RAM clock speed restriction after upgrade

[Tirth03]

Hi,

I have a HP Pavilion 15 ec0xxx gaming laptop with 8 GB DDR4 2667MHz Samsung RAM (4GBx2 sticks). I made the upgrade to 16GB DDR4 2667MHz Micron Technology RAM (8GBx2 sticks). I am aware that this PC supports RAM expansion up to 32 gigs.

But I'm seeing that the system is recognizing the new RAM has having 2400 MHz of clock speed. It returns to 2667 MHz if I switch back to my old RAM sticks. I couldn't find any BIOS settings to make the changes. Is it possible to make my PC switch to its intended RAM clock speed for the new RAM? Pls help.

[erico]

Unfortunately there is no ability in an HP BIOS to change the timings on the memory or to change the clock settings using XMP. 

That can be done in the motherboard BIOS of a DIY  PC, but not with manufactured PCs or laptops.  

Laptop and PC Manufacturers lock down the BIOS in the interest of protecting PC owners from their own mistakes.

Doing that saves manufacturers from customers making warranty claims when the failure was actually caused by the customer making a bad choice of settings change in the BIOS.

I suggest using CPU-Z to see if those new memory sticks are actually 2400 Mhz instead of 2667 Mhz.

What is the bandwidth if you run a single stick of the 8 GB memory?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Tirth03 

There is nothing wrong with your notebook's memory speed.

All processors in the 15-ec0xxx model series can only run the memory at a maximum speed of 2400 MHz.

See chapter 1, page 1 of the service manual:

Maintenance and Service Guide HP Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop PC

DDR4-2400 dual channel support

[Tirth03]

This is the metrics of the upgraded ram sticks, is this 2400MHz by design itself? My original ram ran at 2667 MHz (not sure if I checked that in CPU-Z, but it showed up on cmd prompt (wmic memorychip get speed)

Anyway, does this difference have a huge effect on performance? Am I better off with this itself?

[Tirth03]

The manual mentions a bridge between 3200 and 2667 MHz, does that mean if I install a 3200 MHz stick, then it will downclock to my required 2667 MHz? Although my original ram sticks were rated 2667 MHz and ran at 2667 MHz only.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

The manual should have stated that the memory will bridge from 3200>2400 as well as 2666>2400.

As I posted yesterday, your PC's AMD Ryzen™ 7 3750H processor can only run the memory at a maximum speed of 2400 MHz.

No matter what speed memory above 2400 MHz you install, it is going to automatically bridge to 2400 MHz.

Look under the Connectivity Specifications for your notebook's processor at the link below:

AMD Ryzen™ 7 3750H Drivers

System Memory Specification:   Up to 2400 MT/s

[Tirth03]

Thanks a lot, Paul!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.