How much RAM should I get (8gb vs 16 gb) for laptop

[Hernro]

I will be using it for gaming and also SolidWorks since I'm an engineering major. I don't think I'll be using both of these at the same time though.

Also, if I ever need 16gb, can I add it to the laptop (http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP8652.html)?

 

[Reyaz123]

Yes, you can expand it to 16gb it support at max 32gb of ram. But you wouldn't have any use for 16gb unless you are doing video editing, rendering and virtualizing a PC. Games are extremely rare to use more than 8gb

It's good enough at 8gb ram if you are mainly a gamer.

2x8gb would work. Also 4x4gb but do the 2x8gb since you will only need to buy 1 more 8gb so dimm ram stick. Make sure when you buy the ram, that the model and type of ram is the exact same that came with the laptop to take advantage of more performance boosts.

But since you are using solidworks (is for rendering or designing images, you will have to go for the 16gb)

More info: The laptop has 4 sodimm ram module slots. So you can use 4 sodimm ram sticks at max.

The specs are:
Four 204Pin SODIMM sockets, support for DDR3 1600MHz(Real operation frequency depends on FSB of processor)
Expandable up to 32GB, depends on 4GB/8GB SODIMM module (32 bit OS editions have a memory limitation of 2.8GB. Other hardware or application limitations may further prevent use of all installed memory. The 64bit edition of Windows Operating System is required for memory configurations of 4GB and above.)

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, that laptop supports 16GB and I'd recommend two matched 8GB modules now, not adding one 8GB module now and another later. That's piecemeal upgrading and there is no guarantee, especially on a laptop, that another module added later, even if it's the same part number but did not come as matched components, will play nice with your first module. Either get 2x 4GB now or 2x 8GB now, so that the memory will operate in dual channel mode.

For Solidworks I'd probably recommend that you DO opt for 16GB rather than 8. If it was only for gaming, 8GB would be fine. For professional applications, up to 16GB could potentially be used so it's a better idea to have more than you'll probably need than less than you might need. Any workstation level professional video, audio or 3D application presents a resource demand sufficient to recommend 16GB to avoid resource issues.