Upgrading my Dell Latitude RAM for gaming?
 

Hello Digital FAQ forum,

It's great to be here and I'm really looking forward to speaking with you all and seeing if I can get some answers to my question/questions.

I own an old boy of a laptop but I do love it. My Dell Latitude E6420 is about 7 years old now and has never let me down. The only item I had to replace over that time is the hard drive but that's due to me being heavy handed and clumsy, apart from that everything has been sweet. Now I have started to get into a little gaming in my spare time but I am finding a lot of the games are not working due to lack of RAM and sometimes my graphics card isn't good enough. So my main question would be, How do I install a large RAM into my Dell? is it possible? this way games will function a lot better on my comp.

Few details about the comp

Model: Dell Latitude E6420
RAM: 4GB
Hard drive: 1TB
Processor: Inter i5
system type: 64bit

if there is any other information that you guys need please ask and I will add it on! Really looking forward to some replies.

Thanks

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...latitude-e6420

Google is your best friend.

... this time, maybe. Actually, not really. :unsure:

I hate to see an over-reliance on Google searches, as the results can be very misleading or downright wrong/false. (You need look no further than the election of that goober for proof of that!)

The bigger issue is a 2010 budget-grade laptop. No amount of RAM is going to fix CPU or graphics. It's simply past it's sell-by date. My own 2012 laptop runs rings around his (i7, 1tb SSD, 12gb RAM, IPS) and it's very obviously slow compared to my Skylake build from 2015/2016.

I don't think RAM alone will do much. In fact, SSD may make a much bigger difference. Or, better yet, do both.

Then again, 7 years is really pushing it. Now, I'm all for pushing old systems to do tasks. Just look at my dual-core AGP Windows XP ATI AIW capture systems. However, those are for capturing only, offline use only.

On his laptop, simple normal internet usage will be a problem. Gaming will especially be a problem, as that's a demanding specialty task, just like video. Modern gaming is more akin to H.264 or H.265 encoding, which is something my capture system would be painful at doing, assuming it can be done at all.

I just do not see this laptop being used for gaming. It's too old, RAM upgrade or not.

Google wouldn't have told you that. ;)

He already addressed the limits of his CPU, GPU and hard drive. He seemed pretty determined to get more RAM.

If he wants to play modern 3D GPU intensive games, then yeah.. he needs to upgrade to a ROG or something similar. I have a 17" ASUS ROG G750JW that's still pretty good for most games - it's just too damn heavy for travel. I take it anyway :)

If he's into simulations or strategy games, he could be fine. Recent 1st person shooters? Nopes..

To be honest, it is a shame but I had a feeling that was going to be the answer. On the plus side, I love all types of games so if I could get some strategy games working then that will be a bonus and then I can just keep this as a work computer and game a little when traveling. In terms of new first person shooters, it looks like I am going to have to buy a new laptop.

Being that I like using laptops and they are very convenient what gaming laptop should I go for? I would like something built strong and very powerful so I don't bump into this situation again for a while.

Thanks for the replies guys much appreciated

I have been looking into the brand MSI. Does anyone on here have any experience with them?

MSI has more problems than average. .

Asrock is excellent, as is Gigabyte.

Some like Asus, but I've never found the price/features of an Asus board to ever beat an Asrock or Gigabyte offering.

I speak only of motherboards. I'm not a fan of any pre-built desktops, from any brand. Prebuild systems cut too many corners, and you end up with subpar components for a premium price. Sometimes proprietary junk. Heat distribution tend to be very poor in OEM prebuilts.

I have been watching a few MSI reviews on Youtube and to be honest, it is looking like a beast of a computer/laptop. I have decided to go for the MSI GE60 which has specs that are out of this world!! check it out here and tell me what you think http://www.used.forsale/canada/msi This I believe will have all the computing power I need.

I know somebody with an MSI laptop, using Windows 10, and he likes it. His laptop has SSD and more RAM (either 12 or 16), which is almost a must these days. Once upon a time, 4gb was fine, and 6gb was nice cushion. Simple web browsers can now eat 2gb on their own, and the OS wants 2gb+ as well.

Still not an MSI fan, but not as brand-loyal for laptops. It may be fine.

Gaming isn't just about graphics anymore. SSD and RAM matters.