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Affordable, 4GB RAM laptops are up to the task

When shopping for a new laptop, you'll notice that part of the price difference between models is related to the amount of RAM that's installed. RAM is the memory that holds the computer's most frequently accessed data, such as operating system files. It helps keep your computer running quickly and efficiently. Without enough RAM, performance can slow down.

Most laptop buyers consider price as one of the key factors in their buying decision. Some of today's most affordable laptops -- including many Lenovo Chromebooks and IdeaPad laptops -- offer a comparatively small RAM allotment of 4 GB. You can buy models with more RAM, but for many consumers, the question arises: is 4 GB of RAM enough for me?

The answer, as with many technology questions, depends on how you plan to use your laptop.

What can you do with a 4 GB RAM laptop?

With the exception of high-end PC gaming, statistical number-crunching and advanced video editing, there's almost nothing a 4 GB laptop can't do, with some limitations. From word processing and budgeting to social media, movie streaming, eBay shopping and online banking, a 4 GB laptop is usually up to the task. The issues are how many tasks you can do at the same time and how many different software programs and applications you can keep open at once.

We'll get to the limitations in a minute. First, here are some of the many things a 4 GB laptop can do as well (or nearly so) as a system with more memory:

4 GB RAM laptop in the office – A 4 GB laptop can run all of today's popular word processing, spreadsheet, and chart-drawing software. It can support the common web browsers, so you can access cloud-based business applications and file storage. Likewise, it will run important business tools such as email, video calling, instant messaging, and so on.

4 GB RAM laptop at school – A 4 GB laptop works in the dorm room for things like editing photos and posting on social media. It works in the library for online research, writing term papers, etc. It works on the go, too -- 4 GB is plenty of RAM for wireless connectivity and streaming.

4 GB RAM at home – A 4 GB laptop is useful at home, too. You can use it for online shopping, mobile banking, or controlling in-home smart devices such as lights and door locks. Making video calls to relatives, viewing family photos, listening to music, even playing some simple PC video games -- it's all possible on a laptop with 4 GB of RAM.

But there's a catch. A 4 GB RAM laptop can do everything listed here -- just not at the same time.

With less memory to store common system and program data, a laptop with 4 GB RAM cannot keep multiple different software programs running at once, at least not optimally. You may also notice slowdowns if you open too many separate browser tabs. For example, the Chrome browser, while strong in many ways, is said to consume more memory than other browsers, so users of 4 GB RAM laptop often choose to limit the number of tabs they open in one session.

If affordability is a chief concern, then don't hesitate to consider 4 GB laptops in your search. Just be aware of the limitations. Particularly for PC gaming and other advanced activities, if you've got specific titles that you must run on your new PC, check the manufacturer's RAM requirements before buying. You won't be able to run today's most exciting multi-player PC games or do complex video encoding, but for virtually everything else, a laptop with 4 GB of RAM can be a good choice.

4 GB DDR3 laptops from Lenovo

As a leading global PC manufacturer, Lenovo strives to offer laptops for every type of consumer. This includes buyers on a budget. Lenovo laptops -- even those with 4 GB of DDR3 RAM -- are top quality, high-performing machines.

Two of our PC lines include multiple 4 GB RAM options:

Chromebooks with 4 GB RAM – These small, ultra-light systems are prized by those who value portability above all else. They're great for light computing activities and are highly affordable, with several models featuring 4 GB of RAM.

IdeaPad laptops with GB RAM – Known for stunning designs and extreme versatility, IdeaPad laptops -- including laptop/tablet 2-in-1s -- are popular around the globe. There are multiple RAM options, with 4 GB models usually the most affordable.

Depending on what's in stock, you may also find 4 GB RAM options in our Lenovo Flex series and in our various e Series options (100e, 300e, 500e, and so on).

Lenovo 4GB RAM Laptops

Is 4GB RAM good for a laptop?

If you’re a creative or a gamer, you might steer away from 4GB RAM laptops. But 4GB is sufficient for general users who don’t need to run memory-intensive programs.

Typically, people use their laptops to operate word processors, surf the web, shop online and play video games. A 4GB RAM laptop will work fine if you only have these needs.

Is 4GB of RAM good for a laptop? Yes, if you need to do the following.

●    Use basic programs: If you’re a student who only wants to use Microsoft Office or watch YouTube tutorials, a 4GB RAM laptop will work perfectly for you.

●     Surf the Internet: Are you a regular Internet user? You only need one or two tabs open and don’t need to use high-end programs. If you can relate, a 4GB RAM laptop is ideal for you.

●     Use light operating systems: Light desktop environments and operating systems like Xfce and Linux work smoothly on a 4GB RAM laptop.

Is 4GB memory good for a laptop for gaming?

That depends on the kind of games you play. If you’re playing low-end games, you shouldn’t have a problem. But if you’re playing heavier games with advanced graphics, you need at least 16GB or 32GB of RAM.

When you ask yourself: is 4GB of memory good for a laptop, you need to consider how much use you want to get out of your laptop. If you want to open multiple tabs at once or run several programs side by side, they will take up more space on your laptop.

Due to this, you’ll need a larger RAM.

When is 4GB RAM not enough?

We’ve already discussed scenarios where 4GB RAM is sufficient. But when can you not depend on 4GB RAM? Here are some cases.

●     Gaming: If you’re a pro gamer and often have gaming marathons, 4GB RAM will disappoint you. Everything from the graphics to the performance of your game will suffer.

●     Intensive browsing: Most freelancers and people who work from home need to have five to ten tabs open at once. You might also need to keep Skype or Google Teams open in the background. When you’re running so many productivity applications at once, they consume your laptop’s memory. 4GB RAM may not be enough if you have such extensive needs.

●   Heavy operating systems: A heavy operating system, such as Windows, may not work as smoothly on a 4GB RAM laptop as you’d like.

●     Intense graphic processing and video editing: If you’re a photo or video editor, you’d know how long it can take to render data on a 4GB RAM laptop. On top of that, when you run intensive software like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, they take up a lot of space on the RAM. That’s why you need a large RAM of up to 32GB.

Should you upgrade 4GB RAM to 8GB RAM?

If you currently have 4GB DDR3 laptop RAM and you need to run several programs simultaneously, you might experience lagging and poor performance. So, you may think: can I add 8GB RAM to 4GB laptop?

Before you do that, you need to know if you should upgrade 4GB RAM to 8GB RAM.

General tasks, such as word processing and emailing, don’t eat up too much of your RAM. But if you need to do all these tasks at once, that will take a toll on the RAM. For example, if you’re an accountant and work with massive spreadsheets, a 4GB RAM might have trouble loading them quickly.

Secondly, web browsers are RAM intensive. Every tab you open uses your RAM a little more. Similarly, the websites and programs you use will also have an effect on the amount of RAM being consumed.

For instance, if you’re using Netflix or YouTube, they will use more resources than a website like Wikipedia that’s mainly textual. When you’re deciding if 4GB DDR3 laptop RAM will be enough for you or not, you must consider all these factors.

How many tabs do you open at once? Which websites do you frequently visit? Do you need to open a web browser, MS Excel, and your team collaboration software, like Slack, at the same time?

If yes, you might need an 8GB RAM since 4GB won’t perform as well for your needs.

Can I add 8GB RAM to 4GB laptop?

 If you have a4GB memory laptop, you can upgrade the RAM to meet your needs. You have two options in this regard:

●     If your laptop has an extra slot for additional RAM, get 4GB RAM and plug it in the slot. In this way, you’ll have 2x4GB DDR3 laptop RAM.

●     If your laptop does not have an extra slot, replace your 4GB RAM with 8GB RAM.

But what if you want to put an 8GB RAM stick into your 4GB memory laptop and use both of them together? It’s possible to do so, but this will affect the performance of your laptop. Technically, you’ll have 12GB of RAM, but your laptop will still be slower compared to if you used two RAM sticks of the same size, such as2x4GB DDR3 RAM.

When you’re using 8GB, and 4GB RAM together, both the memory sticks will operate at the frequency of the RAM with the lower frequency, which is 4GB, in this case.

If flex mode or dual-channel, both sticks will work simultaneously as 4GB RAM sticks. The remaining 4GB will work in the single-channel mode. Sometimes, the entire 12GB also reverts to single-channel mode.

Sometimes, the RAM may not be compatible with the slots of your laptop’s motherboard. If that happens, you may have to swap the slots. It’s also important to note that your laptop’s motherboard should have the ability to support 12GB RAM as a single-channel or dual-channel RAM.

Plus, both RAM sticks must have the same number of pins. Otherwise, RAM may be incompatible with each other, defeating the purpose of getting two sticks of RAM in the first place.

The good news is that if one of the RAM chips stops working or becomes faulty, you can still operate your laptop on the other RAM stick until you replace or fix the defective RAM.

Why you shouldn’t use different RAMs together

Let’s say you get DDR2 4GB RAM for laptop. After some time, your needs increase or become more memory-intensive, and you now want to upgrade the RAM. You can either replace the DDR2 4GB RAM for laptop or add an additional RAM into the motherboard.

When you’re doing the latter, make sure you use the same RAM, i.e. 4GB. If you plug in an 8GB RAM chip in the additional slot, you may have the following issues:

●     Different specs: Both RAM sticks are likely to have different speeds, timings, and voltages. Due to this, the overall performance of both RAMs will suffer.

●     Overheating: If you use 8GB RAM from a different manufacturer in a DDR2 4GB RAM laptop, the machine might heat up. That’s mainly due to the difference in latency. Plus, there’s extra stress on the laptop’s memory controller.

●     Lack of support: If the motherboard does not support the sum of both RAM sticks, you’ll experience booting problems. The laptop may take longer to start, depriving you of the benefits you wanted to get from using two sticks of RAM.

●     Lower bandwidth: When you use RAM of different capacities, such as 8GB chip on a DDR2 4GB RAM laptop, both RAM sticks work in a single channel mode. Their bandwidth will be 25% to 30% less than what it is achieved when they’re used individually.

Instead, try to use RAM with the same capacities so that you don’t have these problems and get the cumulative speed and performance of both RAM chips.

Alternatively, you can replace the 4GB RAM and put an 8GB RAM stick in its place. Upgrading to 8GB will allow your laptop to multitask without lagging or compromising on speed.

Who should use a 4GB RAM laptop

While it may not be up to everyone’s performance needs, a 4GB RAM laptop is perfect for the following people:

●     Teachers: If you want to use your laptop to prepare lesson plans, assign work, or create presentations for class, a 4GB RAM laptop should do the trick.

●     Students: Unless you’re a design or media student that needs to run extensive software, you can work nicely on a 4GB RAM laptop. It should provide enough memory to support your web surfing, leisure, and classroom activities. The Chromebook is a good option for students since it’s a 2 in 1 laptop and weighs lighter than most other student laptops.

●     Gamers: Before you raise your eyebrows at this, let us explain. A 1050 Ti 4GB laptop should be good enough for someone who wants to play games like PubG and Fortnite in high settings. However, if you want to play demanding games, you won’t be able to run them at high settings on a 1050 Ti 4GB laptop.

·      Children: A 4GB RAM laptop is classroom-ready for children since it can power all programs and apps a student in lower grades could need.

There are quite a few considerations when deciding on whether a 4GB laptop is the right choice for you and Lenovo strives to offer laptops for every type of consumer.