Chromeboxes have seen a major resurgence over the past couple of years and rightfully so. With the addition of Android and Linux apps, the lightweight, relatively inexpensive desktop boxes make the perfect setup for just about any user. Celeron-based models will run you less than $300 and as you can see from this video, upgrading the ASUS Chromebox 3 is super simple and can be done in under ten minutes. Oh yeah, and it’s crazy cheap to do so.
What You’ll Need
It doesn’t take much to crack open the ASUS Chromebox 3 but it doesn’t hurt to have some tools made specifically for the job. I picked up my PC tool kit from Amazon during a Black Friday Sale and it ran me around $17. You can find them in droves so get what you want but make sure you buy one that has a grounding strap and plastic pry tools. You’ll thank me next time you have to take apart something more stubborn than the ASUS. We have a couple of kits in our shop if you want to check them out.
Nest, you’ll need some RAM. The ASUS comes with a 4GB stick of DDR4 by Hynix in one slot with the other slot being empty. You can grab another 4GB of the same flavor from Newegg for around $22 or they have a selection of Crucial brand for a couple of dollars more. A couple of things to note. Make sure the RAM you buy is the right fit for your device. It’s going to be 260-pin SODIMM and you’ll want to make sure the slot in the bottom of the RAM lines up with the existing stick. Also, if you’re buying one stick of RAM, make sure you are getting ONE stick. Often times, an 8GB listing will actually be two 4GB sticks. Not helpful if you were wanting to add 8GB to the existing 4GB stick. You can find the Hynix and Crucial in the links at the bottom of the page.
Last but certainly not least, you need a Chromebox. The ASUS Chromebox 3 is the first in our teardown video series because it is the easiest to open and upgrade among the various Kaby Lake devices on the market. You can generally pick one of these up for around $269 at most retailers but for a limited time, we have an exclusive deal that will score you the Chromebox 3 for only $215 + tax. So, without further ado, here’s a quick and simple walkthrough on how to upgrade the RAM on the ASUS Chromebox 3.
Hope you liked the video. We’ll be putting more of these out in the near future with more upgrades and different models. If there’s a how-to video you’d like to see, drop us a line and will put it on the list.
Buy the ASUS Chromebox 3
The ASUS Chromebox 3 is available with free shipping to the U.S. and modest shipping cost to select other countries. If you don’t see your region on the shipping options, shoot us an email and we’ll see if we can make it happen. Orders of 5 (five) or more Chromeboxes, use the promo “BOX5” and receive 5% off your total purchase.
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