Ram and Disk update on the "HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 16 a0043nl"

[Charmyx]

Good morning,
I have an "HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 16 a0043nl".

In the manual, I found:
- Maximum RAM: 8GB for each slot (16GB = 2 x 8GB total)
- Maximum M.2 disk size: 1TB

Entering my laptop model on the Crucial website the numbers were different:
- Maximum RAM: 32GB for each slot (64GB = 2 x 32GB total)
- Maximum M.2 disk size: 4TB

I'd like to upgrade my RAM and M2 SSD. Could you tell me the maximum RAM and disk limits so I don't buy unusable memory and disk?

Thanks.
Regards

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Good morning:

Theoretically there is no limit to the capacity of a NVMe SSD you can install as long as the drive is single-sided so that it fits in the M.2 slot.

The drive capacities listed in the service manual are just what HP offered in the model series.

As far as memory, 64 GB may be possible in that model, but if you want to see if your notebook can support more than 2 x 8 GB of memory, you can run this command in Windows Powershell as administrator:

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PhysicalMemoryArray | Select-Object MaxCapacityEx, MemoryDevices

[Charmyx]

Thanks for the quick response.

The command output is:
- MaxCapacityEx = 33554432
- MemoryDevices = 2
I assume I have two memory slots, so the maximum installable RAM is 2x32GB = 64GB.

Currently, the RAM configuration is 2x4GB, and the resulting speed is 2933 MT/s.
Could I experience speed changes between the following configurations?
- 1x16GB
- 1x32GB
- 2x8GB
- 2x16GB
- 2x32GB
I think it's best to use both slots. Is that correct?

Thanks.
Regards

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome. 

The report is telling you that your notebook supports 2 x 16 GB of memory for a total of 32 GB.

Yes, it's best to install matching memory capacities in each slot so the memory runs in the higher performing dual channel mode. 

Most folks will install DDR4-3200 CL22 memory that will run at 2933 MHz.