The Student Room Group

New i7 Laptop AMA

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Reply 40
Original post by PHInfinity
You have played yourself so badly...

I built a computer for the same price as you with a keyboard and mouse(that will light up too) with far better specs:

i7 6700k (6th Gen)
MSI Krait Edition Z170 Motherboard (Inbuilt soundcard which is good enough tbh)
16GB RAM (Because gaming)
Sapphire RX 480
2TB WD Black HDD
Phanteks Enthoo Pro


Now if I just bought a decent £120 monitor and downgraded my 6th gen i7 to a 5th gen i7 I'd probably end up cheaper then your waste of money..

Just why would you make a thread about this...


Tbf his is a laptop, you pay a premium for the portability in any case. Even so there are quad core laptops out there with dedicated gpu's for the same price... the inspiron 7559 has a i7-6700hq and 960m at the same cost as his laptop LOL
Could have just got a Macbook bro... Not getting girls with an i7
Original post by sh9
I think it's highly unlikely that your laptop is ever going to demand anything more than 4GB.


Whilst I don't necessarily agree that he chose the right spec for his laptop, if the memory is available, the system will use it. My laptop is currently idling on 10GB used out of 32, mostly used up by Photoshop and Illustrator which I have been switching between all day. Obviously when I am doing more intensive graphics work, then the memory usage increases. Bottom line is, the system will try to store as much as it can in RAM when it has the ability to do so.

Tbh I am surprised laptop specs have not come very far over the years. I built mine in 2012 with a 3rd gen i7 CPU and maxed out the memory since it was so cheap at the time. I also opted for 2 hdds; an SSD as my primary drive and a 7200rpm hdd as my secondary drive. The only thing that is starting to feel ever so slightly long in the tooth 4 years down the line is my GPU, which is upgradeable. That said, I am still able to play games on high settings, just not ultra anymore.

I will always prefer the build-your-own strategy, since you will always get a higher spec for less, and it will be a lot longer before it starts to feel obsolete.
Reply 43
Original post by Veet Voojagig
Whilst I don't necessarily agree that he chose the right spec for his laptop, if the memory is available, the system will use it. My laptop is currently idling on 10GB used out of 32, mostly used up by Photoshop and Illustrator which I have been switching between all day. Obviously when I am doing more intensive graphics work, then the memory usage increases. Bottom line is, the system will try to store as much as it can in RAM when it has the ability to do so.

Tbh I am surprised laptop specs have not come very far over the years. I built mine in 2012 with a 3rd gen i7 CPU and maxed out the memory since it was so cheap at the time. I also opted for 2 hdds; an SSD as my primary drive and a 7200rpm hdd as my secondary drive. The only thing that is starting to feel ever so slightly long in the tooth 4 years down the line is my GPU, which is upgradeable. That said, I am still able to play games on high settings, just not ultra anymore.

I will always prefer the build-your-own strategy, since you will always get a higher spec for less, and it will be a lot longer before it starts to feel obsolete.


Yeah ofc depends on usage, but doesn't sound like OP will be using anything which demands much.
My laptop's motherboard doesn't support anything over 8GB RAM.

I was thinking the same thing yesterday! I compared my specs to todays laptops, mine was purchased in 2011, though it's a pre built sony vaio and not custom built.
Bought it for casual gaming and photoshop/sony vegas at the time.

Apart from it being so heavy and the mobility factor, there's really no need to buy a new one for several more years.
Reply 44
Original post by sh9
Yeah ofc depends on usage, but doesn't sound like OP will be using anything which demands much.
My laptop's motherboard doesn't support anything over 8GB RAM.

I was thinking the same thing yesterday! I compared my specs to todays laptops, mine was purchased in 2011, though it's a pre built sony vaio and not custom built.
Bought it for casual gaming and photoshop/sony vegas at the time.

Apart from it being so heavy and the mobility factor, there's really no need to buy a new one for several more years.


I'd rather get a ready made laptop then build your own. Too risky.

Also i didn't realise that this processor is only dual core.

But I still think that the 8 gig memory it has is plenty, Plus it has a spare memory slot. Now i am left with the question, do i just install the spare 8 gig stick i have, to double the ram, buy another 16 gig stick, to make it 24 ( at the price of about £160, and if anyone knows of any cheaper 16 gig sticks of laptop ram please do tell me the link), or should i go all the way, and buy two more 16 gig sticks, and fit both of these, which will be the most costly option!

PS you know if you uninstall the antivirus software which comes built in to most computers these days (Avast and Norton) you can double the speed of the computer straight away??

Plus my computer is an acer, which is a top brand and the last five laptops i had before this one were all this brand. There's a thing called brand loyalty!??
Reply 45
Original post by john2054
Also i didn't realise that this processor is only dual core.


You obviously haven't researched it all that well then have you - there's many i7's out there, they're not all fabulous.


Original post by john2054
But I still think that the 8 gig memory it has is plenty, Plus it has a spare memory slot. Now i am left with the question, do i just install the spare 8 gig stick i have, to double the ram, buy another 16 gig stick, to make it 24 ( at the price of about £160, and if anyone knows of any cheaper 16 gig sticks of laptop ram please do tell me the link), or should i go all the way, and buy two more 16 gig sticks, and fit both of these, which will be the most costly option!


Your laptop can take a maximum of 16GB RAM, you cannot have 24GB or 32GB as you'd like.


Original post by john2054

PS you know if you uninstall the antivirus software which comes built in to most computers these days (Avast and Norton) you can double the speed of the computer straight away??


For lack of a better word, bull excrement.


Original post by john2054

Plus my computer is an acer, which is a top brand and the last five laptops i had before this one were all this brand. There's a thing called brand loyalty!??


Brand loyalty is just a flaw in consumerism and probably contributing to your debt issues.
>buying an i7 for nothing
waste of money.

Currently got an i5, 16 gigs of ram, gtx 970 4gb, this thing runs like an absolute beast.
Original post by Carthaginian
>buying an i7 for nothing
waste of money.

Currently got an i5, 16 gigs of ram, gtx 970 4gb, this thing runs like an absolute beast.

Same specs as you, except I only have 8 gigs of ram. i7s are so overrated, for the average user the i5 and the i7 will have minimal difference.
Reply 48
Original post by IWMTom
You obviously haven't researched it all that well then have you - there's many i7's out there, they're not all fabulous.




Your laptop can take a maximum of 16GB RAM, you cannot have 24GB or 32GB as you'd like.




For lack of a better word, bull excrement.




Brand loyalty is just a flaw in consumerism and probably contributing to your debt issues.


This actually saves me from wasting a lot of money. I need to double check on it though...
Reply 49
Original post by IWMTom
You obviously haven't researched it all that well then have you - there's many i7's out there, they're not all fabulous.




Your laptop can take a maximum of 16GB RAM, you cannot have 24GB or 32GB as you'd like.




For lack of a better word, bull excrement.




Brand loyalty is just a flaw in consumerism and probably contributing to your debt issues.

I have done some research and it seems like you are wrong on this point. The amount of ram a computer can take is determined by the motherboard and not the processor. I could be wrong, but seeing as i have previously installed 16 gig in systems below i3, which came with 4 gig, as i say it is the motherboard and not the processor that determines the ram. I could be wrong of course, but i am fairly sure that the only reason why they put 16 gig max, was because at the time of writing, this was the chip limit. But now that you can get 16 gig chips, and i have two sodimm slots, i think 24 gig should work. I am prepared to take that risk i guess?

Thanks again John.

Patrick Andersen, Been messing with tech for a few years, hardware and softwareWritten Aug 23Your RAM limit, in most cases, is actually dictated by the amount of RAM that physically fits in your system. The largest DDR4 cards currently available are 16GB (actually GiB, but who cares), and most laptops have two physical slots, meaning you are limited to 32GB purely by the fact that you can’t actually fit any more RAM than that in your system.Now, DDR4 can THEORETICALLY support up to 512 GB per card, so if someone releases a 32GB stick of DDR4 laptop RAM in the future, you could probably install two of them and it would work just fine. The BIOS might have an artificial limit in place, but this is unlikely as the manufacturer has very little reason to do this.In the unlikely event that your laptop has four slots and still lists a 32GB maximum, there are two possibilities. Either the number on the site is ********/only lists the max configurable amount, or you are facing a BIOS limitation. The only way to know for sure is to try it out (or find a forum post from someone who has tried).
Reply 50
Original post by john2054
I have done some research and it seems like you are wrong on this point. The amount of ram a computer can take is determined by the motherboard and not the processor. I could be wrong, but seeing as i have previously installed 16 gig in systems below i3, which came with 4 gig, as i say it is the motherboard and not the processor that determines the ram. I could be wrong of course, but i am fairly sure that the only reason why they put 16 gig max, was because at the time of writing, this was the chip limit. But now that you can get 16 gig chips, and i have two sodimm slots, i think 24 gig should work. I am prepared to take that risk i guess?


It's literally in the eBuyer product description that it takes a max of 16GB... Do you actually have any understanding of how this all works other than a really vague idea you deem to be crystal clear?

The manufacturer has defined a limit for their motherboard and chipset, this is the limit you can go up to - simple.

In terms of sticking DDR4 into it - you can't; it only supports DDR3.

Please clue yourself up correctly before attempting to formulate an argument surrounding a field you have very little knowledge of. Thanks! :colondollar:
Reply 51
Original post by IWMTom
It's literally in the eBuyer product description that it takes a max of 16GB... Do you actually have any understanding of how this all works other than a really vague idea you deem to be crystal clear?

The manufacturer has defined a limit for their motherboard and chipset, this is the limit you can go up to - simple.

In terms of sticking DDR4 into it - you can't; it only supports DDR3.

Please clue yourself up correctly before attempting to formulate an argument surrounding a field you have very little knowledge of. Thanks! :colondollar:


i didn't say i wanted to put ddr4 ram in it. But the fact is that i have previously had a laptop which came with 2 gig installed, and i fitted 16 gig in to it, so i know that it is possible.

I know lots about upgrading laptops. Just out of interest have you ever manually taken one apart and installed Ram, or is this all a new topic for you?
Reply 52
Original post by john2054
i didn't say i wanted to put ddr4 ram in it


Really? That's funny; see below:

Original post by john2054

The largest DDR4 cards currently available are 16GB (actually GiB, but who cares), and most laptops have two physical slots, meaning you are limited to 32GB purely by the fact that you can’t actually fit any more RAM than that in your system.Now, DDR4 can THEORETICALLY support up to 512 GB per card, so if someone releases a 32GB stick of DDR4 laptop RAM in the future, you could probably install two of them and it would work just fine.


Original post by john2054
But the fact is that i have previously had a laptop which came with 2 gig installed, and i fitted 16 gig in to it, so i know that it is possible.


You haven't fitted 32GB though, and that's the issue here?? I've never seen a mainstream laptop motherboard support anything more than 16GB.. ever.. The chipset just isn't manufacturer to support it.


Original post by john2054
I know lots about upgrading laptops. Just out of interest have you ever manually taken one apart and installed Ram, or is this all a new topic for you?


John, are you actually questioning my intelligence on this matter? Really? Like no offence mate, but judging by your previous threads, I'm 95% confident you're a troll, and 5% sorry for you if you're not.

To answer your question, yes, I have "taken apart and installed RAM" to a laptop - bearing in mind it's hardly a tedious task, considering in every laptop I've ever dealt with it's been a case of taking one plastic flap off with a single screw holding it in place... hardly gonna win the Nobel Prize here..

Laptops aren't built to be upgraded - that's just a fact of the manufacturing process. Unless you absolutely need the portability, get a desktop. Period.
(edited 7 years ago)
>no ssd
rip
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 54
Original post by IWMTom
Really? That's funny; see below:





You haven't fitted 32GB though, and that's the issue here?? I've never seen a mainstream laptop motherboard support anything more than 16GB.. ever.. The chipset just isn't manufacturer to support it.




John, are you actually questioning my intelligence on this matter? Really? Like no offence mate, but judging by your previous threads, I'm 95% confident you're a troll, and 5% sorry for you if you're not.

To answer your question, yes, I have "taken apart and installed RAM" to a laptop - bearing in mind it's hardly a tedious task, considering in every laptop I've ever dealt with it's been a case of taking one plastic flap off with a single screw holding it in place... hardly gonna win the Nobel Prize here..

Laptops aren't built to be upgraded - that's just a fact of the manufacturing process. Unless you absolutely need the portability, get a desktop. Period.

i meant ddr3 that was a typo.

For your information, on all laptops i have ever taken apart, there have been at least 12 screws you need to undo to take off the back, and not just one.

Also laptops can be upgraded, when i say the motherboard is the limit, i am referring to the fact whether it has one or two sodimm slots, and whether the ram is soldered in or not. Not anything else.
Reply 55
Original post by john2054
For your information, on all laptops i have ever taken apart, there have been at least 12 screws you need to undo to take off the back, and not just one.


I've never owned a laptop where there wasn't a flap to access the storage, and RAM. It's usually not required to remove the entire backplate.

Original post by john2054
Also laptops can be upgraded, when i say the motherboard is the limit, i am referring to the fact whether it has one or two sodimm slots, and whether the ram is soldered in or not. Not anything else.


I did not say they couldn't be upgraded, I said they're not designed to be upgraded; there's a very big distinction there.
Original post by john2054
-


KFC Popcorn Chicken or McDonald's Chicken Nuggets?
Reply 57
Original post by IWMTom
I've never owned a laptop where there wasn't a flap to access the storage, and RAM. It's usually not required to remove the entire backplate.



I did not say they couldn't be upgraded, I said they're not designed to be upgraded; there's a very big distinction there.

Okay i'm about giving up on the idea. A number of people in the know, have advised against it and i don't want to waste my money. I will just install the spare 8 gig chip i have and leave it at that.
Original post by DarkEnergy
KFC Popcorn Chicken or McDonald's Chicken Nuggets?

neither, i am a vegetarian.
Original post by john2054
neither, i am a vegetarian.

If you weren't a vegetarian, which one would you choose?
Original post by john2054
The amount of ram a computer can take is determined by the motherboard and not the processor.
Motherboard, BIOS and OS. If any one of those cannot support all the memory you wish to add, then the system simply will not be able to see it all or use it.

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