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Does the dell inspiron 3521 specification support upgrading the RAM to 16GB?
I have an old Dell Inspiron lying around the house and I want to refurbish it for my younger sister who is learning graphic design. Looking at the original dell inspiron 3521 specification it only came with 4GB of RAM which is too small for modern software. Can the motherboard handle a 16GB RAM upgrade and what type of DDR3 memory does it require?
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3 days agoAccording to the official manufacturer dell inspiron 3521 specification the motherboard does indeed support up to 8GB of RAM natively. However many technicians and users have successfully installed 16GB of RAM (using two 8GB sticks) and the motherboard recognizes it perfectly well if the BIOS is updated to the latest version. This specific laptop model has two internal memory slots which makes upgrading very straightforward. You must purchase DDR3L memory specifically. The "L" stands for Low Voltage (1.35V). If you buy standard DDR3 memory (1.5V) the laptop will either refuse to boot entirely or will suffer from constant blue screen crashes. For graphic design software like older versions of Photoshop 16GB of RAM will make a massive difference in performance.
josh
3 days agoBeyond just upgrading the RAM based on the dell inspiron 3521 specification if your sister is learning graphic design the processor and storage speed are equally critical. The 3rd generation Core i5 processor inside this machine is robust but it will struggle with heavy rendering tasks in Adobe Illustrator if it is choking on a slow hard drive. If you are refurbishing this laptop you must remove the original mechanical hard drive and install a 2.5 inch SATA SSD. The SSD combined with the 16GB RAM upgrade will make the machine feel brand new. Note that the screen on this model is a standard 1366x768 TN panel. The color accuracy is quite poor for professional design work so she should ideally connect it to a high quality external monitor.
josh
3 days agoI upgraded my 3521 to 16GB RAM using two Kingston 8GB sticks I bought from Jumia. It worked instantly without any issues. Just make sure you update the BIOS from the Dell website first.
josh
3 days agoFor a beginner in graphic design it is a great starter laptop to learn the tools. But as mentioned the screen colors are washed out. Reds look like orange. She will definitely need an external monitor eventually.
josh
3 days agoTo access the RAM slots you only need to remove two screws on the bottom access panel. It is incredibly easy to do yourself you do not need to pay an engineer 5,000 Naira to slot the RAM in.