Question ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 RAM upgrade: will I lose dual-channel?

[Mecharuva]

I have recently purchased the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 (2020), and I was looking at upgrading the RAM.

I have discovered, however, that the 16GB of RAM preinstalled is actually soldered to the mainboard, much like Apple notebooks... shame, ASUS.

There is, fortunately, an open SODIMM slot, that allegedly supports up to 16GB modules, allowing for 32GB of total RAM - however, according to CPU-Z, the system is already getting dual-channel functionality from the soldered RAM, and of course I assume it's 'wired in' in 2x8GB fashion, so to speak.

So, if I install a single 16GB SODIMM, to get 32GB total RAM, am I going to lose dual-channel functionality? I can't find information on this, but if any of you can, I applaud your Google-fu.

I suppose I should note here that I understand how dual-channel works, and by my understanding, adding a 16GB SODIMM would disable that, but I've not dealt with a notebook with soldered-in RAM before, so I'm not sure if ASUS has some custom solution on hand here that would enable dual-channel with the upgraded memory.

 

[lga1156_ftw]

No you cant run both slots in dual channel, however the already soldered ram is running dual and the extra you add will run in single, so you dont lose much performance.

I would not buy more ram unless you REALLY need it, 16gb is enough for most people and if your gaming only its plenty. That would give best performance and less stress on the IMC (memory controller)

Looks like awesome laptop btw, im curious how are the thermals? Cpu and GPU temperature under load?

 

[Mecharuva]

No you cant run both slots in dual channel, however the already soldered ram is running dual and the extra you add will run in single, so you dont lose much performance.

I would not buy more ram unless you REALLY need it, 16gb is enough for most people and if your gaming only its plenty. That would give best performance and less stress on the IMC (memory controller)

Looks like awesome laptop btw, im curious how are the thermals? Cpu and GPU temperature under load?

I thought that dual channel functionality was an ‘all or nothing’ affair, i.e. if I add a SODIMM, even the soldered-in RAM drops to single channel. Is that not correct?

 

[lga1156_ftw]

Can you download CPU-Z and take pic of memory tab and send link here, do same with SPD tab (from slots which have soldered ram)

 

[Mecharuva]

Can you download CPU-Z and take pic of memory tab and send link here, do same with SPD tab (from slots which have soldered ram)

Here they are.

 

[lga1156_ftw]

So there is 2 modules 8gb soldered to the motherboard running in dual channel with 3200mhz, unfortunately if there is only 1 slot left the ram stick you add will be running in single channel.

But the soldered ram will continue to run in dual channel.

You can see from part number it is exactly this model : https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Micron/MTA8ATF1G64HZ-3G2J1?qs=0lSvoLzn4L%2Bf97R6w9sZdQ==

For best performance use same ram module, you could find it cheaper somewhere else or used it doesnt really matter. You can always buy ram used that is one part which doesnt degrade easily.

 

[Mecharuva]

So there is 2 modules 8gb soldered to the motherboard running in dual channel with 3200mhz, unfortunately if there is only 1 slot left the ram stick you add will be running in single channel.

But the soldered ram will continue to run in dual channel.

You can see from part number it is exactly this model : https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Micron/MTA8ATF1G64HZ-3G2J1?qs=0lSvoLzn4L%2Bf97R6w9sZdQ==

For best performance use same ram module, you could find it cheaper somewhere else or used it doesnt really matter. You can always buy ram used that is one part which doesnt degrade easily.

Interesting. If the soldered RAM remains in dual-channel mode with the extra RAM running in single-channel mode, that is just fine. I only wanted some extra RAM for maximum capacity. Sometimes I have lots of programs running in the background, and I am also planning to return to school some time, so the extra capacity may come in handy for, say, virtual machines perhaps.

About the specific Micron module - is that available at retail? Is it possible that this module has been repackaged under another brand name, such as G.Skill or Corsair?

 

[lga1156_ftw]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MTA8ATF1G6...457110?hash=item1f0ede9fd6:g:A2gAAOSwHk9eoRVt

That is very expensive though, just bought 64gb worth of ddr3 for 70 euros

Just copy paste the model to amazon , ebay etc you might get lucky with price.

 

[Mecharuva]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MTA8ATF1G6...457110?hash=item1f0ede9fd6:g:A2gAAOSwHk9eoRVt

That is very expensive though, just bought 64gb worth of ddr3 for 70 euros

Just copy paste the model to amazon , ebay etc you might get lucky with price.

Yes, DDR4 SODIMMs appear to be quite expensive right now, especially for a single 16GB module at 3200MT/s. Best I’ve found so far is a G.Skill module for $80 USD.

 

[lga1156_ftw]

Sounds rediculous, i know there is some difference with ddr3 and ddr4 but thats crazy. Are you sure you need 32gb , wouldnt 24gb be enough (+1 x8gb module)?

 

[Mecharuva]

Sounds rediculous, i know there is some difference with ddr3 and ddr4 but thats crazy. Are you sure you need 32gb , wouldnt 24gb be enough (+1 x8gb module)?

Of course an 8GB module would be fine, but if it’s only a few dollars more for the 16GB module, why not max it out? I’m not exactly on a shoestring budget here. :b

 

[Mecharuva]

No you cant run both slots in dual channel, however the already soldered ram is running dual and the extra you add will run in single, so you dont lose much performance.

I would not buy more ram unless you REALLY need it, 16gb is enough for most people and if your gaming only its plenty. That would give best performance and less stress on the IMC (memory controller)

Looks like awesome laptop btw, im curious how are the thermals? Cpu and GPU temperature under load?

I forgot to reply to the latter part of your reply before. I haven't done all that much gaming with it yet as I'm an over-the-road truck driver, and I've been downloading games while I'm home on the weekends, but don't get much opportunity to play during the week. I can say that from an hour or so in Forza Horizon 4 just now, the GPU was hanging out right at 81 degrees, with the fan profile set to Performance (higher GPU fan speed, normal CPU fan speed), and the game's settings mostly High, with Ultra textures, Night Shadows on, Anti-Aliasing off, 1080p with the Vsync locked to 72FPS. The game stayed at 72FPS basically the entire time, and showed GPU utilization staying around 50%. The laptop did get quite noisy, but not so much that headphones wouldn't cover that up, and I didn't actually notice the noise all that much, being so focused on the game. The keyboard here also got quite toasty, but not uncomfortably so.

All in all, par for the course for a slim and light gaming laptop. Shame about the soldered RAM, but at least we still get that extra SODIMM slot, unlike Apple notebooks.

 

[Brody1990]

Did you ever install the 16gb of ram in the expansion slot? It says in some places its upgradable to 32gb however their own site and bestbuy say its only expandable to 24gb. I recently had to get mine sent back for a gpu failure after having it for 3 months its on its way back now however I am curious about the upgrade mine already came with the extra stick of memory and I was thinking of trying to get it to 32gb for some editing software not gaming.

 

[Mecharuva]

Did you ever install the 16gb of ram in the expansion slot? It says in some places its upgradable to 32gb however their own site and bestbuy say its only expandable to 24gb. I recently had to get mine sent back for a gpu failure after having it for 3 months its on its way back now however I am curious about the upgrade mine already came with the extra stick of memory and I was thinking of trying to get it to 32gb for some editing software not gaming.

Other things came up and I wound up never picking up the extra RAM for the laptop. After poking around the web for a bit, however, I did confirm that the configuration is 8GB soldered to the motherboard with another 8GB module in the SO-DIMM slot, meaning you can upgrade to 24GB at maximum, however I am still uncertain if you will have dual-channel functionality.

By my understanding, you will lose that if you have any SO-DIMM other than 8GB in the slot, which is tragic.