Returned the ASUS and purchased a Dell

Jesse Williams said:

Well... how will it perform with my photography editing?

Impossible to answer. You'll have to try it and see.

It depends what software you use and how impatient you are.

I think ideally you'd want an i5, an SSD and at least 8GB RAM if you wanted to run Photoshop. I have some much worse computers than that and they are OK for what I use them for. It just takes longer to do anything. They are Ok for Word and internet but not much else.

However (apart from games that require DX11) they will all run anything eventually.

If you don't like it, send it back and get a second hand Thinkpad from ebay. You'd easily get a good one for a couple of hundred that would have cost you a couple of thousand a few years ago.

Jesse Williams said:

Well... how will it perform with my photography editing?

It may work the same as having 4GB in it or it may not work at all, taking a chance on damaging the motherboard and have to buy a new one anyway. I have 2 Notebooks with the 32-bit version of Win10 and 4GB RAM module in each, shows only about 3.4GB in System Info, it's a limiting factor of 32-bit Windows.

lx07 said:

Impossible to answer. You'll have to try it and see.

It depends what software you use and how impatient you are.

I think ideally you'd want an i5, an SSD and at least 8GB RAM if you wanted to run Photoshop. I have some much worse computers than that and they are OK for what I use them for. It just takes longer to do anything. They are Ok for Word and internet but not much else.

However (apart from games that require DX11) they will all run anything eventually.

If you don't like it, send it back and get a second hand Thinkpad from ebay. You'd easily get a good one for a couple of hundred that would have cost you a couple of thousand a few years ago.

I use Lr (Lightroom). I don't use Ps (Photoshop) as it is too hard for me to learn. But I will definitely give it a try.

Berton said:

It may work the same as having 4GB in it or it may not work at all, taking a chance on damaging the motherboard and have to buy a new one anyway. I have 2 Notebooks with the 32-bit version of Win10 and 4GB RAM module in each, shows only about 3.4GB in System Info, it's a limiting factor of 32-bit Windows.

@Berton, the specs says it's a 64-bit Operating System of Windows 10.

Win10 64-bit is good, won't install if the CPU is only 32-bit. However, 32-bit can be installed on 64-bit hardware, not a problem in your case. Minimum RAM for installing 32-bit is 1GB and for 64-bit is 2GB up to the maximum supported by the motherboard. The Pro version of Windows supports more than the Home version.

Berton said:

Win10 64-bit is good, won't install if the CPU is only 32-bit. However, 32-bit can be installed on 64-bit hardware, not a problem in your case. Minimum RAM for installing 32-bit is 1GB and for 64-bit is 2GB up to the maximum supported by the motherboard. The Pro version of Windows supports more than the Home version.

What do you mean? I'm not following you.

He is saying, you can run either 32 or 64bit because your CPU is 64bit. 32bit systems require less RAM.

We aren't sure if an 8GB chip will work. It won't damage your PC, but it might not boot, or show more than 4GB of Ram. Only way you will know is to try or find a person who can confirm they did it.

I would post on the Dell Community Forums. Someone there should know for sure, but with the published specs saying one memory module and either a 2GB or 4GB, and Crucial also showing 4GB max its very likely that is it. I know there are exceptions to the Dell published spec's but in cases I've seen, Crucial spec's are always accurate.

I used to work the Dell forums and we always recommended Crucial for non-Dell branded memory as it is guaranteed to work in a Dell. Older Dell's have a history of memory compatibility issues with non-Dell memory.

Dell forums:
Dell Community

Possibly the manual or documentation or label on the laptop, when it arrives, might shed more light on the situation, specs do change even for the same base model number.
May be something like a version number tagged on the end that might get you a definitive answer.