Over the last few years, we've bared witness to the gaming laptop market making a big shift from being a market of incredibly expensive laptops to offering up models that are suitable for just about every budget out there.
However, to do this, what manufacturers such as Acer have done is cut down on the onboard storage and RAM, allowing the user to expand on these features if he so wishes to do so. Case and point the recently reviewed Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG. Today we're going to walk you through the process of upgrading the RAM on the Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG so you can easily jump from the built-in 16 GB to something with a bit more multitasking power.
Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG Memory Upgrade
How much RAM can I use? What Type of RAM does the Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG take?
First off we should point out that the AN517-54-77KG arrives with 16 GB of onboard RAM. However, as per the manufacturer's specs, we can upgrade the RAM to a maximum of 32 GB, 16 GB per available slot.
As far as the type of RAM this laptop is compatible with, you're going to need a DDR4 2666MHz Non-ECC SO-DIMM, that's a 260 pin DDR4 type memory clocking in at 2666 MHz.
How much RAM should I upgrade to?
16 GB is cutting it a bit tight for power users. We would recommend you go for the maximum 32 GB upgrade through two compatible 16 GB modules.
In any case, the best course of action is always to replace the onboard RAM and use two new and identical RAM modules, that way you can make sure that your RAM is working as Dual-RAM and you get all the benefits in performance and speed that such a configuration provides.
Otherwise, we tend to see a lot of people make use of two different RAM modules and while the laptop does feature more RAM it doesn't work in Dual-channel meaning you don't really get the bump in performance you could've gotten.
How do I upgrade the RAM on the Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG?
First off you want to make sure the laptop is turned off. That's right, I said off. Not hibernating. You wouldn't believe the number of people that work on their laptops when the device is still on and for this type of procedure, you really need the laptop to be fully off.
You're going to need a Philips screwdriver to remove the screws at the bottom of the laptop as well as a pry of some sort to open the laptop. This kit would do the job.
Note: we don't have this particular model at hand so the images shown might differ slightly from what you see, though they shouldn't differ much since the laptop we're going to show you is part of the same series and manufacturers tend to use the same internal configurations for the whole series.
Step 1: After turning the laptop off you're going to place it upside down and remove all the screws located at the bottom of the laptop.
After removing the screws you're going to make use of the pry to gently pry open the laptop with special care to not break any of the internal locks. You should start from the front of the laptop as there's a small gap there where you can place your prayer. It should look something like this:
Step 2: Once you've successfully removed the bottom cover you should be able to quickly locate the RAM slots. It should look something like this where one RAM slot is occupied by the onboard RAM and there's an empty RAM slot. Remember, we recommend upgrading both RAM slots at the same time for optimal performance.
As you can see, this series also includes two PCIe NVMe m.2 SSD slots, we're going to make a tutorial on how to upgrade the storage, it's pretty easy, all you need to do is remove the placeholders below the fan and insert the PCIe NVMe storage units.
Step 3: Now that you've located the RAM slots simply pull from the clasps located on the sides to release the RAM at a 45-degree angle. It will come up like so.
Step 4: Now that you've removed the onboard RAM. Insert the RAM you bought to upgrade. If you're not sure which way is up here's a neat little trick: just follow the notch.
Both the RAM slot and the RAM module feature a notch that's slightly off-center, align these notches, press down and the RAM has been successfully inserted into the system. Here's an image of what that should look like for illustrative purposes (not of the Nitro laptop in this case):
Step 5: Place the bottom cover back-on again, place the screws, turn the laptop on, and under "Device Specifications" you should now be able to see the new RAM you've upgraded towards, be it 32 GB or 64 GB of RAM.
And that's it. That's all it took to upgrade the RAM on the Acer Nitro 5 AN517-54-77KG. A very straightforward process that if you're on the fence about buying this laptop precisely because of the limitations of 16 GB of RAM we encourage you to purchase it and upgrade the RAM which, as you can see, is an incredibly easy process and will give you a lot more performance in everyday tasks as well as gaming.