Upgrading Ram to 16GB

[dobscon2]

I recently brought a Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600MHz ram stick and put it into my laptop to upgrade my laptop to 16GB. After installing the new ram with the existing ram stick from Samsung, the frequency speed has dropped by half to 1333MHz. I have noticed a dramatic decrease in gaming performance that before worked fine.

Task Manager detects that 16GB of ram is installed, and CPU-Z says that I'm still using single channel.

Both the original Samsung ram stick and the new Crucial ram stick are basically identical in terms of specs according to CPU-Z

Task Manager

CPU-Z Memory Tab

CPU-Z Crucial Ram

CPU-Z Samsung Ram

[erico]

When upgrading memory it is always best to put identical memory in pairs in the slots. Remove the original module and put a pair of guaranteed compatible memory in the slots.

The reason for that is exactly what you are experiencing.

The memory isn't running in dual channel mode and modules will default to the bandwidth (sped) of the slowest module. The modules have to be identical in all respects, including the primary and secondary timings. Your modules appear to have the same JEDEC timings and voltage requirement, but there is something in the config that does not allow them to work together

The memory module voltage requirements must be also identical.

Here is a link to compatible memory modules from Crucial

https://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/compatible-upgrade-for/HP---Compaq/pavilion-15-ab101ax

[dobscon2]

Hello Erico

Firstly thanks for the reply, I have now bought another crucial ram stick from PB Tech and have it currently installed in my machine.

The two ram sticks are now fully identical, I have seen a bit of performance increase compared to when the samsung ram was still installed.

My laptop is still running in single channel mode reported by CPU-Z and Task Manager still reports a speed frequency of 1333MHz.

Is the HP Pavilion 15 ab101ax dual channel mode compatible?

Kind Regards

Connor Dobson

[erico · Accepted solution]

It depends on which processor is installed.

If your notebook has an Carrizo-L AMD APU installed it only has single channel memory module support.

Unfortunately that appears to be the case, so your notebook's APU/chipset is not dual channel memory mode capable.

I used the product number for your notebook to determine that the AMD Quad-Core A-Series Accelerated Processor (Carrizo-L, BGA)A8-7410 (2.2 GHz, up to 2.5GHz), 1600MHz/2MB L2 is what is installed in your notebook. The HP Maintenence & service guide for your notebook has some incorrect information.

I wish that I had better news for you.

DDR3L-1600 Single Channel Support (Carrizo-L)

DDR3L-1600 Dual Channel Support (Carrizo)