What RAM can this HP Pavilion 15-No835a take?

[Danleader04]

What RAM can this HP Pavilion 15-No835a take?

I am having some issues.

I have 8GB/2 sticks of "SK Hynix HMT351S6CFR8A 2Rx8 SODIMM PC3L-12800S 691740-001 DDR3 RAM LOW VOLT " installed right now. It only shows 3.19GB usable. Where is the other 4.81GB?

I just tried to upgrade to 16GB/2 sticks of "MicroDream 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L 1600MHz PC3L-12800 SODIMM Laptop Memory RAM" and the laptop just wouldn't even show a screen. I tried swapping slots round, 1 card at a time in each slot and no combination worked. It's only once I returned back to the 2 SK Hynix RAM sticks that the screen came on again.

What is happening with the computer?

What is the best RAM this computer can take?

Where is the missing 4.81GB of RAM from the existing stick?

Thank you!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The first question would be:  Are you running a 64-bit operating system?

A 32-bit operating system can only address up to 4 GB of memory.

If you are running a 64 GB operating system, then see if you need to change a setting in the MSConfig utility.

1) Go to Start and type msconfig into Search Programs and Files Box

2) Select Boot Tab

3) Select Advanced Options

5) Uncheck Maximum Memory if it is checked

6) Click on OK to close and again on OK to close.

7) Reboot Computer.

If the max memory box was not checked, then it is possible that most of that missing memory has been allocated to support the dual AMD Radeon HD 7620G/8670M graphics adapters your notebook has.

[Danleader04]

Hello Paul,

This is running Windows 10 64bit.

I checked MSCONFIG and the box for memory is not ticked.

How do I go about checking and/or changing the allocation to graphics card?

Kind regards,

Daniel

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Daniel.

I do not believe that there is a way to change the amount of system memory that is allocated to support the graphics.

You can check your notebook's BIOS to see if such a setting exists, but it is unlikely.

That is a lot of system memory going to the graphics if that is what the problem is.

What you can do is to run the free utility that I zipped up and attached below and it will report the amount of physical memory installed.

You can select each 8 GB memory chip and make sure it shows the 8 GB for each one.

If it does, unfortunately there isn't anything that I know of you can do to fix the problem.

The Microdream memory probably is not compatible with your notebook for one reason or another.

If it was, the notebook would have booted up.

I honestly don't think that installing a different brand memory would make a difference unless the utility I gave you shows less than 16 GB of memory is installed.

If you want or have to resort to trying a different brand memory, I suggest the Crucial memory that they indicate is compatible with your notebook.

HP - Compaq Pavilion 15-n083sa | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial.com

Crucial 8GB DDR3L-1600 SODIMM | CT102464BF160B | Crucial UK

Amazon UK has it for less money, but there is only one left in stock.

Crucial RAM CT102464BF160B 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz CL11 Laptop Memory : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accesso...

[Danleader04]

Hello Paul,

Something I think may be of importance or worth noting.

In the program you zipped for me it shows having 2 memory channels supported with a total of 8GB which is what I was looking for. However, only 1 memory channel is showing as active.

Any ideas?

I have attached photographs of findings.

Thanks

Daniel

[Danleader04]

Please let me know if you can see anything in this report that I could potentially find a fix for.

Kind regards,

Daniel

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Daniel:

I think that means the memory is only running in single channel mode.

I believe the notebooks with the AMD processors run the memory in single channel mode, not dual channel like the Intel processors do.

See chapter 1, page 3 of the service manual.

c04439615.pdf (hp.com)

When you run the utility, the summary window will show what mode the memory is running in--single or dual channel.

[Danleader04]

Does this mean that I cannot use both channels for RAM only?

Do you know why the microdream RAM doesn't work? It's the same speed as the sticks I have in now, only difference is that they're 8GB as far as I can tell.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Daniel:

The difference between single and dual channel is how the processor runs the memory.

Single-Channel vs Dual-Channel RAM: Which One is Better for Gaming? | Hardware Times

Unfortunately, I would have no idea why the Microdream memory didn't work.

According to the general specs (DDR3L-1600), it should have worked fine, but there are other specifications that are not so obvious such as the memory density, timing and whatnot.

Some PC's are very finnicky about what memory they will accept.