Netbook Ram Upgrade 2 to 4gb

[Babbsy]

Looking to upgrade my acer netbook from 2 to to 4gb of ram. I know more ram is always better but does this upgrade actually make a difference in how fast my system will operate? Enough to be worth it....

[Busybuyer888]

From my brief time with a netbook ... no. The CPU in the netbook is just too weak. 2GB RAM is fine for a netbook.

[Babbsy]

CPU is too weak to run the extra ram. Did not know that.

[Coz4k]

CPU is too weak to run the extra ram. Did not know that.

It will use/run the whole 4gb but the bottleneck will be the CPU not the RAM.

Personally i own a N455 (Atom) notebook with standard 1GB DDR3 ram. I upgraded to 4GB since it was like 3 bucks more than the 2GB option..

[number8888]

CPU is too weak to run the extra ram. Did not know that.

Not true. CPU performance and RAM usage are not related.

What is true is that since CPU is slow, you won't notice much difference anyway if you upgraded.

What CPU does your notebook has?

[Babbsy]

Not true. CPU performance and RAM usage are not related.

What is true is that since CPU is slow, you won't notice much difference anyway if you upgraded.

What CPU does your notebook has?

I have an Acer 721 which has the AMD Athlon II Neo K125. Mainly used for home banking, internet surfing, video streaming, and to play downloaded files on tv in conjunction with the HDMI port. I also run MS Office on the rare occasion to read a word document document and excel to analyse my hockey pool stats.

[joudbren]

The Acer 721 looks like it has 4 ram slots so if only two are populated then you should be able to add another 2GB pretty easily. This will really only be useful if you run programs that take advantage of the extra ram or you typically run multiple applications concurrently. With ram being so cheap these days I would say hey, why not. Certainly can't hurt and from what I've read on the Acer 721 it looks to be a lot better performing that typical Intel Atom based Netbooks so the CPU and chipset shouldn't be a bottleneck.

If you are only running a 32 bit O/S then keep in mind that you will typically only be able to access about 3GB of the new ram as that is a limitation of the O/S. You need a 64 bit O/S to use all of the additional memory.

Edit: confirmed on Acer's website. The 721 can indeed run with 4GB ram but you'll need a 64 bit O/S to use it all as previously mentioned. Ram is easily accessed by a hatch on the bottom of the unit. You'll probably need a very small jeweller type philips screwdriver to remove the plastic access panel unless it's using torx type screws.

Cheers!

James

[Babbsy]

I am running windows 7 on the system but have no idea if it is 64 bit or not. Since the machine is 2gb of ram I am going to guess that my version is 32 bit.

[chroma_cg]

The Acer 721 looks like it has 4 ram slots so if only two are populated then you should be able to add another 2GB pretty easily.

wow.....this is the first time i have ever heard of a netbook housing 4 ram slots

[Busybuyer888]

I am running windows 7 on the system but have no idea if it is 64 bit or not. Since the machine is 2gb of ram I am going to guess that my version is 32 bit.

Take the computer in to the computer store and they can check for you.

Or goto the Win7 - Control Panel, double click on the System Icon. It will tell you if the Win 7 is 32 or 64 bit (under the System section, under how much RAM).

But honestly, there likely won't be much difference between 2GB vs. 4GB on the netbook. So it just depends on if you want to spend the money for not much gain.

[elgros4]

Windows 7 starter dont support more than 2 gig, be sure you have another edition of windows.

[gnuman]

Normally netbook spec is limited on hardware it cannot address more than 2GB of ram even if you put a 4 gb stick in there it will only see 2gb, regardless of OS. Microsoft put hardware limitations in order to allow Windows 7 Starter to be installed in north america

[will888]

Normally netbook spec is limited on hardware it cannot address more than 2GB of ram even if you put a 4 gb stick in there it will only see 2gb, regardless of OS. Microsoft put hardware limitations in order to allow Windows 7 Starter to be installed in north america

This! Check out the specs first before investing in extra ram that may not be usable.

[joudbren]

Normally netbook spec is limited on hardware it cannot address more than 2GB of ram even if you put a 4 gb stick in there it will only see 2gb, regardless of OS. Microsoft put hardware limitations in order to allow Windows 7 Starter to be installed in north america

This 721 is not a standard Intel Atom based Netbook. The OP has clearly identified that it's an Athlon Neo based system and Acer's own specs on their website indicate that it can address 4GB DDR3 ram. To the OP, as previously mentioned, you can remove the hatch on the bottom and it should show the two empty slots if the CPU is in fact a K125. Your only limitation then is your OS. You'll still need a 64 bit OS to see and use all of the 4GB. Cheers!

[Babbsy]

Turns out I do have windows 7 64 bit. I was able to get another 2GB ram chip which was the same chip as the current 2gb ram chip in the machine (if it makes a difference or not) for $10 shipped to my door so I decided it was a good investment.

As far as I know this is the only real hardware upreade I can do on the Acer 721