Ram upgrade for my DELL laptop.. Confused ??? Please help !!

[Krishnendu Bose]

Hey I have a DELL Inspiron N5110 Laptop (a little backdated though) and I want to upgrade my RAM to 16GB. Dell's website say's that i have max RAM support of 8GB DDR3 1333 Mhz but Intel's website says I have max RAM support of 16GB. And also i have win 7 Home Basic 64bit. Please tell me if I could upgrade to 16GB and also, will upgrading to higher Mhz than 1333 improve my performance ??

My specs : -
CPU - Intel® Core™ i5-2450M Processor
RAM - 4 GB (current)
OS - Win 7 Home Basic 64-bit

Please suggest me some RAM modules (if possible please give links from Flipkart )...

 

[brispuss]

Windows 7 x64 Home Basic operating system limits addressable memory to 8 GB. So there is no point in trying to install and use more than 8 GB in total system memory. Sorry.

The i5-2450M CPU only supports memory up to 1333 MHz. And because the laptop BIOS is very limited in capabilities, it is not possible to overclock memory either.

So it seems the present laptop setup is such that it supports up to 8 GB of 1333 MHz memory. Suggest getting 2 x 4 GB dual channel kit to replace the existing memory module, as it is uncertain whether another 4 GB module (even with the same part number) will work properly with the existing 4 GB module due to variations in memory characteristics.

Some suggested 2 x 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (or faster) dual channel kits which are compatible (according to memory manufacturers) -

Crucial DDR3 SODIMM PC3-12800 (1600 MHz), part number CT2KIT51264BF160B, also known as part number CT2294999

Crucial DDR3 SODIMM PC3-12800 (1600 MHz), part number ? , also known as part number CT3305490

Crucial DDR3 SODIMM PC3-12800 (1600 MHz), part number BLS2K4G3N169ES4, also known as part number CT4301419

Crucial DDR3 SODIMM PC3-14900 (1866 MHz), part number BLS2K4G3N18AES4, also known as part number CT4319922

Corsair DDR3 SODIMM PC3-12800 (1600 MHz), part number CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9


Could not find other compatible memory from several other major memory manufacturers. Although it is possible there are other compatible memory available, compatibility can't be confirmed as this laptop is not listed in compatible memory lists.

Note that memory rated faster than 1333 MHz (as listed above) will (or should) automatically be down clocked to 1333 MHz in this laptop. As this laptop can't run memory faster than 1333 MHz.

 

[Krishnendu Bose]

Well I am planning to upgrade to WIN 10 , so will that benefit from 16 GB ? I just got to know i can install 16 GB though dell's website says 8 GB max as they have tested it with only that much amount of RAM. And do you recommend crucial RAM over corsair ?? As I said if 16 GB supports so please also suggest some 16 GB memory modules ..

 

[brispuss]

From various sources, officially, the laptop supports up to 8 GB total memory. However, from forum posts, some people claim to have 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) running on this laptop. Also, the CPU, with integrated memory controller, being used here (i5-2450M) supports up to 16 GB, so it might be possible to run up to 16 GB unofficially. And there is no guarantee on laptop performance/stability while running 16 GB memory.

Additionally, although the laptop officially supports up to 1333 MHz, some people claim to be running the 16 GB of memory at 1600 MHz. So it might be possible to have the 16 GB of memory run at 1600 MHz, provided the BIOS allows it. Again there are no guarantees the memory will run (stably) at 1600 MHz. The BIOS will automatically select memory frequency which may or may not be 1600 MHz, or it might only be 1333 MHz.

You could try a 2 x 8 GB dual channel kit and see what happens, but there is a risk that the laptop might not even boot, or there may be system crashes/freezes, or if lucky the 2 x 8 GB memory might work OK.

There is no preference for one memory manufacturer over another. As long as memory has the required specifications and works, then the memory manufacturer is irrelevant.

Since 16 GB exceeds the official maximum memory of 8 GB, memory manufacturers would have only tested memory up to 8 GB in total. There are no known test results for 16 GB memory being used on this laptop from memory manufacturers. So it is unknown what 2 x 8 GB memory is or isn't compatible with this laptop.

Most memory manufacturers have 2 x 8 GB SODIMM kits available, but as they have not been tested with this laptop (apparently), then it is unknown which kits might or might not work with this laptop. Therefore, there can be no recommendation for specific 2 x 8 GB kits. Sorry.

However, from a forum post, it is claimed that Samsung memory part number M471B1G73BH0-YK0, which is an 8 GB module works together with another same module in this laptop giving a total of 16 GB of system memory. You could try this/these modules and see what happens. But as these modules are not from a dual channel kit, there is a risk of module incompatibility due to variation in memory characteristics.

Could try some other SODIMM 2 x 8 GB dual channel kits as a gamble and see if they work, but there is no guarantee of compatibility. And if incompatible then memory will have to be returned (at your expense) and another kit tried. This process may take awhile, and it can be expensive to return incompatible memory.