HP ProBook 440 G3 RAM Upgrade

[dominbdg]

Hello,

I would like to ask my question here because I have some different informations and would like to be 100% shure.

First I have to say that last time bought Probook 440 G3 with Intel i7 6500U and would like to know if I have:

max 16GB of RAM or 32 GB of RAM ? There are some guys that says that under i7 there is a possibility to have 32 GB ?

I have version with SODIMM DDR3 RAM and if the maximum allowed RAM is 1600MHz ? or can I have RAM with higher BUS ?

Please take a look below - I spotted this kind of RAM but I think that this is a mistake because I never saw RAM DDR3 modules at 2400MHz clock:

and regarding RAM Modules I'm looking Corsair Vegenance DDR3 1600MHz at CL 10, please do have anyone some experiences with those RAM modules ?

Please reply and thanks in advance for Your comments

[Huffer]

Your memory is not DDR3 it is DDR4-2133 SO-DIMM. Forget the colorful aggressive gaming/performance memory. It will just cost you extra money and will not perform any differently than the stock OEM stuff. Yes you can run 32 gigs. 2 x 16 will work on any Intel Core 6th gen and higher with DDR4 memory. Most users cannot get any benefit from RAM over 16 gigs but it will install and work. 

[dominbdg]

Hello

Huffer - thanks for Your reply.

My memory in i7-6500u version is in ddr3 (I have ddr4 memory from i5 version and didn't fit so I bought ddr3)

It seems hp produced with both version of RAM memory - ddr3 and ddr4 but I'm really very satisfied from i7 version with ddr3 and regarding RAM memory - I think there's have to be some difference because Kingston HyperX Impact is selling RAM with CL9 and normal RAM memory from my hp has CL13.

Can someone tell me what generation of i7-6500u do I have ? Is it a chance that this is 6th generation ?

Reards 

[Huffer]

If its using DDR3 its not a 440 G3....they only use DDR4-2133

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04790478#AbT1

An i7-6500u is a 6th gen Intel Core processor. 

[GenericBox2000]

You said: "440 G3.... only use DDR4-2133"
This is Incorrect!
You start with the specific model number, e.g. l6e44av.  Then Google search: site:hp.com <model number> , Find the HP product page, select the product documentation page, and download the maintenance manual PDF. That will tell you what options were available on your board >>when it was designed<<<, e.g. PC3L-12800, 1600-MHz, DDR3L SODIMMs.
Now, some CPU memory controllers can run either DDR3 or DDR4, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_(microarchitecture)#Features yet DDR3 and DDR4 sockets are physically incompatable, although there is a (rare) UniDIMM format that can run either DDR3L or DDR4, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UniDIMM so it depends on which socket HP used.
With that sort of issue, go to http://partsurfer.hp.com/ and put in the model number, and look for the mainboard part numbers. In this case, some specify DDR4, so one may presume that boards that do not specify DDR4 are DDR3, and cannot use DDR4 RAM.
Now, roughly 65 mainboards are listed, so the best thing to do is to go to HP.Com, under support select spare parts store, and enter your serial number. That will give you your specific mainboard. If you click on the mainboard part number (or look it up in partsurfer) you can find every model that that mainboard was used in.
Identifying a CTO model with a large number of options is useful for finding BIOS compatable upgrades, e.g. BIOS-whitelisted WiFi cards (which may have been designed after the mainboard and manual, and later white-listed).
If one is willing to run unsupported configurations (Linux is very forgiving about the hardware it runs on), I have on at least two HP laptops in different eras used the final BIOS upgrade to run twice the specified RAM. That is presumably because manuals are written when the machine is first marketed, when the RAM that can be later stuffed in cannot be tested because it has not been designed yet, but the final BIOS upgrade written several years later may allow larger RAM to work if it turns out to be compatable.  (It helps in testing for maximum RAM to buy RAM from a source with a liberal return policy.)
Bottom line: Partsurfer is your friend: if your 440 G3 has DDR3 RAM then you cannot use DDR4 RAM.