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Power Up Your Laptop with a Laptop Memory Upgrade

This page features our selection of laptop RAM. If you are looking for permanent data storage for your laptop, see our selection of laptop SSDs and external drives.

Laptop RAM, or random access memory, is the working memory that allows your laptop to perform all kinds of day to day functions quickly and smoothly. It is also known as dynamic RAM or DRAM because it can perform many different functions. Your RAM lives in one or more memory modules, attached via slots on your laptops motherboard.

For those seeking a cost effective way to improve their laptops performance, upgrading the RAM can make a big difference. With upgraded RAM, applications are often faster and more stable, multitasking is smoother, and your computer can often perform complex tasks like rendering animations more efficiently.

Not all laptops can accept a RAM upgrade. Most Mac laptops, for example, have their RAM modules soldered to the motherboard, and you will void your warranty if you try to replace them. Many PC laptops from manufacturers like Dell and Lenovo still offer laptops with upgradeable RAM, however, so check your laptops specs to find out. Upgrading a laptops RAM is easy enough that many users do it themselves, but it is never a bad idea to have one of Micro Centers qualified professionals do the job.

Choosing the Best Laptop RAM for Your Needs

Although laptop RAM modules use the smaller SODIMM form factor, they are quite similar to desktop memory modules in other regards. To choose the right one, you will want to look at most of the same factors, including:

Memory Size: 8 GB RAM is the baseline for solid performance on a modern laptop, while 16 GB is what many users consider the sweet spot for more demanding applications like gaming and design software. Demanding applications like gaming and design software can benefit from 32GB - 64GB or higher. Many users have moved from desktops to notebooks, and need enough RAM for more demanding programs. Note that your motherboards memory capacity may limit the amount of RAM you can install, so check first.

DDR Standard: Another essential spec to look at is if your laptops motherboard offers compatibility with DDR4 or DDR5 RAM. Most accept only one or the other. Both are perfectly workable modern standards, although DDR5 is the faster and more future proofed option.

Memory Speed: RAM is also rated with a memory speed in MHz, which basically measures how fast the memory modules can send data back and forth with the CPU. Higher speed RAM is desirable and can offer faster system performance, although more memory is a higher priority for most users.

Micro Center offers a full lineup of laptop RAM in a variety of sizes and speeds. Browse all of our laptop RAM here, and don’t forget that our PC experts will be happy to perform a RAM upgrade for you at your local Micro Center.

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