Why did my HP ENVY come with 4GB/8GB RAM pair?

[ObviouslyTad]

Hello, I have the HP ENVY x360 15-u483cl w/ i7-6500U processor.  I am researching RAM upgrades and seeing conflicting information about dual channel RAM needing to match is size to get the most out of the dual channel architecture. If that’s true, then why did my system come from the factory with a 4GB & 8GB?  

My new A-Tech single 16GB stick of RAM (sodimm) is arriving today and I was going to install that and leave the 8GB in the system as well for 24GB total.

Thoughts, comments or perceived issues?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, that is true, and I would have no idea why HP thought it was a good idea to install 12 GB of memory that still runs in single channel mode.

I suppose 12 GB of memory running in single channel mode is slightly better than installing 2 x 4 GB of memory in dual channel mode.

I hope that 24 GB of memory works in your notebook because the service manual indicates the max is 2 x 8 GB.

HP ENVY x360 Convertible Notebook PC Maintenance and Service GuideIMPORTANT! This document is intend...

If you ran this command to confirm that the notebook could support 32 GB of memory, then you should be OK.

1. In the search box, search for cmd and click Run as administrator.

This will open the command prompt.

2. After the command prompt is opened, type wmic memphysical get maxcapacityEx and press the enter key.

There, it will show the maximum RAM capacity your PC's motherboard can support.

The capacity is shown as Kilobytes, so you have to convert it to Gigabytes by dividing the number provided in the report by 1,048,576.

[ObviouslyTad]

After running the command prompt, it does say that the max capacity is 16GB. However, I got the new 16GB RAM installed and  is now recognized as 24GB by the task manager.

I had installed it in the DIMM where the 4GB was installed (probably channel 2). Does the larger RAM need to be installed in the first channel?  And, at this point, is the second RAM 8GB pointless?  Is a single 16GB RAM in slot one only better than 2 x 8GB?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You may as well leave it as it is since 24 GB is being reported and the notebook runs fine.

An interesting question is if the notebook supports 24 GB of memory, would it support 2 x 16 GB of memory?

2 x 8 GB of memory running in dual channel mode would be better than 16 GB running in single channel mode.

But 2 x 16 GB running in dual channel mode would be even better.

Run the Windows resource monitor app and it should show you how the 24 GB of memory is being allocated.

[ObviouslyTad]

The ResMonitor is showing Reserved, In Use, Modified, Standby and Free memory but it does not indicate single channel or dual. The full 24GB is summed into one graph. Would there be two graphic bars if it was running in dual channel?  

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The memory is most likely running in single channel mode and the resource monitor would not report that info.

Run the free utility that I zipped up and attached below and on the summary window that first opens it will let you know if the memory is running in single channel or dual channel mode.

Normally you need matching memory capacities installed for the memory to run in dual channel mode.