Ram upgrade to 8Gb for HP-15 ay525tu

[Vinod1001]

I have an HP 15-ay525tu having 4gb ram and a single slot free. Can I remove this 4Gb and replace with a single dual channel Ram of 8Gb or is it better to remove the old Ram and add 2 new Crucial Dual Channel 4Gb Ram ? Which gives better performance? Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Your notebook only has one memory slot, since it has a Pentium processor, so you would have to remove the 4 GB memory chip and replace it with an 8 GB memory chip.

[Huffer]

There is no such thing as special dual channel memory. Dual channel just happens when you put two identical or practically identical modules in the computer at the same time. If you have 4gb now you can just add another 4 gb module and it will run together with the original in dual channel mode. Yours is DDR3L-1600 SO-DIMM since you have the Pentium N series CPU. And I would open it first to be sure it actually has two memory slots. It may not. The Manual says it does have 2 slots however.

Manual 

4 GB 691740-005

This memory would work to have 8 gb total running in dual channel:

Amazon.in: Buy Samsung M471B5173QH0-YK0 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3L PC3-12800 SO-DIMM RAM Online at Low Price...

@Paul_Tikkanen this Manual covers multiple model series and seems to say the 15-ay5xxx series even with the Pentium CPU has two DDR3 memory slots. Others in the same series only have a single slot. I learned to take all this with a grain of salt. OP seems to have already opened it but if not the only thing you can trust is your observation so open first then buy upgrade parts. 

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if this is the info you needed. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Huffer 

You may be right on this one. 

Most of the notebooks that come with the Pentium processors only have one memory slot, but according to the specs for the Pentium® N3710, it has two memory channels and supports a max of 8 GB of memory.

Intel Pentium Processor N3710 2M Cache up to 2.56 GHz Product Specifications

@Vinod1001 I recommend that you check the slot carefully and make sure that it is not a 'partial' slot.

The best way to do that would be to install the 4 GB memory chip in the empty slot and make sure it fits properly.

[Vinod1001]

Thank you all for providing such valuable advises. Yes, I have opened the laptop and a single slot is free for upgrade. If I can find a single 8gb ram module, I think that will be better and will rule out any tiny mismatch, else I will go for another 4 gb dual channel module since I understand both will work in dual mode.

[Vinod1001]

Thanks for the advise. Yes, I have opened my laptop, I see a single slot free. But, I dont know how to check if its partial or not. Can you help me out on this. I used CPU-Z and it shows single slot free. But other one is SK-Hynix single rank 4 gb. I checked on Crucial website and it advises 2 options an 8gb or 4 Gb with the part number. I am only concerned with the partial ram. Also, I understand that the existing ram can also be removed and not fixed. Please advise. Thanks.

[Huffer]

If all the hardware for a memory slot is present then you are OK. Sometimes the motherboard will have the outline of a memory slot but the mounting clips for the memory and the plastic slot where you put in the gold pins will not be present. If that is there you are OK to proceed. Actually you will be best off with a pair of 4gb modules. A single 8 gb module will not run in dual channel so if you want 8 gigs the best way to have it is a pair of 4s. 

[Vinod1001]

Thank you. Yes, I will do that as I feel that is the best option. Also, I will add an 500Gb SSD to optimize the performance.