Inspiron 3501, maximum ram?

My laptop arrives tomorrow and I'm thinking about adding RAM.  It is 8GB, I'm thinking of upgrading to 16GB.

The support link to my tag says max RAM is16GB, it has 2 slots, support says each slot can take up to 16GB.  I don't need 32GB, but would be good to know if it is feasible.

Will the factory installed RAM take up one or 2 slots?  Guess I need to know what additional RAM I need to buy e.g one 8GB if 8GB already installed or 2 x 8GB is 2 x 4GB are pre-installed.  How can I check this?

Many thanks

Most likely it'll be a single 8G soDIMM, but you won't know definitively until you receive the system.

In windows task manager, if you click the performance tab it will tell how many slots are in use.

Hi, You may purchase an 8gb module for 2nd slot if an 8 gb module is already installed. if two module of 4 gb each are installed then you have two options i.e. add 8 gb module by removing on 4 gb module. it will be total 12GB. 2nd remove both 4 gb modules and add one 16gb or two 8gb modules. it will total 16 GB. 

Hello,

That is slightly incorrect i mean the amount is correct but for full dual channel ram you need to install 2 sticks of the same brand also note  that dell systems are very picky about the ram they accept and the following brands are known to cause issues :

1. Kingston.
2. Corsair.

My Laptop is dell inspiron 15 3501 corei3 11th generation, i have install two lexar 16Gb DDR4 3200Mhz rams in each slot and they are working fine in dual channel configuration. but their frequency is reduced to 2666Mhz since this laptop doesn't support 3200Mhz ram. so you are good to go with 32Gb ram for this laptop. Although dell specs sheet show that you can max install 16 Gb of ram but i am using 32gb ram in my laptop flaulessly.