upgrade for HP Notebook 14 -am080na

[krakatit]

HI,

My laptop is an i3 6th generation, 8gb of RAM and HDD 2 TB. I am thinking it is time to upgrade this and leave it to the kid, but for the model in the title I have not found decisive info on:

 - for an SSD, is it ok M.2 but SATA? 

-  for memory, any 8GB stick would be sufficient for dual channel with the existing one and does it support 16 Gb?

 I have searched for clear tech description, motherboard or tutorials, came up short, unless it is the same as other models more popular.

Please help and thank you!

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Below is the link to the service manual for your notebook.

HP Notebook PCHP 240 G5 Notebook PCHP 246 G5 Notebook PC Maintenance and Service Guide

Chapter 1 has the memory upgrade info and supported drive types:

The memory info in chapter 1 must be incorrect.

The product specs for your notebook indicate that it came with 1 x 8 GB of memory which means the second slot is empty and that empty slot should also support an 8 GB memory chip.

The M.2 SATA SSD support is misleading...only the notebooks that came with a M.2 SATA SSD from the factory have the M.2 slot so before buying a M.2 SATA SSD confirm the slot is there (there is a 99% chance it is not).

If you look at chapter 3 of the manual, additional parts are needed to add a M.2 SSD slot.

You can always replace the 2.5" mechanical hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD.

It does not have to be 2 TB, since those can be a bit expensive.

You can do this to see how much memory your notebook can support:

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

This will open the command prompt.

2. Once command prompt is opened, type wmic memphysical get maxcapacityEx and hit enter.

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.

Adding a second 8 GB memory chip would allow the memory to run in dual channel mode.

This should be a compatible 8 GB memory chip for your notebook:

Crucial 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM | CT8G4SFS824A | Crucial UK

[krakatit]

Solid reply, congrats! I will have more to go for now, and even update you once I have done it. Thank you, expert!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[krakatit]

Feedback on my upgrades - once again very helpful tips for upgrading and especially the max memory trick.

No, it does not have a M.2 Sata slot, I bought a enclosure and fitted it perfectly - my mistake for being in a hurry, but I believe the i5 versions do have one of those slots empty.

Memory was fine, obviously I went for the wrong one and bought the exact model on the manual - not the Crucial recommended which would have been better or the actual Samsung 2400 which CPU z showed installed in my laptop - overall it is still 16gb dual channel so no complaints.

I also bought a no name battery which works fine but it is not recognized by HP assistant in the test, as long as the laptop does not shut down after 10 min without warning - which it used to do - I am ok with it.

My only issue was that I wanted to keep the 2TB HDD for storage and an SSD for windows - I tried a caddy that fits - even if the HP does not have a DVD, just the space, but after failed attempts and money lost and a couple of cheap metal casings destroyed (height was off), I gave up.

Total objective cost was around 70 pounds for memory, SSD and battery, excpet the 30 pounds I wasted on my failed engineering skills, happy with it. If you ask me how I would do it again, I would buy the Crucial RAM recommended, look for a battery that is at least recognized, and 1tb SSD Crucial or Samsung, which would amount to cca £100.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Thanks for letting us know how your PC upgrade projects went.