Does upgrading your laptop RAM really matter?

Upgrading your laptop RAM may be something you’re not yet comfortable with. However, in most cases, you can find a video online that will show you how to safely open up your specific laptop model and upgrade the RAM. Often, you will also be able to upgrade your laptop’s SSD while you are at it, to really boost speeds. Upgrading is generally done to either add more capacity or improve your device’s performance.

While some laptops are easier to upgrade than others, there is no denying that the added performance benefits do make the upgrades worthwhile. Before you start taking things apart though, it is important to look up your specific model of laptop and see if it can be upgraded. There’s no need to risk damage to then find out you have also wasted your time as it couldn’t even be upgraded.

You may also want to find out what RAM is compatible with your laptop and what speed the RAM in your laptop is running at. These will be helpful to know before you start looking into upgrading your laptop.

Performance Tests

Running AIDA64 and other tests to see if it is worth it

Of course, if you are low on RAM, then adding more will be advantageous. Upgrading the RAM can also boost performance if you upgrade the speed as well. In some cases, if you are only running a single stick of RAM, then adding a second stick can also help to increase performance.

Below are a couple of screenshots taken before and after upgrading the memory. As you will see, before the upgrade, this laptop was running 8GB of RAM on a single stick. After the upgrade, it was running 24GB and the performance gains speak for themselves.

Laptop before the upgrade

The below image from CPU-Z confirms that there is 8GB of 3200Mhz DDR4 in the laptop.

The next image is a screenshot from AIDA64 showing the performance results after running the Cache and Memory Latency benchmark before the laptop was upgraded.

As we can see from the AIDA64 benchmark, both the read and write speeds were just over 20,000 MB/s with a latency of 99.2 ns.

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Laptop after upgrading the RAM

The below image shows CPU-Z confirming there is now 24GB of 3200MHz RAM in the laptop.

The next image is a screenshot from AIDA64 showing the performance results after running the Cache and Memory Latency benchmark after the laptop was upgraded to 24GB of RAM from the standard 8GB.

As you will see in the above image, after upgrading the capacity of the RAM, we are now seeing much better performance. Originally, the laptop had a single stick of 3200MHz RAM. Now with two sticks, it is running in dual channel mode, which allows it to offer even better performance. The benchmark also shows the latency is a tiny bit better as well and, while you probably wouldn’t notice the difference on your own, it’s nice to see it in benchmark results.

One of the biggest tangible improvements was with Windows operation itself. Loading the login page went from 11 seconds down to 6. Better yet, after putting the password in, with 8GB of RAM it took 6 seconds to load into the desktop but with the additional RAM it was instant. Upon hitting enter, the desktop loaded immediately with no delay. This means the additional RAM will save me at least 10 seconds every time I turn the laptop on.

I also ran a couple of other tests to see what type of gains, if any, we would see. In Cinebench R20 there was a small gain, taking our score from 2217 with 8GB of RAM up to 2290 with the additional 16GB of RAM added. In 3DMark Steel Nomad we saw our score go from 1125 up to 1200. Again, another small gain, but it just goes to show that upgrading the RAM does have real benefits.

When it came to my gaming experience, there were some noticeable differences across a few games. The biggest was in Diablo III as it reduced lag a lot. With only 8GB of RAM I had to have it on low settings with the volume off as when fighting too many enemies at once, it was almost unplayable. However, when I added more RAM, this was no longer the case and I could turn the settings up a bit and turn the volume back on and play smoothly without any issues. In DIRT5 I did not gain any FPS, but my minimum FPS and 1% lows were better with the additional RAM by around 4FPS. This is not a massive gain, but makes the game a bit more enjoyable.

Upgrading your laptop RAM is beneficial

In 2024, 8GB of RAM really just isn’t usually enough anymore. Before upgrading the RAM, the laptop used around 5-6GB just for web browsing, which didn’t leave much RAM for anything else. Since upgrading, I have noticed that the laptop is running more smoothly while doing multiple tasks. Things definitely seem much more snappy than before the upgrade, especially when it comes to loading Windows and other programs.

I may not have seen massive improvements, but the multiple smaller improvements across the board have made using the laptop a much more enjoyable experience. Just having programs load faster can save you time and help keep you focused on the task at hand.

Whether you are upgrading the total capacity from 8GB to 16GB/24GB or upgrading from 2400MHz to 3200Mhz RAM, there is extra performance to be had. While it may seem a bit intimidating at first to upgrade the RAM in your laptop, it is not as bad as it seems. At the end of the day, the performance gains can make it a worthwhile activity.