Can I use a 3200mhz ram on my intel(r) core(tm) i5-6200u cpu @ 2.30ghz 2400mhz processor?

[Praneeth10]

My laptop has an intel(r) core(tm) i5-6200u cpu @ 2.30ghz 2400mhz processor with 8 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM but I want to upgrade my ram to 16GB 3200MHz/2666MHz. So, is it possible to do that?? my laptop is HP Pavilion 15-au003tx

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Your notebook has two memory slots and can support a max of 2 x 8 GB of DDR4 memory.

DDR4-3200/2666 MHz memory will work fine, but it will only run at a max speed of 2133 MHz because that is as fast as your notebook's Intel® Core™ i5-6200U processor can run the memory at.

Below is the link to the service manual:

HP Pavilion Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide

[Praneeth10]

This is my Max capacity.
Hello @Paul_Tikkanen,

I have attached my Max capacity of 32 GB RAM but as you said that only 2x 8GB of DDR4 memory is only supported, I'm not sure if that is correct as I'm confused here. So, could you please elaborate more if possible? 

And Thank you for the reply I was really thinking if to take a 3200 Mhz RAm or not and if would it be useful with my future laptop or not. So, there really won't be any damage to my processor, or would the ram not work at all?

[nheather]

I’m new to HP having only got my laptop (HP Pavilion 14-dv) a few days ago but as I think I have a RAM issue I have been doing a fair amount of reading.

What I have found is that the i5 architecture can support DDR4 RAM upto 3200 (1600 MHz) speed and 32GB (2 x 16GB) capacity.  But if you read the service manuals they tend to say that the maximum is 16GB (2 x 8GB).

I have read reports of people that have installed 32GB successfully but it seems that HP’s official stance is 16GB - no idea why, maybe the documentation is out of date.

The other issue I have read in reports is that third party RAM tends to get downgraded in speed.  My issue is that my laptop is advertised as having 1600MHz RAM and indeed according to CPU-Z I do have those RAM modules but my laptop is only running it at 1330MHz.  I have read that the HP architecture does not support XMP profiles only JEDEC profiles which might be why some third party RAM won’t run at the advertised speeds but my RAM definitely has 1600MHz JEDEC profiles so who knows.

The real frustration for me, and your laptop might be the same, is that HP have locked the BIOS down so much that there are only basic functions the owner can do, and none of them relate to RAM so I can’t even force the correct JEDEC profile.

So getting back to your question, 32GB might work, the Intel architecture does support that, and others have reported success, but you are probably in the hands of HP because all you can do is plug it in and cross your fingers - because you probably don’t have access to any RAM configuration in the BIOS.

BTW there are talks of mythical hidden advanced BIOS menus, I’ve tried every sequence suggested to reveal it but nothing has worked on my laptop so far.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, @Praneeth10 

Installing DDR4-3200 memory won't hurt your notebook a bit as long as what you install is compatible.

I suppose 32 GB of memory would work according to the Windows report, but the manual indicates the max is 2 x 8 GB.

You probably don't need 32 GB of memory, but if you want to experiment, I suggest you buy one 16 GB chip and add it to the existing 8 GB chip and if the notebook boots up, works fine and reports 24 GB of memory, then you can leave it at that or remove the remaining memory chip and install a second 16 GB chip to max out the memory and have it run in dual channel mode as well.

If you are planning on buying the memory to carry over to a newer notebook in the future that supports DDR4-3200 memory, that is probably a good idea, and for that reason, you may want to experiment with a 16 GB chip because most notebooks with the Intel 8th - 11th gen core processors will support 32 GB of memory.   AMD Ryzen 3xxx series processors will also support 2 x 16 GB of memory.

If 16 GB of memory is supported in one slot, this should be a compatible memory chip.

Crucial 16GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM | CT16G4SFRA32A | Crucial.com

This should be a compatible 8 GB memory chip if you want to play is safe.

Crucial 8GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM | CT8G4SFRA32A | Crucial.com

If you plan on buying a new notebook, most of those now come with DDR5 memory so your DDR4 memory would not work in one of those.

If you don't think you will use the DDR4-3200 memory in the future, you can buy an 8 GB DDR4-2400 memory chip for your notebook because that would be the closest speed to 2133 that you can easily find.

Crucial 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM | CT8G4SFS824A | Crucial.com

[Praneeth10]

Thank You so much @Paul_Tikkanen for the confirmation. I will look into the Links you gave to buy myself a RAM. 🙂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.