Pavilion p6510y memory upgrade

erico · ‎03-27-2017

I can see by what CPU-z shows that you have mixed manufacturer chips and that is where the issue is.

You have Samsung and Elpida chips. All chips identical is good and not identical is bad.

One pair is in dual channel mode but the other module is not ganged.

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KWB2 · ‎03-27-2017

I removed all memory. Installed the original 2 GByte sticks Qty 2 in DIMM Slots 1 and 2. Booted up. Ran CPU-Z. Results were identical except it said 4 GB, unganged, DUAL, and CR was 1T. Also said both were manufactured by Elipida. Shut down and swapped memory with the two 4 GB sticks manufactured by Samsung. Ran CPU-Z and results were the same except for it said 8 GB, unganged, DUAL, and CR was 1T. Checked and I STILL have 8 GB installed BUT only 4 GB usable.

Are you now saying my 8 GB of memory is no good or what?

Also checked systeminfo and it said for Physical memory 3,320 MB and Available Physical Memory had dropped to 1,520 MB. With the 12 GB installed it said Physical Memory was 3,320 MB and Available Physical Memory was 2,153 MB.

I will not do any further testing with the 12 GB installed. I will use the two 4 GB sticks in dimm slots 1 AND 2 unless I am requested to do otherwise. That gives me 8 GBytes of memory installed but only have 4 GB available. Acording to HP Specs with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit system installed it should recognize all 8 GB (up to 16 GB). That way they are manufactured by the same manufacturer, with same month/year, and the same size.

KWB2 · ‎03-30-2017

Just what controls the amount of RAM used? Is it the motherboard, the operating system, or something else. Windows 7 in different versions suposedly allows you to use different amounts of RAM so that was why I mentioned the Operating System. Could this problem be possibly resolved by reloading Windows 7 64 bit system in either Home Premimum or Proffessional? Anyone have any ideas?

erico · ‎03-31-2017

@KWB2 wrote:
I removed all memory. Installed the original 2 GByte sticks Qty 2 in DIMM Slots 1 and 2. Booted up. Ran CPU-Z. Results were identical except it said 4 GB, unganged, DUAL, and CR was 1T. Also said both were manufactured by Elipida. Shut down and swapped memory with the two 4 GB sticks manufactured by Samsung. Ran CPU-Z and results were the same except for it said 8 GB, unganged, DUAL, and CR was 1T. Checked and I STILL have 8 GB installed BUT only 4 GB usable.

Are you now saying my 8 GB of memory is no good or what?

Also checked systeminfo and it said for Physical memory 3,320 MB and Available Physical Memory had dropped to 1,520 MB. With the 12 GB installed it said Physical Memory was 3,320 MB and Available Physical Memory was 2,153 MB.

I will not do any further testing with the 12 GB installed. I will use the two 4 GB sticks in dimm slots 1 AND 2 unless I am requested to do otherwise. That gives me 8 GBytes of memory installed but only have 4 GB available. Acording to HP Specs with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit system installed it should recognize all 8 GB (up to 16 GB). That way they are manufactured by the same manufacturer, with same month/year, and the same size.

It seems as if you do not understand what I said.

I will give it one last try.

If the memory modules are put in the four slots are not of identical capacity, architecture (single or double-sided), same chipset and manufacturer, then you will see just what you are experiencing. All four will not work together.

I cannot make it any clearer than that.

The BIOS, which is firmware, not software or hardware, controls whether or not specific installed memory module pairs work together in the motherboard. If you have put four identical memory modules, guaranteed compatible by their manufacturer, in all four slots then that configuration will work. Only purchase identical memory modules that are guaranteed to be compatible with your PC , unless you just happen to like disappointment.

It isn't that the memory modules that you have are not good, it is just they cannot be configured to work together in your PC's motherboard. Eahc module that makes up a pair is identical to the other, but both pairs are not identical.

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KWB2 · ‎03-31-2017

I do understand that you are saying I cannot have two 2 GB sticks in one set of DIMM Slots and two 4 GB sticks in the other set of DIMM Slots. As I said I HAVE removed the two 2 GB memory sticks. I now have ONLY the 4 GB sticks installed. This does meet your criteria of not mixing RAM? I check and it says I have two sticks loaded in DIMM Slots 1 & 2 for a total of 8 GB RAM installed but only 4 GB is usable. This is what I would expect to happen when a 32 bit system is loaded. That is why i asked about the operating system. When I received the computer it had the two 2 GB sticks installed. It recognized and used 4 GB of RAM. Since it was a little slow and the HP website said I could use upto 16 GB of memory I purchased and added the two 4 GB sticks. That is when I ran into the problem of it only using 4 GB. That is why I posted the question on this website. As I SAID BEFORE THERE IS ONLY two 4 GB sicks installed. Why doesn't it use all memory? HP says I should! Please remove your fixation on me using mixed memory and answer my question.

erico · ‎04-01-2017

Oh, I answered it already. You have either not understood the answer or perhaps I have not explained it clearly enough for you to get it.

I will give it one more try.

Installing four identical 2GB memory modules that are guaranteed to be compatible with your desktop PC will give you 8 GB recognized by the BIOS and the OS.

Putting a pair of memory modules that are not guaranteed compatible in addition to what was installed in the slots is, as you shuld know by now, very likely to lead to the unexpected result of not all being recognized.

The amount of the memory that will be useable depends on whether or not you have a video card installed and how much overhead the operating system needs. If you have no video card installed and are using the onboard ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, then you will have a bit less memory available for your programs. Shared memory for the onboard video comes from the installed memory.

If you bump that up to 4GB modules instead of 2 GB then you will have 16 GB of installed memory.

The critical bit of information is that you must remove the originally installed memory modules, unless you can find modules that are absolutely identical to them in all respects. Once the original modules are removed, you can install the new pairs of guaranteed compatible memory modules. They will be either all 2GB or all 4GB used to fill all four slots.

"the HP website said I could use upto 16 GB of memory I purchased and added the two 4 GB sticks." That was a false premise. If it was that simple, then you would have ended up with 12 GB of installed memory. It is pretty clear that you didn't purcchase guaranteed compatible memory modules and that is why you are having so much difficulty in getting them to work.

In my own opinion, you are making this much more difficult that it should be. I suspect that if you tried to build a DIY desktop PC system like the one I am using you would find it very challenging.

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KWB2 · ‎04-01-2017

NO you did not explain it clearly enough or you are not reading and understanding what I have posted the LAST TWO replies. I REMOVED the two 2 GB sticks. THEY ARE NO LONGER INSTALLED!!!!! As you said if I bump it up to 4 GB sticks then that should give me 8 GB. I understand that the memory will be shared. The problem is I installed two identical 4 GB sticks. The computer says I have 8 GB installed with 4 GB usable. WHY??? Please do not obsess on the fact that I did have two 2 GB sticks and two 4 GB sticks. Can you pass this to someone else that can understand that I have ONLY two 4 GB sticks installed in DIMM slots 1 and 2. DIMM slots 3 and 4 are EMPTY.

Or is what you are saying is that, even though the computer recognizes the memory, it is not usable in the computer. I purchased identical memory that was/is compatable with a p6510Y computer.

erico · ‎04-01-2017

Hmm.

English must be a language that you do not read very well.

Maybe someone else will take an interest in helping someone who is as rude as you are. Probably not.

I am out of here.

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KWB2 · ‎04-01-2017

Sorry if you were that offended but you were the one that startede about not understanding. Let me try to explain to you what I am understanding about what you said.

I presume we both have a drivers liscence. What you are saying as I understand it is if I am going to buy a set of tires I must replace all four. While that is a good idea it is not true. Also they must all be the same size etc. Again while this is a good idea it is not a requirement that would only allow your car to use two tires. As I am reading your answers that is what I am understanding you are saying. It makes no sense to me. I may not be an expert but I do have experience with older computers. Windows XP and prior.

KWB2 · ‎04-05-2017

Since I was told if I removed all memory and installed identical 2 GB sticks, one in easch of four DIMM slots that I would then have 8 GB of memory.

1. I removed all memory from the p6510y computer.

2. Removed the memory from another HP computer that also uses DDR3 memory of the same speed etc.. It was installed as four 2 GB sticks for a total of 8 GB memory. Itsaid 8 GB memory installed with 7+ GB usable. I do not know if this memory is guarenteed to work in the p6510y.

3. Installed the four 2 GB sticks into the DIMM slots of the P6510y computer motherboard. Booted up the computer and it saw all 8 GB of memory, so guess it should work. Checked and it said 8 GB DDR# memory installed with 3.24 GB usable. Same results as with every boot up since I tried to increase the RAM.

4. To me this should eliminate the memory as the problem as to why it will only use 4 GB memory. Am I incorrect in this theory?

Does anyone have any ideas or questions to help answer this problem. Is it that reguardless of what the HP website says this computer/motherboard will only use 4 GB of memory? Is it possibly the operating system? HP says that a 32 bit system will only use 4 GB of memory. The computer says I have Windows 7 SP1 64 bit Home Premium installed, which HP says should use up to 16 GB of DDR3 memory. Could it be the BIOS version? I updated to the latest version from the HP website 6.09. Is there a "guaranteed" memory or can you use DDR3 of the correct speed etc? I always understood that as long as you are within the "specs" you could use any memory. You did need to install memory in matching pairs.

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