HP p614y RAM question (amount per slot?)

[prestonw]

I have an HP p614y that I've never taken out of the box.  It came with 8 GB of RAM and I know the motherboard has 4 slots.  I need to know if it came with four 2GB sticks or two 4GB sticks.  Looking at the info on this site, it appears as though it may be either, based on the BIOS version though -- something I won't know unless I take it out of the box and start it.

Can anyone tell me what their p614y has and their BIOS number?

Thanks in advance.

[wb2001]

Your missing a number in that model, it should have 4 numbers. If it's a p6140 or p6144, you maxed out already.

p6140: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01742155&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en...

p6144:http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01779700&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_US...

That said, take it out of the box and start it up.

Then download and install Belarc Advisor. It will answer all your questions, and a lot more, (serial numbers, product keys). If you can print it out, and save for reference, you will have a handy guide of all the internals and software.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

CPUID will tell you the speed of the memory (SPD tab): http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html as you might have PC2- 5300 or PC2-6400.

[prestonw]

Sorry it's actually a p6214y.

(maybe I should repost this from the beginning since I put "p614y" in the subject line and no p6214y owners will recognize my post.)

Anyway, the problem is that I can't open the box and take it out.  If I could, I could just open up the case and see how many sticks are in there and whether its got 1x4 or 2x8 megs.

[wb2001]

Here are the specs:http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01905330&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_US...

Now the bad news! You have a circa 2009 unit with the infamous M2N78-LA motherboard, still in the box.

You have had it since when?

Problems with that motherboard:

1) http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-Desktop-PC-questions/To-all-with-M2N78-LA-CPU-fan-constantly-chan... which you do not have, as the BIOS is 5.14, but you will if you update it.

2) NVidia chip will overheat, needs a heatsink and fan to cool it:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m8530f-desktop-PC-with-a-m2n78-la-mother-board-doesn-t...

You say that you can not open the box? Strange comment!

[prestonw]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate that.

I had no idea about the BIOS issue too. It's easy enough not to update the BIOS, but reading through some of the posts (I got through about half the thread), it looks as though part of the reason people are mad is because it was "pushed" on them.  Is there any reason in particular why the BIOS should be updated?

Adding a fan & heatsink to the The NVidia chip shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for letting me know about that issue.

I had already looked at the specs though and couldn't find whether the P6214y came with four 1GB sticks or two 4GB sticks. That's basically the pertinent issue I'm wondering about.  I was hoping I'd be able to find that out without having to get into a long explanation of non-relevant information.  Perhaps explaining more might help though, if only for the benefit of others who think this is just a joke.

Basically I bought this PC about 1.5 yrs ago but because of space and other issues I never got around to setting it up. In fact it's still in the box. Then I changed my mind about how I was going to use it and was going to use it solely with my home theater system, but had to wait to get other issues with the home theater to be taken care of.  Now that I'm ready to use it, a friend just pointed out AMD's new chip and I began toying with the idea of just selling the p6214y and building my own system with the new AMD CPU and with 16GB+ RAM.

The issue really comes down to the cost/value question... whether it would be worth building a new system considering the cost of a new system and what I could get for this HP system.  It would be worth more if it is in an unopened box. This is why I don't want to open it.  When it comes to the issue of buying RAM for the system, buying RAM for a new system is half the price and twice as fast as RAM for the p6214y.

If I decided to keep the p6214y and used it, I'd like to add another 8GB RAM to it.  But like I said, the RAM for this system is twice the price and half as fast as the newest RAM. The differential here is about $150-175.  I realize RAM is just one part of a system, but again it comes down to the personal cost/value equation.  So this is why I would like to know if it has all four slots already used up or whether two are still available.  I hope this clears things up somewhat.

[wb2001]

IMHO, it came with (4) 2GB sticks, as it's a lower cost item for HP.

[wb2001]

lindae123,

You did not read the posts and replies concerning this problem. Further comment would be futile.