Upgrading Memory

[Big_Dave]

mr_dodge,

Stay with your other post.  This is the memory topic.

[Arewelive]

I have a HP Pavilion a6207c using M2N68-LA (Narra2) which i have had for about 3 years. I am trying to get a bit more life out of it by adding more memory. I up until now the only thing i have added is a vedeo card.

 According to both the system specs from hp and the mobo specs I should have no issues upgrading to 4gb ram to run in vista 32-bit.

 The system came with 2 1gb PC2-5300 and is upgradable to use 2 gb PC2-6400 (according to the mobo specs), I was trying to add a single stick of 2gb PC2-6400 witch shows up fine in the bios, also shows fine in windows if i get in. the issue is i get a lot of errors and BSOD's...

 OK so i moved the new stick into the other slot (never have moved the ram the system came with) and tried again, same issue, everything sees the 4gb both windows and bios, more BSOD's...

 Then i decide to take out all the ram the system came with and try the single 2gb stick in in the first slot..bios sees it fine, try and load windows,,,checksum errors...great....put it all back where it was after trying for hours to get this going and reading everything i can about whats going on, go to bed, get up, make an account and post here

 I have never had an issue with adding ram before in my life, this is the first complete system I have ever bought, the others I have built myself with no issues. As you know on most systems ram will adapt to the system speed even if it is faster as long as you follow the rules.(i should be able to use the 800mhz with the 667mhz) I am not used to tempermental mobo's that have issues like this.. anyway, please tell me what i need to do. DO i need to always have 2 identical sticks in sync? Do i need to have 4 1 gb sticks all identical to equal 4gb? why will the system not run off my single 2 gb stick.....

 Mobo Spec

Memory upgrade information

Dual channel memory architecture

Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets

Supported DIMM types:

PC2-4200 (533 MHz)

PC2-5300 (667 MHz)

PC2-6400 (800 MHz)

Non-ECC memory only, unbuffered

supports 2GB DDR2 DIMMs

Supports up to 8 GB on 64 bit PCs

Supports up to 4 GB* on 32 bit PCs

32 bit PCs cannot address a full 4.0 GB of memory.

hp specs,

Memory Installed	2 GB
Maximum allowed	8 GB (4 x 2 GB) (64-bit OS) 4 GB* (4 x 1 GB) (32-bit OS) *Actual available memory may be less
Speed supported	PC2-5300 MB/sec
Type	240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM

[Big_Dave]

Arewelive,

It's best to use match pairs of dimms to avoid timing issues.

Be sure that the bios is at 5.13.

[Arewelive]

 yup BIOS 5.13 10/29/2007

[Big_Dave]

The processor that you have installed will determine what the memory will be clocked at.  The faster dimms should clock down but not always.

[Arewelive]

it's ok, got it going, seems the ram i had did not like HP so i exchanged it for kingston ram thats known to work well on HP systems and all is well. thx for the help.

[jhoerath]

so  if i want to add ram to stop frequent crashes..do i need to replace the memory sticks..or just ADD one that matches what i have?

I got the idea they have to be an exact match, or i am wasting my time.

and i could never get an exact match without replacing what is already in there.

[Big_Dave]

jhoerath,

Download PC Wizzard and/or CPU-Z and find out exactly what the specifcations are for the memory installed in your PC.  Once you have information then go to Kingston or Corsair and find the memory that your need.  If you are only buying one dimm then asked what the return is if it doesn't work.

[oldtimer66]

Try to upgrade s3514 to 4096mb using 2gb 240-pin DIMM 256 Mx64 DDR2PC2-8500UNBUFF(2CHIPS) Would not boot up-Windows restoring files message on screen-Nothing happen Supplier Advise remove one chip Still no good I replace the original memory I got same message Windows restoring files But this time a white progress line bit by bit going across screen I was asked to restore from disc or hard drive  tried the recovery disc and went around in circles next time I click hard-disc-I  manage to get it back to normal It is a mystery how changing Ram could cause so much bother.

[caloak]

I have a e9280t PC.
It currently has 9GB of RAM of 4 - 2GB DDR2-SDRAM(1333 MHz) from Hynix HMT125U6BFR8C-H9 and one 1GB DDR2-SDRAM(1333 MHz) from Kingston HP497156-CO1-ELDW. I am doing some video work and the system is very slow (particularly when working with BluRay HD video).
I have heard about the Dual/Tri Channel memory and so I am beginning to wonder if this factory shipped configuration is allowing the optimal RAM use for this PC?
If not, do I need more RAM?
or do I need to buy other RAM entirely?
I am looking at upgrading to 12GB of RAM and now I am wondering if I fill all the slots if the Dual/Tri Channel feature of the RAM will be used?
And, how do I know if Dual/Tri Channel mode is being used NOW by my system?
These questions come up after reading the opening message from "... an HP employee expressing his own opinion."
Can anyone here help me with this?
Thanks,

cal