Add memory -- and -- Substitute SSD on Paviolion 15-cs3073cl

[Noshkofye]

Possible to increase memory on Pavilion 15-cs3073cl?  If so, can sticks be different to get, for example, 24?  What type?

Possible to substitute SSD for 5400 RMP hard drive on Pavilion 15-cs3073cl?  If so, can someone recommend a brand and size?

Are these easy or hard to do (haven't done hardware before, but always build my own desktops)?

Is it worth it to do so on this model?

[Huffer]

Your Service Manual:

Manual 

Instructions to take off the back cover begin on p. 34. Inside you see this:

red arrow = M.2 SSD green arrow = memory slots

The M.2 slot can take the fastest kind: a pcie/nvme 2280 M.2 SSD like Samsung 970 Evo Plus:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-EVO-Plus-MZ-V7S1T0B/dp/B07MFZY2F2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=97...

The SSD upgrade is definitely very much worth doing: I could even say night and day game changer. 

Memory right now is 2 x eight gig modules = 16 gb. Not many computer users can benefit from more than that but your laptop will run 16 gig modules so you can have an 8 + a 16 gig or a pair of 16s for 32. Memory is DDR4-2400 SO-DIMM:

https://www.amazon.com/Timetec-PC4-19200-Unbuffered-Notebook-Computer/dp/B079HJGQZ2/ref=sr_1_10?dchi...

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[banhien]

@Noshkofye 

I can't find its Officially specs, only

          https://computerdealsdirect.com/hp-pavilion-laptop-15-cs3073cl-intel-i7-16gb-ram-1tb-hdd-15-6-touchs...

1. RAM: It has 16GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM (2 x 8GB) now, you can upgrade to 24GB (not recommended) or 32GB using

               https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct2k16g4sfd8266/ct15612569   (32GB)   or

               https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4sfd8266/ct15612532     (24GB)

2. Storage: You can replace existing 2.5" HDD with 2.5" SSD using

              https://www.crucial.com/ssd/mx500/ct1000mx500ssd1/ct15612562             (1TB) or

              https://www.crucial.com/ssd/mx500/ct2000mx500ssd1/ct15612541       (2TB)

        You may be able to keep existing 2.5" HDD and add

             https://www.crucial.com/ssd/p2/ct500p2ssd8/ct17285672

How hard. I have been replacing notebooks RAM HDD's/SSD's for many years. For older machines I only need no more than 15mins/each a machine but now the process may take few hours for newer machines and the risk is higher. The following manual gives you some ideas

             http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06248419.pdf

>>>>> Is it worth it to do so on this model?

Well, it is up to you

Regards.

[Noshkofye]

Thank you so much.

I will go out and purchase one from Costco this weekend at $699.  It seems that with your and Bahtien's advice, I will try to do so, although obviously I will need to purchase the plastic tool and magnetized screwdrivers.  My follow up questions at this time are:

1.  The manual doesn't list itself as being applicable to this model.  Is it because this model is a newer one, or are the "frames" and "locations" the same for all Pavilion cs models?

2.  When you say "game changer" for the SSD (and I probably would not change the memory based on your advice), does this transfer the particular laptop into something worth $500-600 more (because of video card and version of bluetooth and wlan), or are remaining components and quality of lesser quality also such as to resist my urge to try to do the updating myself?

[Noshkofye]

Banhein, not Bahtien.  I apologize for my error

[Noshkofye]

Banhein,

I am sorry to pester you again.   

When you wrote "it might be possible . . .", it sounded like you were saying that after cloning the old drive onto the new ssd, go into bios and adjust the boot order, instead of removing the old drive after cloning.  Am I understanding you correctly?

Also, what do I have to do when W10 picks up the new hardware, advises that I have an unauthorized copy of windows and tells me to purchase a new copy of W10?

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

The Manual covers the 15-cs2000-2999 series explicitly and is the Manual posted by HP on the support page for your model, -cs3073cl. You will find that the images exactly describe the components of the model you ask about. Now by game changer I mean that upgrading to an NVME M.2 SSD will make the computer a completely different and much superior user experience. Boot time will be slashed, programs will open effortlessly. Personally I will never go back to a computer with a spinning mechanical hard drive. Will it make the laptop worth more? Not really as we do not buy laptops to resell but it would be cheaper to upgrade a lower cost machine to an M.2 SSD using retail parts than to let HP sell you a laptop with an M.2 SSD already installed if that makes sense. 

You can add the M.2 into the existing system and keep the existing HDD for storage. If you do it right away you can use the HP recovery to simply reinstall the HP factory image onto the M.2 SSD. The Windows 10 license is tied to the motherboard so that Windows 10 will reactivate properly even when installed onto a new and different hard drive/storage device. If you wait a while to do it then there is free software we can point out for you that will clone the existing installation onto the new M.2 SSD. When you get ready to do that, post back and we can walk you through. For now, just know it is possible and easy to do.

Please accept as solution if this is the info you needed.