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Inspiron with 8GB RAM vs 12GB RAM
I have the choice between two Inspiron 3670 desktop computers. One has 8GB RAM with dual storage (256GB SSD & 1TB HDD) and the other has 12GB RAM and 1TB HDD. The Costco price was the same ($599) however the Inspiron desktop with the 12GB RAM and 1TB HDD is now on sale for $499. I prefer the higher RAM but I probably do not need 12GB of RAM as I only surf the net and use MS Office (Word, Excel & Outlook) at the same time. The dual storage is what I believe will be the safest and best fit. My current computer is an Inspiron 530, which was upgraded with a new Intel 730 Series 2.5" 240GB SATA SSD in August 2015. I'm not sure if my 3 year old SSD is worth the trouble installing in the 3670 desktop with 12GB RAM. I anticipate the dual storage 3670 desktop going on sale in the next 3 months. Any thoughts?
https://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-Desktop---Intel-Core-i5.product.100431518.html
https://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-Desktop---Intel-Core-i5.product.100472553.html
RoHe
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March 6th, 2019 11:00
That sounds like a reasonable choice.
Your apps should be installed on the SSD, but make sure you tell each of them to store their data/output files on the 1T hard drive. You don't want to fill up the SSD and not use the HDD.
And change Windows so it puts its default folders for Pictures, Music, Documents, etc on the 1T drive too.
Good luck with the purchase. Hope you enjoy the new toy. :Smile:
fritzbrown
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March 7th, 2019 06:00
Thanks again for your help.
RoHe
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43.6K Posts
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March 5th, 2019 17:00
Having an SSD will make the PC boot faster, and you'd use the 1T just for storage, assuming the same processor with/without the SSD. Are they exactly the same 8th Generation i5 CPU?
Find out if the one with 8 GB RAM has only 1x 8GB RAM module (likely) rather than 2x 4 GB. With only one RAM module, RAM will run in "single-channel" mode which is slower and less efficient than having two identical modules (eg 2x 4GB) which will run in "dual-channel" mode.
12 GB is also unlikely to run in dual channel mode because there are no 6GB RAM modules. According to the specs, the 3670 only has 2 memory slots. So this is probably 1x 8GB+1x 4GB which won't support dual-channel mode.
If you go with the 8GB version, you could always add an additional identical RAM module to get 16GB, dual-channel, but you'd have to find an identical module (Dell Spare Parts?) or maybe buy a matched pair of 2x 8GB, from some place like crucial.com that guarantees compatibility.
Keep in mind that with Win 10, more RAM is always better, even if you only have a few apps/windows open at the same time. :Wink:
(I'll never understand why they configure systems that won't run in dual-channel mode, except for cost...???)
fritzbrown
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March 6th, 2019 06:00
The CPUs are both Intel® Core™ i5-8400 Processor 2.8GHz. I would like to buy the new computer ready to go without upgrading RAM or SSD. Not sure of the RAM configuration in each computer. Maybe I'll just buy the computer with the dual storage and upgrade the RAM later. Thanks for the input.