Ram upgrade Aspire A517-51G-502S

Hi guys,

I recently got my new laptop and now I was looking for a RAM upgrade.
I stumbled upon something confusing;
The laptop specs say it has 8Gb already out of the box, when I check system settings it gives also 8Gb.
When I run Speccy it says a total of 2 memory slots, of which 1 in use. 1 SPD module; size 4096MBytes.
Running CPU-Z, under the memory tab I get 8GBytes Dual channel. Clicking on the SPD tab there's only slot#1 giving me a module size of 4BGytes, slot#2 is empty.
So I opened up the memory bay at the back and there I can only see 1 memory module (and no empty slot for a second one) and when I search the part number online ACR24D4S7S8MB-4 it turns out its a 4Gb one.
Am I missing something here?
I've put some screenshots below.

Many thanks in advance

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6w/4hcxw48v50yc.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ww/il9ycdej7hgw.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/26/xwp0l2bqyckf.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/79/p52177pxuh1z.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/w2/z0feqzext5r8.jpg

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MaClane

Good Morning Frisbie !

This model supports up to 20Gb (4Gb integrated with the motherboard and a single slot available for upgrading up to 16Gb) RAM DDR4 1866/2133 / 2400Mhz SO-DIMM

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/9j/1wbo0eyn3l87.jpg

That is, it has 2 slots being one that is soldered and integrated into the motherboard.
Only one is available for upgrade.

Frisbie

Oh ok, I see now.
So if I add a 16Gb one, will it still be dual channel or only single channel?
But I guess a total of 20b will surely be faster anyway?
Thanks already for your help.

MaClane

The principle of dual-channel is that memories work in pairs.
Even if adding 16Gb will still be dual-channel.
As for performance, this will depend on usage.
With the 8 + 8 setting the final transfer rate is more optimized, but the amount of RAM available is limited to applications that require too much.
Already in the 4 + 19 will have plenty of RAM available, but a slight drop in performance since one of the banks will have a slight delay in downloading more information than the other.