Memory by stefan @ 2019-04-11
By replacing the single-channel 16GB stock DDR4 2400MHz solution with a dual-channel DDR4 2666MHz kit, our DELL Inspiron 7577 became snappier in usual Windows applications and some productivity benchmarks have seen increases as well! Besides Ashes of the Singularity CPU Benchmark, PCMark benchmark suite clearly shows an improvement in Windows OS performance, by leaving the rest of the components running at stock.
At first we would like to thank Crucial for sending a sample of their 2x8GB DDR4-2666 SODIMM Memory Kit for testing and reviewing.
“Looking for computer memory or a new storage drive? You've come to the right place!
Crucial is a global brand of Micron Technology, Inc., one of the largest memory and flash storage manufacturers in the world. We make computer memory upgrades (DRAM) and solid state drives (SSDs), and offer more than 250,000 upgrades for over 50,000 systems. For 17 years, we've sought to provide the Crucial Difference — award-winning products, outstanding support, and a team of memory and storage experts who explain complex lingo in everyday terms. We're here to help improve the performance of your system.
Crucial memory and SSDs have been qualified and approved by major original equipment manufacturers, and every single module that leaves our doors has been rigorously tested at the component and module level. That's a big deal in the memory industry, but it's not all. When it comes to our SSDs, each drive undergoes over a thousand hours of prerelease validation testing and hundreds of qualification tests to ensure optimal reliability and performance.
To find upgrades in just a few clicks, our award-winning Crucial System Scanner or Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool will identify compatible upgrades for your system, and if you order on Crucial.com, we guarantee compatibility — or your money back. With fast and free shipping, outstanding tech support, and an exhaustive library of articles, videos, and install guides, we make it easy to find and install the right upgrade for your system.
Let us be your memory and storage experts.”
Speeds start at 2133 MT/s
Increase bandwidth by up to 30%
Reduce power consumption by up to 40% and extend battery life
Faster burst access speeds for improved sequential data throughput
Optimized for next generation processors and platforms
Available in modules up to 8GB and kits up to 32GB
Limited lifetime warranty
Brand: Crucial
Total Capacity: 8GB
Warranty: Limited Lifetime
Specs: DDR4 PC4-21300 • CL=19 • Single Ranked • x8 based • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR4-2666 • 1.2V • 1024Meg x 64 •
Series: Crucial
Form Factor: SODIMM
ECC: NON-ECC
Speed: 2666 MT/S
Voltage: 1.2V
DIMM Type: Unbuffered
In this review, we will look upon a memory upgrade kit for laptops, consisting of two DDR4 8GB SODIMM 2666MHz modules, manufactured by Micron, under the Crucial brand. Our review kit was shipped as two separate 8GB modules, but there are also dual-channel kits with the modules shipped together, under a different serial number:
After removing the plastic protective packaging, we will get to see that the modules do not have a heatspreader, but a sticker that covers the entire row of memory ICs; here we will note their internal code name, but also specifications such as memory quantity, rated speed, operating voltage and CAS latencies:
Micron mentions on the sticker that the removal of these stickers will also void the product warranty:
The back side of the module does feature a similar arrangement, with another central sticker:
The tests will be conducted on our DELL Inspiron 7577 laptop, that does feature a 15.6’’ UHD display, an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 16GB of DDR4 2400MHz SODIMM RAM, a 512GB M.2 Samsung 970 EVO SSD as a boot drive, one 1TB 5400RPM Seagate HDD for storage but also a Nvidia GTX 1060 Max-Q Design dedicated video card:
Since only a memory slot was occupied, the RAM was running in single channel, so we should experience a performance boost after installing the dual-channel kit, with even a higher operating frequency:
The stock RAM module we have extracted from the 7577 was manufactured by SK Hynix and featured a central sticker with the product SN:
The IC inscription reads H5AN4G8NAFR-UHC:
The RAM kit installation only took a couple of seconds, so let's get on with the testing!
Before even installing the new kit, we have ran tests with the stock configuration; additional information about the RAM setup could be extracted from AIDA64:
The pre-programmed timings were available in CPU-Z as well:
After the upgrade, we ran the same reporting utilities:
Let’s run some benchmarks and notice the performance differences:
By replacing the single-channel 16GB stock DDR4 2400MHz solution with a dual-channel DDR4 2666MHz kit, our DELL Inspiron 7577 became snappier in usual Windows applications and some productivity benchmarks have seen increases as well! Besides Ashes of the Singularity CPU Benchmark, PCMark benchmark suite clearly shows an improvement in Windows OS performance, by leaving the rest of the components running at stock.
No extra modifications from the UEFI were needed in order to make the sure the RAM was running at the designed speed and the system booted in Windows in no time! This might not be the case for all laptop brands, because some use to limit via BIOS the memory frequencies in order to align with Intel’s recommendations, depending on the used CPU.
Each 8GB module, as tested, can be found online for about 39 Euros! Great to see that RAM is affordable again, so potential customers can also move now to higher capacities, if needed, without breaking the bank.
We would like to thank again to Crucial for making this review possible!