HP Compaq 8200 Elite SFF PC memory population

[himaryuk]

What is the maximum RAM this model can accept?16Gb or 32Gb?in the manual it says maximum 16Gb and in another manual it says maximum 32Gb which one is correct?

Which channel is channel A and which channel is channel B?

In the manual it shows Dimm1 and Dimm2 for channel B and Dimm3 and Dimm4 for channel A, but on looking at the BIOS the details are different it shows XMM1 and XMM2 for channel  A and Xmm3 and Xmm4 for channel B,which one is correct?

Any help and answer is very much appreciated.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The 8200 Elite can run 32 GB of memory as I have one, and I am running 32 GB of memory in it.

If you install 4 x 8GB of memory, knowing what channels you need to install the memory in doesn't matter, since each slot will be populated with the same size memory.

It is my understanding that if you want to install different size memory, you have to put the same amount in slots one and three (the black slots), and slots two and four (the white slots). 

For example...

8 GB in slot 1, 4 GB in slot 2, 8 GB in slot 3, 4 GB in slot 4.

[himaryuk]

Hi,

Thank you for the help.

What type of RAM you used?DDR3-1600 or DDR3-1333?

Is slot 1 ( black) the one that is outermost?and the slot 4 ( white) is the outermost?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I was afraid to use the DDR3-1600, so I used the DDR3-1333.  That is as fast as the 8200 can run it anyway (1333 MHz).

In hindsight maybe I should have gotten the 1600, so I could have used it in a newer PC, and it would have run at the 1600 speed.

When you run only one memory chip in the PC, you should put it in the furthermost black slot from the processor location.

Chapter 6, pages 79-82 of the service manual below, provides additional information regarding memory information/installation.

http://h20628.www2.hp.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c04224518-1.pdf

[himaryuk]

Hi,

Thank you for the link to the service manual, it also shows on page 176 the system board connections Figure 8-11, but it shows slot one under number 4 as DIMM1 (Channel B) where I was expecting it as Channel A as from the description you gave me (Slot 1 and 2 will be channel A)

Is it safe to test DDR3-12800 in slot 1? and how can I check the outcome?

thank you.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

It is pefectly fine to test out a 1600 chip in the PC as long as it is the standard 1.5V, non-ECC, unbuffered.

I got my PC brand new in 2011, and 8 GB memory chips were not very common.  There were only a few brands to choose from.

It cost me around $200 back in 2011 to install 32 GB of memory, and I didn't want to take any chances experimenting back then.

Actually, what I did was to buy 2 x 8 GB and when it worked, I bought the other 2 x 8 GB.

Now you can get 1600 memory for half that price, so you have everything in your favor to try it.

[himaryuk]

Hi,

And thank you for the continued help.

RAM is now much lower in price than before, I have upgraded my HP DC7900 with more DDR2, now for the DDR3 with HP 8200.

I have spare DDR3-12800 4Gb Ram, I can install in slot one alone and boot the PC, and check the BIOs if it read the correct speed and memory size, also there should be no error messages, will there be any more tests to do?or that I may be asking for too much?

thank you

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to be of assistance.

Nope.  Just install the memory and if the PC works, then you are good to go.

Just remember the BIOS will show the memory running at 1333 MHZ because that is as fast as the chipset and processor can run it at.

[himaryuk]

Greetings

Thank you for the further help,now issue is very clear,if I install DDR3-1600 in this model the BIOS will show it as DDR3-1333,so it will not hard the system or the CPU (i5 3.1 Ghz) is my understanding correct? the DDR3-1600 is now lower in price.

KUDO left to thank you.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

That is correct.  If the 1600 MHz memory works in your PC, it will be fine, and just run at 1333 MHz. 

If you were to buy an 8300 Elite with a 3rd generation core processor, the memory would run at 1600 MHz.