HP OMEN 880-191 RAM Speed Question

[Stinger926]

Hi,

I've been searching for an answer to this question for quite some time, figure I'd try this community, as  I haven't really had any luck to date.

My HP OMEN gaming desktop system came with a single 16 GB stick of HyperX RAM (DDR4-2666).  I wanted to upgrade the system to 32 GB, so I purchased a matching stick.  The two DIMMs are installed in slots 1 and 3.  After installing the memory, the systme correcty reports a total of 32 GB of memory available; however, Task Manager is reporting the speed as 2400 MHz, while checking from the command line correctly shows 2667 MHz as the speed.

I'm guessing there really isn't much performance impact, but I'm stumped as to why there's a discrepancy in the reported speeds, and which is actually accurate as to the speed the memory's running at.  If it is the lower 2400 MHz, I'd then be curious to understand why.

I didn't see the HP.com memory upgrade information page (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06209224)  until after I had upgraded the system.  That page mentions the following:

Supports up to 64 GB (unbuffered) with four 16 GB modules and 32 GB (unbuffered) with four 8 GB modulues on 64-bit computers.

Not sure if that's what's causing the discrepancy (?).

I'm basically out of ideas at this point, so any thoughts / recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[Prométhée · Accepted solution]

Hello
Have you tested with the modules separately ??
check values with original module only
then with the new module alone
it is possible that the modules are not 100% compatible with each other
Indeed, this should not change much, besides you really need 32 GB of ram ...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/omen-by-hp-880-100-desktop-pc-series/18695893/model/25479943/pr...

[Stinger926]

Thank you for the prompt reply.  I haven't had a chance to try each stick individually (because of where the PC's located, accessing the side isn't trivial).  I probably should have included this information before...wmic memorychip output for each DIMM.

DIMM1

BankLabel=ChannelA
Capacity=17179869184
DataWidth=64
Description=Physical Memory
DeviceLocator=DIMM1
FormFactor=8
HotSwappable=
InstallDate=
InterleaveDataDepth=0
InterleavePosition=0
Manufacturer=Kingston
MemoryType=0
Model=
Name=Physical Memory
OtherIdentifyingInfo=
PartNumber=HP26D4U9D8ME-16X
PositionInRow=2
PoweredOn=
Removable=
Replaceable=
SerialNumber=185B1618
SKU=
Speed=2667
Status=
Tag=Physical Memory 0
TotalWidth=64
TypeDetail=16512
Version=

DIMM3

BankLabel=ChannelA
Capacity=17179869184
DataWidth=64
Description=Physical Memory
DeviceLocator=DIMM3
FormFactor=8
HotSwappable=
InstallDate=
InterleaveDataDepth=0
InterleavePosition=0
Manufacturer=Kingston
MemoryType=0
Model=
Name=Physical Memory
OtherIdentifyingInfo=
PartNumber=KHX2666C16/16G
PositionInRow=2
PoweredOn=
Removable=
Replaceable=
SerialNumber=14304F1A
SKU=
Speed=2667
Status=
Tag=Physical Memory 2
TotalWidth=64
TypeDetail=16512
Version=

I was hoping to figure out the potential cause without having to access inside the case.  That way if I need to get different memory sticks, I'd only have to pull the computer out once.

[Stinger926]

I guess I should also add...I'm further confused by the output of CPU-Z which is showing both memory modules running at a frequency of 1333 MHz.  That makes sense where the memory is 2666, but it conflicts with what Windows 10 is reporting.  I'm wondering if the memory is running at the advertised speed, but Windows is just reporting it wrong (?).

[Prométhée]

do the tests indicated

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Stinger926 

See this discussion...

It seems that if you don't install the HP memory, whatever memory you install runs the whole shebang at a slower speed.

See this discussion...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Gaming-Desktops/Seriously-HP-why-Its-a-simple-memory-upgrade/m-p/77222...

The memory is expensive...and this is only the 8 GB chip.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/934254-800-HP-Memory-RAM-UDIMM-8G-DDR4-1-2V-2666-/133534935370

[Prométhée]

this is what I indicated previously, hence the request to perform this test
If this does not work correctly with the two modules it is 99% incompatibility between the two different modules

[Stinger926]

Thank you again for everyone who weighed in on this.  After following the advice to run some tests across the different memory slots, I came up with some pretty interesting results:

Slots 1 & 3 - 2666 MHz - only registered as 16 GB

Slot 1 only - 2666 MHz - both memory sticks produced the same results

Slots 2 & 4 - 2400 MHz - registered as 32 GB

I then went back and started digging through the memory upgrade section on the product page, and read through this line again:

Supports up to 64 GB (unbuffered) with four 16 GB modules and 32 GB (unbuffered) with four 8 GB modulues on 64-bit computers

That leads me to believe the problem is in the slot configuration I'm trying to use, as it doesn't seem like 2x16 GB is a supported set-up.  Seeing as how I already have the 2 sticks that do work, I'm going to order two more identical modules and try running 4x16 GB.  It's more memory than I really need / want, but at this point I'm sort of stuck, as I either need to add 2x16 GB...or...go back and get 4 sticks of 8 GB.  The price is pretty much a wash.  The other option would be to drop back and stick with just a single 16 GB stick, but that's not really enough memory for what I need.  It definitely seems more complicated than it should be.

Again, thank you for all the help.  While the answer isn't really what I was hoping for, at least I now have  a direction to pursue.

[Stinger926]

I just wanted to circle back to (hopefully) close the loop on this, and once again thank the folks who were willing to help me out.

As mentioned, I purchased a 32GB kit (2x16) of HyperX 2666 memory.  The first thing I tried was installing all 4 16GB sticks...that didn't work period...system wouldn't even boot.  I then pulled out all of the "old" memory, and installed the two "new" sticks in slots 2&4.  System booted up and reported 2667 MHz as the memory speed...but...it was only showing 16GB of total memory.  I then went back and moved the two "new" sticks over to slots 1&3.  System booted up, reported 2667 MHz as the memory speed, and showed 32GB total.

At that point, I didn't want to press my luck, so I figured I'd call it a day.  I'm at least back to where I thought I was originally...32GB running at 2667 MHz.

Thanks again for everyone's help.