Advice re: RAM upgrade. (Optimus)

[JimmyDeemo]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on the best method for me to upgrade my RAM. I bought the laptop with the specs listed below with a view to upgrade the RAM at a later date. Initially I took a single stick of 4GB with the mind that I could just add another 4GB next to it; really I only want to get to 8GB as I feel anything above might be overkill for me.

My options are;

1. Buy another 4GB stick. Do I need to worry that it won't be a matched pair to the Samsung one I have now?
2. Buy 8GB (2 more sticks). I believe this laptop has 3 slots, and with the price of RAM 8GB might actually be a good buy giving me 12GB. Will that cause any problems having 3 sticks of 4GB? I'm not clued up on if 'pairing' is important with recent tech.
3. Buy 8GB (1 or two sticks), and take out the 4GB. As above but leaving the odd stick out.

So yeah, probably a simple one for frequenters to the forum but figured it was best to get some more opinions. Would you recommend getting the RAM fro PCS? I don't have a problem installing it or anything like that.

Note: I'm actually running an SSD, which is the only difference to the Spec listed below.

Thanks in advance.

SPECS

---

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£19)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time

 

[keynes]

I would use the upgrade service from PCS to make sure you get the right ram. Any reason for getting more than 8gb?

 

[JimmyDeemo]

Any reason for getting more than 8gb?

I can't think of any. I play games (Guild Wars 2 and XCOM being the most 'heavy') and I do programming, but even then i'm not using a resource heavy IDE or anything like that.

Does the upgrade service post out the RAM and allow me to add myself? I'd like to avoid having to send it off and pay for installation. As you say, i'm mainly concerned with getting the right type.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[ubuysa]

I would use the upgrade service from PCS to make sure you get the right ram. Any reason for getting more than 8gb?

+1

Another 4GB that matches the Samsung RAM you have now will do you just fine I think. I have 12GB in my Optimus IV but try as I might I can't get to use it all. Not yet anyway.

The issue of pairing is still current, it allows for dual-channel mode which means a double-width bus when reading and writing to RAM. My opinion is that dual-channel really only makes a difference with RAM hungry applications, day to day work doesn't seem to benefit noticeably. So if you wanted to populate all three slots (as I have) you can.