HP Pavilion 595-p0038nl - memory upgrade

[urano75]

Hi,

Last year I purchased an HP Pavilion 595-p0038nl.

It came with:

1 SDRAM DDR4-2666 8GB (Samsung)
Maximum possible memory: 64GB
Slots: 2 (2 banks of 1)

1 HDD SATA 1TB (Toshiba DT01ACA, 7.200 rpm)
Drive Interface: SATA/PCIe
SATA version: SATA 3 - 6Gb/s
Serial ATA support: 1

Chipset: Intel H370
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400F CPU @ 2.90GHz

and a preinstalled Windows 10 Home 64 bits.

I find that too often it gets slow because of 100% HDD usage, especially at boot time and when opening applications or multiple browser windows.
I have tried many different performance and tuning tips for Windows 10 with no real improvements.
Both HDD and Windows diagnostics are fine too.
HP PC HW and OS diagnostics tests are all fine too.

I am considering the option of some HW upgrades to improve the performance somehow, specifically

1- Increasing the DRAM
2- Replacing the OS HDD with a SSD unit

Option #1 is what I would try first.
I have found the following memories which should be compatible with my PC model according to the Crucial site:

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/hP-Compaq/pavilion-595-p0038nl#memory

I am considering to upgrade DRAM from 8GB to at least 16GB.
I could either add one memory in the free slot, or replace the existing one.

I have few questions:

a- Will the new Crucial DRAM be compatible with the existing Samsung one

b- Can I have two DRAMs with different memory sizes and speeds in the two slots?

c- Does the memory speed really matter (e.g. DDR4-3200 16GB vs DDR4-2666 16GB)?

If any of the above points cold be a potential cause of problems, I would just replace my existing DRAM with

1 SDRAM DDR4-3200 16GB

or

1 SDRAM DDR4-2666 16GB

which are basically the same price

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4dfd8266/ct14717620
https://it.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4dfd8266/ct14717620

Any tips and suggestions on how to do this memory upgrade would be appreciated.

I will write a separate post about SSD related questions.

Many Thanks for your attention,
Andrea

[erico · Accepted solution]

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I am considering the option of some HW upgrades to improve the performance somehow, specifically

1- Increasing the DRAM
2- Replacing the OS HDD with a SSD unit

Option #1 is what I would try first.
I have found the following memories which should be compatible with my PC model according to the Crucial site:

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/hP-Compaq/pavilion-595-p0038nl#memory

I am considering to upgrade DRAM from 8GB to at least 16GB.
I could either add one memory in the free slot, or replace the existing one.

I have few questions:

a- Will the new Crucial DRAM be compatible with the existing Samsung one 

Installing additional memory that is not identical to currently installed memory may have the undesired result of the PC not being able to even boot to the BIOS or booting to a black screen. Remove the installed memory and replace it with the guaranteed compatible upgrade memory

b- Can I have two DRAMs with different memory sizes and speeds in the two slots? 

That is also not a wise practice. You may end up with the same no-boot scenario 

c- Does the memory speed really matter (e.g. DDR4-3200 16GB vs DDR4-2666 16GB)?

Memory will clock down to the speed(bandwidth) that is supported by the BIOS.  Yours supports 2666. 
If any of the above points cold be a potential cause of problems, I would just replace my existing DRAM with

1 SDRAM DDR4-3200 16GB

or

1 SDRAM DDR4-2666 16GB

which are basically the same price

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4dfd8266/ct14717620
https://it.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4dfd8266/ct14717620

Any tips and suggestions on how to do this memory upgrade would be appreciated.
You would be better off installing two Crucial 8GB DDR4-2666  modules

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct8g4dfra266/ct18575530
I will write a separate post about SSD related questions.

Many Thanks for your attention,
Andrea

[urano75]

Hi Erico,

many thanks for your clear answers, they are much appreciated!

One last question if I can - you conclude:

You would be better off installing two Crucial 8GB DDR4-2666  modules

Is having two 8GB DDR4-2666 modules better than having one 16GB DDR4-2666 module in terms of performance or stability?
I ask just in case I want to add one more 16GB DDR4-2666 module in the future.

Thanks again!

[erico]

"Is having two 8GB DDR4-2666 modules better than having one 16GB DDR4-2666 module in terms of performance or stability?"

It is in terms of performance. Two identical modules will run in dual channel mode which gives slightly better performance. It allows an increase in FPS during a game. Check out the video.