Dell 3551 RAM upgrade

Gokul,

is that beacause u dont test laptops with single 8 gb rams?

I mean if there were two ram slots then would the laptop be able to handle 8 gb.

Hi,

Thank you for reaching us.

This RAM module probably may not working on this laptop.

Maximum memory we tested on this motherboard is 4GB single stick DDR3L 1333Mhz.

Hence we do not recommend the 8GB upgrade, however you may go ahead and try at your risk.

Thank you

Hi,

The minimum and maximum supported memory varies from each and every motherboard.

May be if there was an additional memory slot on this chipset, Yes, probably this laptop may have the capability to run on 8GB memory.

Thanks.

Did you try to upgrade to 8GB RAM and did it work ?  I bought this model would like to upgrade after some time.

Thank You,

Vineet

Hello and good morning.

If your system is a bit older then probably not as the Ghz of the Memory Module is different. Go to your "System" and check the Ghz(1600 etcetera). Not sure but you can now purchase 2000 series Ghz.

Food for thought.

Thank you for performing this test. It will surely help many users.

According to Intel datasheets and also the website (link given below), Pentium Quad Core N3540 processor supports maximum memory of 8GB DDR3L @ 1333Mhz.

http://ark.intel.com/products/82105/Intel-Pentium-Processor-N3540-2M-Cache-up-to-2_66-GHz

Could you please verify that your processor is N3540 because Dell has many 3551 models.

I have a Dell Inspiron 15 3551 laptop with PQC N3540 cpu and 4GB DDR3L 1600 Mhz memory. But it is only able to run at 1333MHz due to processor memory bus limitation.

Thank you,

Vineet Kumar

Dear barkinglama,

Thank you for posting the detailed computer configuration.  With this info it is clear that RAM can be safely upgraded to 8GB if and when required. However one should not try to buy the fastest possible RAM module as the Pentium Quad Core N3540 cpu is limited to DDR3 1333MHz.

Now since this laptop doesn't come with a CD/DVD drive, I am wondering how to use that empty space.

Is there some way to install an extra hard disk / SSD. It won't be long before 500GB starts feeling too small. OR an SSD would be useful to speed up the laptop.

What kind of connection options might be there inside this laptop's motherboard.

Warm Regards,

Vineet Kumar

The only way to increase your storage space is to replace the existing drive with a larger capacity unit.  There is no connector inside for any second drive -- you are limited to a single, 2.5" hard drive or SSD.  There are also no mSATA or m.2 connectors inside.

:emotion-40:

It would have been nice if there was another sata connector.  All the circuitry is inside the Pentium N3540 CPU itself (which is more like a SOC - System on a Chip).  All that is probably required is just a connector.

An extra SSD woukl be small enough to fit and also speed up certain applications to a great extent,