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I have ASUS zenbook UX32VD (i5 version) and it only has 4GB of RAM preinstalled and while I originally thought that it has two RAM expansion slots it turned out it doesn't! So as I am on LINUX I used an lshw application to check this out and this is what it turned out:

enter image description here

Program shows me that it still has an extra slot while I can't physically see it. Weird. Also 4GB of RAM are divided among two containers and I suspect that 2GB of RAM is solderd on the motherboard while 2GB resides in my expansion slot. The other expansion slot is somehow nonexistent...

Can anyone confirm this and suggest me the best RAM I can buy to maximize my laptop RAM. Is it true that the max ammount of ram this motherboard detects is only 8GB?

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  • Check the service manual for the device. If the device's memory can be upgraded it will be in there.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 29, 2016 at 21:20
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    The link that you posted for your laptop specs says "1 x 2 GB + 2 GB (soldered)" in the RAM section...
    – Tim G.
    Aug 29, 2016 at 21:20
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    You can replace the 2GB module with a 8GB module.. The fact I performed a search on, UX32VD, and found that result makes me wonder. It does have 2 slots, the first slot you can access, the second slot is a soldered on.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 29, 2016 at 21:21
  • The reason the other expansion slot is "nonexistent" is because 2 GB of RAM is soldered to the motherboard. Your laptop only has 1 RAM slot with 2 GB, and 2 GB of soldered RAM. The italic text was taken from the specs page about your laptop 4 GB ( 1 x 2 GB + 2 GB (soldered) ), Slots Qty 1, Empty Slots 0
    – DrZoo
    Aug 29, 2016 at 21:22
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    @DrZoo - The ASUS specification is confusing, here, it states "2 GB, OnBoard Memory, 2 x DIMM socket for expansion up to 4 GB SDRAM" which tells me 2GB is OnBoard Memory and there should be 2 slots. In most cases the slots like this are stacked, meaning you install one, then install another module. I am willing to bet if there are 2 slots thats exactly the case. Without a picture, and I am not willing to look through the manual right now, so I wouldn't know though
    – Ramhound
    Aug 29, 2016 at 21:27

2 Answers 2

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From what you've written in comments, the system has 2 GB of RAM soldered on the motherboard, with an SO-DIMM slot for expansion that is currently populated with a 2 GB module.

You'll need to remove any existing memory module in the slot if you want to upgrade. The processor technically allows 32 GB of memory, but the most you'll be able to install is 8 GB in that slot. (Consumer Ivy Bridge does not support 16GB modules; DDR3 modules of this capacity are only available for server use.) The maximum possible memory configuration is therefore 10 GB.

Note that because this memory configuration is mismatched across different memory channels, you may experience degraded performance in some memory-intensive workloads as the memory will operate in single-channel mode.

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  • It is weirt that Asus made this configuration in a way they did, becuause solderd RAM is 2GB and therefore if I want to avoid missmatch I can only have 2GB ram in expansion slot... WTF Asus? 4GB of RAM max in a modern ultrabook? How devastating missmatch really is?
    – 71GA
    Aug 29, 2016 at 23:05
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As the comments have explained the other slot is a soldered ram chip which you can't remove / swap.

With this said, the best way to find out which ram you can use I find is to use crucial.com/crucial.co.uk. As long as you use the suggested ram they guarantee it'll work.

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