WTH RAM is in this silly ACER laptop? ACER can't even tell me! (Solved)

[Matt_Stevens]

Yes i know this is nuts, but ACER cannot tell me what RAM is in this laptop and so upgrading is impossible until this is solved.

I have an ACER Aspire 15 E5-575G-76YK. It's an i7 with Windows 10 and 8GB of RAM. It currently has one 8GB module and a free spot for another, which I intend to use for a second 8GBmodule.

Edit: so to be very clear, I have 8 GB RAM and want to add a matching module for a total of 16 GB.

This is the RAM that ACER and Amazon say I need:
Kingston Technology ValueRAM 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 Non-ECC CL15 SODIMM 2Rx8 Laptop Memory (KVR21S15D8/8)

The problem is, that is NOT what is now installed into these laptops. At some point later last year ACER began installing a different RAM module.

This is the RAM module in my laptop. Go ahead and Google, you won't find anything helpful.

NOT the RAM they say is in there and plenty of reviews on Amazon for this laptop show confusion on the part of people wanting to upgrade. Kingston says that is NOT their RAM, even though they made it for Acer (they admit they made it for them). Because it is officially ACER, they "cannot comment on it."

ACER says they don't know what I am talking about and it's impossible for that to be the RAM in my laptop!

Here is what CPU-Z says, which I don't quite get.

And if you check places like CRUCIAL, they list two different types of RAM! One 2400mhz and the other 2133.

So I am royally confused. Both Kingston and Acer blame each other and say to call the other guy. Which I have done. Twice. No help. Mismatched RAM = bad so I want to avoid.

Advice? I have no clue what to do. I did take a chance last week and order this RAM module, but I do not want to open it if it is the wrong one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LW6HBSM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Kingston Technology ValueRAM 8GB 2400Mhz DDR4 Non-ECC CL17 SODIMM 1Rx8 (KVR24S17S8/8)

Never in my life have I had this much trouble trying to upgrade RAM. It's normally an easy process so if any experts out there can figure this out, I would be grateful.

P.S. A guy at Amazon said to buy Samsung DDR4-2133 8GB/512Mx64 CL15 Laptop Memory M471A1G43DB0-CPB, which is cheap and correct IF 2133 is what you want. But that is just some random dude at Amazon. price sure is great.

 

[Batmeat]

Stick with the Kingston 2400 ram. It makes sense to stick with that because Kingston acknowledged that it's their ram even though it's probably been bought by acer then rebranded by them. The good thing is if you need to send it back through Amazon you always can. However, I don't think you'll need to. You should be fine with your choice of replacement.

Laptop memory isn't as fickle as it used to be. There are multitudes of memory modules that should work without any hiccups, just like in desktop systems.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Thanks for the reply, although I don't want to replace my RAM. I want to double it from 8 GB to 16 GB. So that means I need a matching RAM module. Hence my confusion.

 

[gbeirn]

Go ahead and get either one you want. Price is the same. Acer put in a pc4-2400 but it only runs at 2133 anyway.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Go ahead and get either one you want. Price is the same. Acer put in a pc4-2400 but it only runs at 2133 anyway.

So if I install the PC4–2400 stick I have here it will also run at 2133? I hope everyone can understand my absolute confusion here.

 

[gbeirn]

Yes faster memory can always downclock to slower speeds. Acer likely had a surplus of 2400 chips and used that instead of 2133.

 

[Bouowmx]

Matching RAM is unnecessary, unless you are running bleeding-edge multi-channel 4 GT/s. I am not sure what the ruckus is about.

Acer E5-575G-55KK:

Serial presence detect (SPD) allows BIOS to choose from a number of frequencies and timings: 2400 MT/s installed RAM runs at 2133 MT/s.

 

[Valantar]

Matching RAM is unnecessary, unless you are running bleeding-edge multi-channel 4 GT/s. I am not sure what the ruckus is about.

Exactly. Don't worry so much. Get some RAM with similar specs to yours, and leave it at that. 2133-15-15-15-35 is standard JEDEC speed, which all DDR4 supports. The make, model, and whatever specs beyond that don't usually matter much - they can all downclock. I have mixed and matched both capacities, brands and speeds in a lot of DDR3 laptops, and never had any issues.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Gents, thank you. I went ahead and installed the RAM module I purchased and it's fine. No problems. I appreciate the help very much.