expiredSickerDealer posted Jan 04, 2024 05:09 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expiredSickerDealer posted Jan 04, 2024 05:09 PM
Dell Inspiron 15 3520 Laptop: 15.6" FHD 120Hz IPS, i5-1235U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD $329.99
$330
$430
23% offDell Technologies
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank FantasticGazelle573
The chassis is awful though, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone moving it around a lot.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank ghostfreckle
Food for thought:
- The 1235U only comes with the UHD Graphics with 32 Execution Units, if the ram is single channel.
- The 1235U upgrades to the Iris XE Graphics with 80 Execution Units, if in dual channel. Much better graphical/gaming/system performance'
TIL.
Look at the Graphic Card option. If you select the Iris XE, it makes the ram 16gb dual channel (2 x 8gb) and increses the SSD to 512gb for $429.
Personally, if you really want this laptop, I'd go with the $329, then
- upgrade the ram to 32gb of 3200MHz ram for $50 on amazon. 16gb (2x8gb) is around $35.
- upgrade the SSD to 1tb for like $55. $40 for 512gb...
You'll get faster ram (vs 2666MHz), faster graphics and more storage for an extra $110 bucks or so.
Food for thought:
- The 1235U only comes with the UHD Graphics with 32 Execution Units, if the ram is single channel.
- The 1235U upgrades to the Iris XE Graphics with 80 Execution Units, if in dual channel. Much better graphical/gaming/system performance'
TIL.
Look at the Graphic Card option. If you select the Iris XE, it makes the ram 16gb dual channel (2 x 8gb) and increses the SSD to 512gb for $429.
Personally, if you really want this laptop, I'd go with the $329, then
- upgrade the ram to 32gb of 3200MHz ram for $50 on amazon. 16gb (2x8gb) is around $35.
- upgrade the SSD to 1tb for like $55. $40 for 512gb...
You'll get faster ram (vs 2666MHz), faster graphics and more storage for an extra $110 bucks or so.
I also loosened the hinges a little myself based on comments that this model has a high incidence of premature hinge failure.
Food for thought:
- The 1235U only comes with the UHD Graphics with 32 Execution Units, if the ram is single channel.
- The 1235U upgrades to the Iris XE Graphics with 80 Execution Units, if in dual channel. Much better graphical/gaming/system performance'
TIL.
Look at the Graphic Card option. If you select the Iris XE, it makes the ram 16gb dual channel (2 x 8gb) and increses the SSD to 512gb for $429.
Personally, if you really want this laptop, I'd go with the $329, then
- upgrade the ram to 32gb of 3200MHz ram for $50 on amazon. 16gb (2x8gb) is around $35.
- upgrade the SSD to 1tb for like $55. $40 for 512gb...
You'll get faster ram (vs 2666MHz), faster graphics and more storage for an extra $110 bucks or so.
I didn't know this before but I researched it and it seems like these laptops will work as UHD graphics if you have one stick of ram, but if you make it two sticks of ram then it will automatically switch to Iris XE graphics. There's no other upgrade needed.
Now I'm wondering if going to 2x 16gb is really necessary... I'm sure two sticks of matched ram would perform better, but if I just add another 1x 8gb from Amazon (<$20) to pair with the existing 1x 8gb, I think they should still run in dual channel?
I'm thinking the $429 might be a better deal if those are the specs you need.
$329 for the base config.
+ 2x8gb ram from Amazon $40
+ 512gb SSD $40
So basically you're paying +$80 and installing everything yourself.
For an extra $20, you're getting it ready to go out of the box. Consider it labor cost... if it took me half an hour to install everything, that'd also be $20 of my time.
If you're just a normal person that doesn't care about gaming or content creation, you'd be fine with 16gb of ram, meaning that you just need to buy one stick of 8gb DDR4 2666. Idealy, you'd want the exact same specifications for the second stick, but you'd be fine with the same speed and size, not necessarily the brand.
If you can wait, open the laptop after you get it, and buy the exact part number for the ram off ebay. 😉
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The chassis is awful though, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone moving it around a lot.
I also loosened the hinges a little myself based on comments that this model has a high incidence of premature hinge failure.
Loosening them is quite easy if you are used to upgrading laptop parts yourself. Just open the bottom panel (it gives you more room to operate), and then pry out the two hinge caps (they are plastic and should come out easily) to expose the hinges. Watch a few youtube videos to get a better idea (search for 'dell 15 3520 hinge').
Loosening them is quite easy if you are used to upgrading laptop parts yourself. Just open the bottom panel (it gives you more room to operate), and then pry out the two hinge caps (they are plastic and should come out easily) to expose the hinges. Watch a few youtube videos to get a better idea (search for 'dell 15 3520 hinge').
Simply pry off the hinge covers, and using needle nose pliers, loosen the hinge nuts slightly to reduce the over-torqued tension that is done at the factory. Then press the hinge covers back on afterwards.
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