Upgrading Memory

[James108]

Hi! I have a P6120t. It's got 3GB of RAM. It's running Win7 Pro, x64.

I know that my OS should accept 192 GB of RAM. I would like to upgrade to 6GB of RAM.

My question is, what do I need to buy in order to upgrade my RAM? What RAM sticks will work? Should I buy 2x3GB or get a 1x4GB and use it to replace the Memory Bank 2 (only has 1GB right now)? I know how to replace RAM, but I just want to know what RAM sticks would work.

Here's a picture of some specs from the BIOS:



[s3n]

Hi I have a Pavilion Elite HPE-410t with 6gb of ram installed and I would like to add another 2gb, I was wondering if I had to upgrade my PSU to do that?

[binici]

s3n,

I don't believe so, unless you plan on OC and messing with the RAM? We only advice to upgrade the PSU if you swap out to a high-end video card, add media drives and other components that suck up power.

[s3n]

ok thanks for the quick reply, I guess I go ahead and order that stick of ram.

[Woodwood]

Hi James,

Thanks for including a proper model number for your machine, although I understand there are meny combinations of h/.w and s/w for that model. 

You are correct in stating that your O/S can support 192Gb of memory, but that does not tell you what your motherboard can support.  I'm not absolutely certain, but my reading under hardware  options - memory ( http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01817978&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_US... ) is

'Must select one the following options'

1) 3 GB (1 x 2 GB, 1 x 1 GB) DDR2 PC2-6400 (which you already have)

2) 4 GB (2 x 2 GB,) DDR2 PC2-6400

Now this might be read as You must select [on purchase].

So go to motherboard specs (boston GL-6 / MSI MS7525)

( http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01386897&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_US... )

and look at memory upgrade information:

Amongst other details it says:

"- Supports 2GB DDR2 DIMMs

 - Supports up to 4GB* on 32bit PCs

  - 32-bit PCs cannot address a full 4G of memory"

which I take to mean that your PC will only support 4GB despite your operating system being capable of more because your m/b can only take upto 2GB DIMMs and you only have two DIMM slots.

I await someone pointing out that I've got this wrong !

Woodwood

18.October.2011

[Hanspuppa]

Hello Woodwood, You appear to have this spot on. The HP P6120t will only support a total of 4 GBs of system memory.

Since James108 is running Windows 7 x64, he should be able to upgrade to the maximum of 4 GBs and utilize all this memory, unless he has a system that shares system memory.

It is not recommended to mix memory, so he should order new memory that is supported to be compatible for his system and discard his existing memory, or try and use it in another system.

Here  is a link to Crucial memory that shows the maximum system memory for his system and the certified Crucial memory that would be supported for his system.

I'm not sure he would tell much, if any difference, in the performance of the system with one additional GB of system memory installed.

Just some thoughts.

[Big_Dave]

Hi James108,

The P6120t will support up to 8GB of memory.  That would mean four 2GB dimms.  While it's best to buy all the same dimms from the same manufacturer, you might be able to buy three 2GB dimms to match up with the one 2GB dimm in your PC. 

The major memory suppliers such as Crucial as HANS has mentioned and Kingston do have memory tools.  It's always best to followup your selection by contacting sales and/or techncial support to confirm your selection.

Buy a matched pair of two 2GB dimms to fill in the other two dimms slots.  That would give you 7GB.

[Woodwood]

Re: James108 and P6120t

-> Big Dave  I thought this PC had only two DIMM sockets, and each could accept upto 2GB  => 4GB total ??  Confused.

Wouldn't it be possible for James108 to get one 2GB DIMM which matched his existing one ?  What is the meaning of a "matched pair" of memory cards ? Simply two of the same p/n from the same manufacturer ?  Or do they have to come from the same batch  or something ? (I am not yet in the position of needing matched memory cards, not having a dual channel architecture PC, but there may shortly come a time...)

Woodwood

19.October.2011

[Hanspuppa]

---

Woodwood wrote: Re: James108 and P6120t

 -> Big Dave  I thought this PC had only two DIMM sockets, and each could accept upto 2GB  => 4GB total ?? Confused.

Wouldn't it be possible for James108 to get one 2GB DIMM which matched his existing one ?  What is the meaning of a "matched pair" of memory cards ? Simply two of the same p/n from the same manufacturer ?  Or do they have to come from the same batch  or something ? (I am not yet in the position of needing matched memory cards, not having a dual channel architecture PC, but there may shortly come a time...)

Woodwood 19.October.2011

---

Hello Woodwood, I was a bit confused by the differences in the two conclusions related to the different memory support for the system that James108 advised he had.

I checked the link that you provided, and it shows the motherboard memory support as you suggested. This is what I based my post on with respect to the Crucial Memory configurator, which indeed shows the P6120t supports only 4 GBs of system memory.

When Big_Dave posted a different memory support for the same system that James108 advised he had, I did a little more research and it seems that HP released two different P6120t models.

HP released a P6120t  model and a P6120t CTO (Customize To Order). It appears the P6120t has a different motherboard than the P6120t CTO version.

From the image that James108 posted in his original post, it would appear the he has the P6120t system and not the P6120t CTO, since if he had the P6120t CTO motherboard, the image would show the two populated slots as the image shows, but also two unpopluated memory slots.

The P6120t has support for just 2 memory slots and a total of 4 GBs of system memory, while the P6120t CTO has 4 memory slots for a total of 8 GBs of system memory.

The motherboards are totally different, am I am a little perplexed as to why HP would have released systems that would confuse most users.

I was always under the impression that a CTO system just meant you could customize and order a particular model the way you would like, and the basic system (motherboard, etc.) would be the same. It appears this is not the case.

To confuse the matter a little more, the Crucial Memory Configurator does not even show the P6120t in their memory configurator, but shows the P6120 CTO with the specifications of the P6120t.

This just goes to show you can never be certain as to what you are purchasing until you get it and inspect it to be sure that what you thought you were purchasing is what was shipped to you.

Just some thoughts.

[Big_Dave]

It appears that the real question is for this particular model PC is "How many dimm slots are on the motherboard?"  The above orignal post may have cut off the other dimm banks.

It wouldn't be the first time HP has supplied two different motherboards for a PC but then only documents one of them.