Is a memory upgrade worth it?

[AceOfAces_Mod]

I can't decide if I should buy a memory upgrade or not hassle finding it and instead buy a new phone (PaySafeCard no longer issues PIN codes).

While my laptop does it's job well, Lenovo decided to place 4GB DDR3 RAM clocked @ 1333MHz on a 64bit OS powered system. While it's not bad when I'm doing light work, if I use a resource heavy program (eg. Visual Studio, Google Chrome, Unreal Engine, playing a game, etc.) the system slows down (depends on the program). However the memory in use goes between 43 - 73 % (though it does reserve memory for cache). And since it has only one slot, I need to replace the current one with a bigger one (specifically, a Kingston ValueRAM 8GB DDR3 RAM clocked @ 1333MHz). Trouble is that that the shops have to order the part, and it may have to come from the manufacturer if the distributor doesn't have it in stock (and it may fail due to capital controls that are in place here).

Any suggestions?

System Specs:
500GB HDD @ 5400RPM
4GB RAM
Windows 10 Pro x64
Intel Core i3 2328M @ 2.2GHz
Intel HD Graphics 3000

 

[Nathanial]

I can't decide if I should buy a memory upgrade or not hassle finding it and instead buy a new phone (PaySafeCard no longer issues PIN codes).

While my laptop does it's job well, Lenovo decided to place 4GB DDR3 RAM clocked @ 1333MHz on a 64bit OS powered system. While it's not bad when I'm doing light work, if I use a resource heavy program (eg. Visual Studio, Google Chrome, Unreal Engine, playing a game, etc.) the system slows down (depends on the program). However the memory in use goes between 43 - 73 % (though it does reserve memory for cache). And since it has only one slot, I need to replace the current one with a bigger one (specifically, a Kingston ValueRAM 8GB DDR3 RAM clocked @ 1333KHz). Trouble is that that the shops have to order the part, and it may have to come from the manufacturer if the distributor doesn't have it in stock (and it may fail due to capital controls that are in place here).

Any suggestions?

System Specs:

500GB HDD @ 5400RPM

4GB RAM

Windows 10 Pro x64

Intel Core i3 2328M @ 2.2GHz

Intel HD Graphics 3000

This day and age, I would suggest running at least 8 GB to futureproof a bit more. I personally use 16 GB of RAM (I have for 3 or 4 years) and have actually used 9 GB at once during intense video editing sessions. At one point I was running a dozen or so virtual machines at once for about a month (for various reasons)... That ate up 14 GB or so... So it's totally possible to eat up a ton of RAM now days

It depends mostly on what you want to do. If you can afford it, it doesn't hurt to future proof. RAM is easily moved to different builds if need be!