?

I'll look out for dust. I don't have an air compresser so I'll use my lungs.

I got a new battery last year. The other one was completely dead. The new one has a longer life than the old one.

[Dropkick]

Yes, I added and extra gig to my laptop. It is a pice of cake, and the only tool you need is a Philips screwdriver.

If you have not yet looked into Linux you should. It works much better than Windows on less powerful harware and requires less memory.

I'll look into it. If the new RAM don't make much difference I might change to Linux... if I know how to.

[Dropkick]

I've put in the new RAM memory (only took about 2 min) and theres a big difference.


Once the programs I'm using are loaded up all commands are done instantly. I'm happy with it and its given my 5/6 year old Dell a new lease of life. So I recommend people to get plenty of RAM.