HP Compaq Pro 6300 Microtower (MT) RAM upgrade

[DGroves]

i have a 6300 pro SFF which uses the exact same motherboard as your microtower (only pwr supply is diffrent)

this system officially supports up to 16 GB ram using two 8gb sticks

DDR3 PC3-14900 • CL=13 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR3-1866 • 1.35V • 1024MEG X 64 

https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/HP-Compaq/hp-pro-6300-microtower#MEMORYFilters

however it may support 32GB using 4 8gb dimms, this is unsupported by HP as they did not exist when the system was new, and were never validated by HP although the chipset memory controller might support it

Slots: 4 (2 banks of 2)

Maximum Memory: 32GB

*Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.

note that memory channel "A" is comprised of one BLACK and one WHITE dimm slots

memory channel "B" is comprised of the other two WHITE dimm slots

the OFFICIAL memory config for 16GB is One 8GB module in the black slot and the other 3 white slots use 4GB dimms

or one 8GB in dimm 1 and 1 8GB in Dimm 4

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03387773#AbT6

[gadrams]

My MOBO does not have 1 black slot and 3 white ones but one of each. Please see images...

The one below shows the DIMM #

[DGroves]

early HP  6000 pro boards had the 3 white dimm slots which is what i thought you had

later 6300 boards do have 2 white/black slots, on these boards channel one is the  black/white slots furthest away from the cpu socket as i recall

from the service manual: note the ram requirements on page 17

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03348601.

The memory sockets on the system board can be populated with up to four industry-standard DIMMs.
These memory sockets are populated with at least one preinstalled DIMM. To achieve the maximum
memory support, you can populate the system board with up to 16-GB of memory configured in a
high-performing dual channel mode.

DDR3-SDRAM DIMMs
CAUTION: This product DOES NOT support DDR3 Ultra Low Voltage (DDR3U) memory. The
processor is not compatible with DDR3U memory and if you plug DDR3U memory into the system
board, it can cause the physical damage to the DIMM or invoke system malfunction.
For proper system operation, the DDR3-SDRAM DIMMs must be:

● industry-standard 240-pin
● unbuffered non-ECC PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 MHz-compliant
● 1.5 volt DDR3-SDRAM DIMMs

The DDR3-SDRAM DIMMs must also:
● support CAS latency 11 DDR3 1600 MHz (11-11-11 timing)
● contain the mandatory JEDEC SPD information

In addition, the computer supports:
● 512-Mbit, 1-Gbit, and 2-Gbit non-ECC memory technologies
● single-sided and double-sided DIMMs
● DIMMs constructed with x8 and x16 DDR devices;  DIMMs constructed with x4 SDRAM are not supported

NOTE: The system will not operate properly if you install unsupported DIMMs.

Populating DIMM Sockets
There are four DIMM sockets on the system board, with two sockets per channel. The sockets are
labeled DIMM1, DIMM2, DIMM3, and DIMM4. Sockets DIMM1 and DIMM2 operate in memory
channel B. Sockets DIMM3 and DIMM4 operate in memory channel A.

note the   DIMMs constructed with x4 SDRAM are not supported line, i suspect the system will not work with two  x4 dimms per channel but might work with one per channel (16GB max)l

[gadrams]

I installed all 3 RAM sticks. 2 G.Skill 16gb (8gb per stick) and 1 SAMSUNG/HP with 4gb, Slots 1, 3 and 4; that should have totaled 20gb. However I only shows 12gb. See images below...

So either the the system is reducing the G.Skill to just 4gb on each or I really have two G.Skill RAM sticks labeled all wrong...?

[DGroves]

again,.............................note that   DIMMs constructed with x4 SDRAM are not supported line,  only x1 x2 SDRAM is supported

[gadrams]

Hi DGroves,

   Please forgive my lack of knowledge but when you state "DIMMs constructed with x4 SDRAM are not supported line, only x1 x2 SDRAM is supported", is this something I see on the RAM Label? If not how do I know which one is x4 or x1 x2? There was also mentioned x8 and x16.

Again, i apologize if I sound like I I'm lost cause I am a little 🙂

Ultimately my goal is to try to run this PC at its max of 32gb just need to figure out how or if this will never work even if the document says 32gb is the max...

[DGroves]

how the memory is laid out in a SDRAM chip is a spec that is not usually shown, however this can usually be found by taking the markings on a SDRAM chip from the dimm module and entering it in google

the 6300 pro is picky about ram due to some ram being dual voltage  1.3 and 1.5 volt which will not work in the 6300 pro as it only supports 1.5 volt modules it also only supports 16GB ram MAX using four 4GB ram modules

as i previously mentioned sometime a system may sometimes work with larger sized dimms than what the system maker lists, this is not always the case, and it appears that this motherboard will not support 8GB dimms  because the SDRAM chips used on 8GB dimms are x4

i would check with the ram maker of your dimms and see if they are supported in the 6300 pro

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @gadrams 

Your screenshot clearly indicates what I posted earlier.

The G.Skill memory chips are 4 GB, not 8GB as is also indicated on the label for the kit.

The module size in your report in the upper right corner shows them all to be 4 GB.

4 x 3 = 12, not 20.

Show us a screen shot of only each one of the G.Skill memory chips in the primary memory slot.

I want to see where one G.Skill chip indicates 8 GB and one indicates 4 GB.

[DGroves]

Paul, a thought...........................some ram sellers list kits as 8GB using two 4GB modules perhaps this is what is confusing the OP

the screen picts he posted just showed up on the site for me and as you said they are 4GB  using x2 (dual rank) modules

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is exactly what I am thinking.

Look at my post where I posted the kit part number from New Egg, where it lists that part number as a 2 x 4 GB kit, not a 2 x 8 GB kit.