RAM: 2 x 8 or 4 x 4 GB

[g1981c]

so i ordered a notebook that has quad core ivy bridge 3720 CPU and four DIMM slots. however two slots are easily accessible on the bottom, and two are under the keyboard and are somewhat harder to access.

the notebook only comes with 2 gigs of ram in a single dimm from the factory ( LOL ? ). i figure i should install 16 gigs in there because any more than that would be expensive. but i don't know whether to use 2 x 8 gigs using just the bottom 2 dimms, or remove the keyboard and put in 4 x 4. any cons/pros for either approach ?

i would be using 1600 mhz ram.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Are you going to ever go 32? (Ridiculous)
If not just go 4*4
I don't see why you even need 16gbs

 

[ky54]

On my gaming desktop I have 2x2gb and 2x4 in the other and it works great. Personally I'd opt for the 2x8 in the empty slots and not bother with taking the keyboard off. If it ain't broke...

 

[Sunburn74]

beware, your battery performance may drop as you add ram modules. i'd stick to 8gb unless I had a really good reason to go 16

 

[rsutoratosu]

8gb modules is really cheap now

The problem is if and when DDR4 comes out and productions shifts.. maybe you wont own this notebook by then but that's when the ram prices usually goes up.

Market condition also affects pricing.. ie DDR2 8gb , 4gb x2 are still over 150 on newegg. But you can get 8gb x1 for ~ 40 bucks now

 

[Chrono]

As long as your ram is at a good speed (1600) and dual channel is activated, 8GB should be fine for most things unless you need ridiculous amounts of ram for some reason...

 

[g1981c]

yeah i did some testing on my desktop and it seems i only need 8GB. so i'll just go with 4GB x 2