Dell Latitude 15 3510 (2020 edition) RAM Upgrade Tutorial

However, as you might have noticed, most manufacturers these days don't ship laptops with ample memory, leaving it up to the user to upgrade the memory on their laptop to make the most out of their device. Such is the case with the Dell Inspiron 3510 (2020 edition). Today we're going to make an easy step-by-step guide on how to upgrade the RAM on the Dell Inspiron 3510 (2020).

 It's important to note that this tutorial refers to the 2020 edition of this laptop. There's a 2021 model for whom we will be performing another tutorial though, in essence, it's a fairly similar process, the only thing that changes in the case of the more modern version is the disposition of the internals.

How To Upgrade the RAM on the Dell Latitude 15 3510 (2020)

What type of RAM should I buy? How much RAM can I upgrade towards?

Before we start pulling parts we need to make sure we know how our upgrade is going to play out. Specifically, in the case of the Dell Latitude 15 3510, this laptop supports up to 32 GB of RAM, 16 GB on each of its available slots. Much like the recent Asus TUF Gaming F17 FX706LI-ES53 RAM upgrade. 

However, unless you're planning to use your laptop for some seriously intensive stuff, we would recommend you upgrade to 16 GB with two compatible 8 GB modules. Depending on your configuration, you could also opt for two 4 GB modules if your model comes with only 4 GB of RAM, 

In any case, you're going to need to buy a DDR4-3200 SODIMM 260 pin unit. That's the RAM that's compatible with this laptop.

Should I Upgrade the existing RAM?

It's recommended and common knowledge amongst those of us who perform RAM upgrades that the system generally performs better when we upgrade both modules at the same time. This is because when the DIMM types are identical the laptop has no problem working in a dual-channel mode which boosts performance significantly. 

That's also the reason why you always want both RAM sticks to be of the same capacity. Otherwise, you end up with a laptop that effectively has more RAM than it did before but doesn't perform as well as it could. 

How to perform the upgrade

Step 1: Moving onto the actual RAM Upgrade on the Dell Latitude 15 3510 (2020 edition). First off you need to make sure the laptop is completely turned off and disconnected from the power supply. 

Once that's done, place the laptop on its back and remove the 8 Philips screws attaching the bottom case to the chassis. The screws stay attached to the case so don't worry about that once you've unscrewed them. After doing that you're going to make use of a pry tool to open up the laptop gently but firmly.

Don't use anything metallic to pry open the laptop, this could affect the motherboard. We recommend using a guitar pick or making use of a laptop prying kit such as this one. 

Step 2: Now that you have successfully removed the bottom case of the Inspiron 15 3510 you'll be able to see the internals of the laptop and easily access the two RAM slots.

Step 3: As you can see, one of the RAM slots is occupied by the onboard RAM. If you follow our recommendation and upgrade both RAM slots then you're going to need to remove the onboard unit by pulling outwards on the levers located on the sides of the slot. Doing this will release the memory at a 45-degree angle and you'll be free to remove it like so.

Step 4: Now that you've removed the onboard RAM you're going to grab the two units of compatible 3200 MHz memory you've bought and insert them onto the slots. Make sure when you are inserting the RAM units that the notch located on the slot and the notch on the memory align perfectly. That is how you know you're inserting it properly. This is what that would look like on a picture taken for illustrative purposes (not of this laptop).

Step 5: Finally, press down on the RAM modules and you will hear a clicking sound of the laptop clutching to the new modules. Now that the memory has been successfully installed you're going to place the bottom case back to the chassis. To confirm that the module has been properly integrated simply turn the laptop on and head over to "Device Specifications" where you will see the upgraded amount of RAM.

And that's it. Now you can work and multitask to your heart's desire. As you can see the whole of the process shouldn't have taken you much more than 5 minutes and you've breathed new life into your Inspiron 3510 laptop.