RAM upgrade

Based on the ability to upgrade RAM, laptops are divided into three categories. The first is the thinnest ultrabooks and budget laptops, in which all the RAM is soldered onto the motherboard. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do here. Laptops of the second category have soldered part of memory, but have one SO-DIMM slot. Moreover, soldered memory operates perfectly in dual-channel mode with unsoldered memory.

Finally, the third option is two SO-DIMM slots, which will allow you to install a total of up to 64 GB of RAM. Dual-channel mode will operate even with different manufacturers, different frequencies, and even different capacities of memory modules. The main thing is to keep the same type of memory: DDR3, DDR3L, DDR4 or DDR5. The soldered memory is represented by LP-DDR chips.


Dual-channel mode doubles the memory subsystem bandwidth from 64 to 128 bits. In DDR5, one memory module can function as two 32-bit virtual channels, and two modules can be configured as four channels. While dual-channel RAM boosts processor core performance by only 5 to 10%, integrated graphics card see a significant improvement, with Intel gaining 30 to 60%, and AMD Radeon being more responsive to dual-channel configurations.

Drive upgrade

Swapping out a laptop's HDD for an SSD can transform it into a high-performance machine. M.2 NVMe SSDs, being approximately five times faster than 2.5" SATA, contribute significantly to the speed boost. Some laptops feature dual M.2 slots, enabling the creation of a RAID array — either a high-speed RAID 0 or a mirrored RAID 1. In RAID 0, data is written to each disk in sequence, combining their capacity and speed for enhanced performance.

And in the case of RAID 1, the user has access to only the capacity of one disk, while the second serves as a backup copy. But after any disk failure, all information is guaranteed to be preserved. It is enough to replace the broken disk with a new one and all information will be automatically transferred to it. The volume of RAID 1 array will be equal to the volume of the smaller of the two disks, if they are not the same.


While adding a second RAM module is a plug-and-play process without any software setup, setting up a RAID array involves specific configurations. To initiate the RAID setup, access the laptop's BIOS settings menu, typically accessed by pressing the F2 key. Menu item names may vary by laptop manufacturer; for illustration, we used the 2E Complex Pro 15 laptop with H2O BIOS during our testing.

+22 photo
+3 video
2E Complex Pro 15 NS51PU (NS51PU-15UA52) 
Large capacity battery, metal case, backlit keyboard.
Weak integrated video card.
Price from 38 968 up to 62 049 ₴
Telemart.ua42 499 ₴To Store
iTMag.ua42 489 ₴To Store
FOXTROT.UA42 499 ₴To Store
Noteboochek.com.ua42 489 ₴To Store
Q-techno.com.ua42 499 ₴To Store
Compare prices 51→

2E Complex Pro 15 is a business-class laptop with a metal body, a bright IPS screen and a very capacious 73 Wh battery. This provides up to 17 hours of operation, which is about one and a half times longer than competitors. At the same time, the laptop weighs only 1.7 kg. The kit comes with 90W fast charging, and also supports universal Power Delivery charging via the USB Type-C port.

By the way, the laptop has two USB Type-C ports, one of which is also Thunderbolt 4. This allows you to connect a second external monitor or a multifunctional USB hub. Internet connections are provided by wired Gigabit Ethernet and wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX. The keyboard comes with a backlight, and the webcam has stereo microphones.

The processor is an Intel Core i7-1260P with a hybrid architecture: four powerful cores, each of which is divided into two virtual threads, and another eight energy-efficient cores. There is 32 GB of RAM installed, and a 1 TB solid-state drive. TPM 2.0 makes it easy to install the latest Windows 11.

Creating a RAID array

Go to Setup Utility, then Advanced, then Intel Rapid Storage Technology. In case of a laptop with AMD processor, the menu item will be called RAIDXpert2. Choose RAID Level, which means the type of the array: RAID 0 Stripe (high-speed) or RAID 1 Mirror. For the purpose of the experiment we chose the first one to measure the performance gain of the disk subsystem. Then, in the Select Disk menu, we click the X next to each of the two drives to confirm their participation in the array.

Important note: after creating the array, all old information on the disks will be irretrievably lost!!! Therefore, it is worth making backup copies of all important files in advance. After you have confirmed both disks, the Capacity line will begin to display the total volume of the array. The only thing left to do is to click the Create Volume button and you have created a RAID array. Now it is necessary to reinstall the operating system. To make the Windows installer detect the RAID array, you need to download the Intel RST or AMD RAIDXpert2 driver from a USB flash drive in the disk selection menu.

Laptops 2E

Test results

In addition to the aforementioned 2E Complex Pro 15 laptop (default 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD), the test included a Transcend JetRam DDR4-3200 RAM module and a Netac NV3000 solid-state drive. That is, we doubled the amount of RAM and SSD, and now let’s see how much the laptop’s performance has improved.


In the AIDA64 Cache & Memory benchmark, the speed of reading, writing and copying RAM improved from 25 to 43 GB/s, by a solid 70%. Memory latency remained virtually unchanged — 92-96 ms. But the average frame rate in the game Tomb Raider on the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics card increased from 35 to 50 FPS, by a pleasant 40%.


We measured the speed of the RAID array using Crystal Disk Mark. Thus, sequential read-write of large files accelerated from 2600-1500 to 5200-3000 MB/s, respectively, by an impressive 100%. Random reading and writing of small files improved slightly: from 146 to only 157 thousand IOPS (input-output operations per second).


Conclusions

Adding a second RAM module and setting up a RAID with two SSDs in a laptop is a relatively straightforward process, though some screws may be concealed under the rubber feet. Careful removal is required. The performance boost is noticeable, with dual-channel RAM enhancing FPS in games by 1.5 times. The integrated GPU is beneficial for various tasks like photo processing, video editing, 3D modeling, and AI applications. Additionally, the disk subsystem's speed, crucial for programmer IDEs, doubles with a RAID 0 array. For added security, it's advisable to store important files on a mirrored RAID 1.