IS UPGRADING A LAPTOP'S SSD AND RAM WORTH IT? WE TRY IT IN THE DELL INSPIRON 15 7000

GETTING INSIDE IS URPRISINGLY EASY.

- HAYDEN DINGMAN

Is it worth it to upgrade a laptop’s RAM or storage? We had a chance to find out when Dell asked us to test the upgradability of its Inspiron 15 7000.

I admit that as I faced this challenge, I started sweating. Panic-sweating. In my experience, upgrading a laptop is never a fun time. Cracking the case open feels borderline illegal, and once you’re inside you find a maze of tiny screws, tiny parts, tiny wires—like disarming a bomb built for ants. Many laptops don’t want to be opened, hiding the screws or voiding the warranty if you dare.

Imagine my surprise when I found the Inspiron 15 7000 almost...friendly? Getting inside still feels a bit illicit, but it was pretty easy to do. Was it worth it? We ran benchmarks to find out.

BUILDING A BETTER LAPTOP

The Inspiron 15 7000 is a good candidate for upgrades, because no single configuration is perfect. The model Dell sent over is the top-of-the-line Inspiron 15 7000 Model 7591 (currently $1,050 on Dell.com (go.pcworld. com/md75)), a humble little machine that packs an Intel Core i7-9750H, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, a 512GB M.2 SSD, and 8GB of DDR4 RAM.

It’s a strange machine, for sure. At just over $1,000, the Inspiron 15 7000 still feels a bit overpriced—blame the Core i7 processor and that generous 512GB of storage. But only 8GB of RAM? Meanwhile, the cheaper $900 model (go.pcworld.com/i593) touts a Core i5-9300H and Intel UHD 630 graphics, but 16GB of RAM.

What’s an enterprising buyer to do if they want a Core i7-9750H and 16GB of RAM to go with it? You do it yourself, of course.

CRACKING THE CASE