Can I add 8Gb DDR3 to laptop with soldered 2Gb RAM

[dcheng07]

Hello,

I have an ASUS UX302LA laptop with i5 processor and running dual channel with 4GB of DDR3 ram. 2GB of the ram is removable and the other 2GB is soldered onto the mobo.

The performance has been sluggish so far so I would like to upgrade the ram when I replace the HDD with SSD. I am considering putting in an 8GB ram in addition to the 2GB soldered (matching the latency etc.)

The ram I'm considering is the G.Skill Model F3-1600C9S-8GRSL (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231704)

My question is, since the laptop is running dual channel right now and one of the channel is a 2GB, will adding the 8GB be compatible? Will I see a difference or will the laptop drop the 8GB down?

Thanks in advance.

 

[lightcloud]

You will not be able to do it if your motherboard doesn't support 8GB of RAM but only the original 4GB.

So to be really sure that everything will work I recommend contacting Asus.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I need the exact model number. There should be a few more numbers and letter to the model beyond the UX302LA you've provided. It's likely either on a sticker, the box or under the battery printed on the case itself. I think that unit only supports 8GB total so you would not be able to add an 8GB module in addition to the 2gb soldered to the board but I need the model to confirm that. If there are two module slots to install RAM into you could however add a 4gb and another 2gb to get your 8gb if all is correct.

 

[dcheng07]

I need the exact model number. There should be a few more numbers and letter to the model beyond the UX302LA you've provided. It's likely either on a sticker, the box or under the battery printed on the case itself. I think that unit only supports 8GB total so you would not be able to add an 8GB module in addition to the 2gb soldered to the board but I need the model to confirm that. If there are two module slots to install RAM into you could however add a 4gb and another 2gb to get your 8gb if all is correct.

Thanks for the feedback. I used the serial number lookup and go to this page: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_U...

You are right that it seems that it only supports 8GB. According to the website, I can add a DIMM up to 4GB? (does that mean an additional 4GB or a total of 4GB, i.e. the configuration now)

Or if I add the 8GB, does it mean that it'll just run everything through that 8GB stick and not use the on board 2GB?

Sorry I'm new at this....

 

[Darkbreeze]

That link takes me to the main ASUS page. Give me the serial or model number and I'll give you the exact information you need. Most likely you can add a 4gb and 2gb modules to get 8gb but I need to know for sure before I tell you that will work. Also, like I said, there are about ten different sub-models of that model and they all have different requirements and configurations so I need to know either your serial or model.

 

[dcheng07]

That link takes me to the main ASUS page. Give me the serial or model number and I'll give you the exact information you need. Most likely you can add a 4gb and 2gb modules to get 8gb but I need to know for sure before I tell you that will work. Also, like I said, there are about ten different sub-models of that model and they all have different requirements and configurations so I need to know either your serial or model.

My serial # is: E3N0CYIRR09K129. From what CPU-z says, there is 2GB soldered onto the board and another 2GB in the only removable slot. If i want to upgrade, I would need to take out the 2GB from the slot and add in a new stick. My choices are either putting in a 4GB or a 8GB SO-DIMM DDR 3 stick to work with the 2GB on-board RAM.

4GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239696
8GB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231704

The Asus website for this model says that it supports only up to 8GB, which makes me think that putting in the 8GB stick is not going to work (at least not up to the full 8GB) since this is a dual-channel configuration.

Your advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Darkbreeze]

So I talked to a support agent at ASUS, who wanted to dance around the questions I was asking, but I finally got out of him that the unit only supports 8GB if you have the model that comes with 4GB soldered to the board. The version that comes with 2GB soldered to the board is only capable of 6GB because it will not support modules over 4GB in size. Seems like false advertising to me when the specs say up to 8GB and don't specify that only some models are capable of this. But I'm sure they don't care what I think.

So the biggest module you can add it 4GB giving you a total of 6GB. While that's better than 4GB it's certainly not the same as 8GB. Maybe you can exchange it for the other one and pay the difference. Since that's probably not going to happen you'll just have to be happy with 6GB and so long as you're not doing any CAD or hard core gaming, you'll be fine.