HP Pavilion x360 Convertible 15-cr0xxx Ram Upgrade

[Nightangel1513]

Hello Everyone, 

As of late my computer has been running a bit slow, even when starting up. I tend to use my computer for work and I do freelance art on the side. I want to see if I can upgrade the RAM for my Laptop, I have been looking online for parts. I want to make sure I am going to get the right one. 

From what I saw online I can upgrade it to 16 or 32,

Links from what I saw.

https://www.newegg.com/micron-technology-inc-16gb-204-pin-ddr3-so-dimm/p/2SJ-000W-010P2?item=9SIAKD3...

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct2k8g4sfra266/ct18806198

These are pretty big purchases and before I do anything I want to make sure I am going to get the right parts. Thank you all 

[Emsi]

Dear Nightangel1513!

The first thing to do is obviously to check whether you actually need a RAM upgrade or if there might be other issues going on, for example with the hard drive, the Optane memory or with some kind of software (for me, just restarting the Optane memory would do a lot). Besides, more RAM storage won't make a significant difference anyways if you don't actually use it, so for example when only using about 6 GB of RAM, more RAM won't actually speed up your laptop. I myself have noticed that my typical workflow challenged the RAM to almost 8 GB regularly (easily visible in the task manager) and decided that I would need additional RAM.

Theoretically you could both replace your old RAM and additionally add another one, but usually it's just fine to just add the additional one. The only benefit would be that as your current RAM is single-channel (at least mine was) and the two new ones would be double-channel, they could communicate quicker, but this advantage only plays out if the motherboard and the CPU also support it, which might or might not be the case, I don't know.

When purchasing a new RAM, there are basically two specs to mind. The first is the type of RAM. In your case it should be DDR4, which would rule out the first link you provided, but there's a neat little program called CPU-Z which you can use to inspect your RAM properties.

The 2nd important thing to mind is the frequency (when using CPU-Z, you'll gonna need to double the frequency it shows simply because “DDR” is short for “double data rate”). That should be on your laptop either 2400 or 2666 MHz. Choosing an additional RAM that has a slower frequency than that would actually slow down the whole thing, but similarly, buying a RAM with a higher frequency is basically a waste of money. So in the case of the 2nd link you provided, I would say as long as you actually want to replace the old RAM as well, that's ok. If you're actually buying two new RAMs, they could theoretically have a higher frequency than the original one, but that would be a) basically without any significant performance gain and b) maybe not supported by the mainboard (although sometimes you can tweak some settings in the BIOS).

Usually you would also need to check the “extended timings” or clocks (also visible in CPU-Z), but they should be 19-19-19 on your computer anyways (and they are actually not that important either).

Usually, memory vendors will guide you towards the right configurations for your laptop, but most of them don't have the 15-cr0xxx in their database. Crucial actually provides an .exe file you can run, which automatically detects your system specs (it's not as detailed as CPU-Z, but it should be sufficient as well) and recommends their RAMs to you. On the top of the page they will obviously show you one of the pricier options (and even suggest you buy an SSD as well), but if you scroll down, you can actually choose between single (to be added to your existing RAM) or double (to replace your existing RAM) with all the different sizes and frequencies you can use. Again, it will be best to choose the same frequency and size as the existing RAM (should be 8 GB and either 2400 or 2666MHz), but if you think 4 GB (12 GB in total) will be enough, or you will need even more, you can purchase the fitting RAM, although having different sizes isn't optimal for performance.

tldr: you probably don't need to replace your old RAM, just add another one that has the same properties as the existing one. You can use Crucial to guide you to the right one, but you can look up the RAM properties with CPU-Z and shop at any supplier you want as well.

Hope my answer wasn't too confusing but actually helpful. I'm not a dedicated computer expert, but I have generally some experience with stuff like this and I actually had similar performance issues with my 15-cr0xxx before I successfully upgraded my RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB.