HP HDX18-1180ed MaximumGB of RAM

What is the maximum speed of the 4GB memory modules that can be
installed in this laptop?

1066 or 1333 MHZ

JoSSo wrote:
What is the maximum speed of the 4GB memory modules that can be
installed in this laptop?

1066 or 1333 MHZ

That machine was actually harder to trace down than I expected.

I couldn't find the machine listed on Crucial.com
(But since you own your laptop, you can use the Crucial "system scanner"
feature, and see if they have the information or not. The system scanner
may be more accurate.)

On the Kingston site, they were offering only 800MHz.

This site says the processor is P8600.

http://nl.hardware.info/productinfo/...:specificaties

In the block diagram here, that design has the memory controller on the
chipset. So you need to know more about the "MCH" chip, to know the limits.

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id...1 066+MHz+FSB)

The chipset could be PM45. But even that information doesn't narrow it
down, because the PM45 supports DDR3 and DDR2 (just not at the same
time - they have to select one type when designing the computer).

Page 13 here shows DDR2(667/800) or DDR3(1066/800) as options for PM45 design.
So that narrows down the speed a bit.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

OK, I found this brochure from HP.

HP HDX X18-1180ED Premium Notebook PC
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/c01646468.pdf

Geheugen 4096 MB (2 x 2048 MB)
Ondersteunt tot 8 GB DDR3-geheugen

So it is using DDR3 memory. The Kingston product offered for the machine
is DDR2. Very confusing! I still cannot be positive of the type of memory.

I suggest you run CPUZ, and verify the hardware information from
inside the computer.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

CPUZ will show you a memory tab window similar to this, and then
you can determine if it is DDR2 type or DDR3 type.

http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/e...es-cpuz-04.jpg

In terms of performance, the processor FSB could be running at FSB1066.
That is 1066*8 = 8500 MB/sec. Two modules run in dual channel mode,
whether DDR2-800 or DDR3-800, would be 2*6400MB/sec or 12800MB/sec, so even
with relatively slow-sounding memory type, the memory subsystem is
still faster than the FSB. The FSB is the bottleneck.

You can generally use a faster memory type in a slower computer, as
the module speed can be operated over a range of values. But there
wouldn't be any advantage to you, to using fast modules.

If this was my computer, the next step would be using CPUZ. Since
the HP brochure doesn't agree with the Kingston page, you need to
confirm the memory type (DDR2 or DDR3) first. If the machine was
using DDR3, the fastest DDR3 for PM45 is DDR3-1066.

Paul

Tanx,

Yes it is using DDR3, currently running 2*2GB 1066 MHZ DDR3.
So upgrading to 2 * 4GB on 1066 is possible.

However will it run with 2 * 4GB 1330 MHz?

Gr
Jos


On Fri, 27 May 2011 05:35:02 -0400, Paul wrote:

JoSSo wrote:
What is the maximum speed of the 4GB memory modules that can be
installed in this laptop?

1066 or 1333 MHZ

That machine was actually harder to trace down than I expected.

I couldn't find the machine listed on Crucial.com
(But since you own your laptop, you can use the Crucial "system scanner"
feature, and see if they have the information or not. The system scanner
may be more accurate.)

On the Kingston site, they were offering only 800MHz.

This site says the processor is P8600.

http://nl.hardware.info/productinfo/...:specificaties

In the block diagram here, that design has the memory controller on the
chipset. So you need to know more about the "MCH" chip, to know the limits.

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id...1 066+MHz+FSB)

The chipset could be PM45. But even that information doesn't narrow it
down, because the PM45 supports DDR3 and DDR2 (just not at the same
time - they have to select one type when designing the computer).

Page 13 here shows DDR2(667/800) or DDR3(1066/800) as options for PM45 design.
So that narrows down the speed a bit.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

OK, I found this brochure from HP.

HP HDX X18-1180ED Premium Notebook PC
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/c01646468.pdf

Geheugen 4096 MB (2 x 2048 MB)
Ondersteunt tot 8 GB DDR3-geheugen

So it is using DDR3 memory. The Kingston product offered for the machine
is DDR2. Very confusing! I still cannot be positive of the type of memory.

I suggest you run CPUZ, and verify the hardware information from
inside the computer.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

CPUZ will show you a memory tab window similar to this, and then
you can determine if it is DDR2 type or DDR3 type.

http://www.cpuid.com/medias/images/e...es-cpuz-04.jpg

In terms of performance, the processor FSB could be running at FSB1066.
That is 1066*8 = 8500 MB/sec. Two modules run in dual channel mode,
whether DDR2-800 or DDR3-800, would be 2*6400MB/sec or 12800MB/sec, so even
with relatively slow-sounding memory type, the memory subsystem is
still faster than the FSB. The FSB is the bottleneck.

You can generally use a faster memory type in a slower computer, as
the module speed can be operated over a range of values. But there
wouldn't be any advantage to you, to using fast modules.

If this was my computer, the next step would be using CPUZ. Since
the HP brochure doesn't agree with the Kingston page, you need to
confirm the memory type (DDR2 or DDR3) first. If the machine was
using DDR3, the fastest DDR3 for PM45 is DDR3-1066.

Paul

JoSSo wrote:
Tanx,

Yes it is using DDR3, currently running 2*2GB 1066 MHZ DDR3.
So upgrading to 2 * 4GB on 1066 is possible.

However will it run with 2 * 4GB 1330 MHz?

Gr
Jos

That is a function of the chipset.

Is the chipset PM45 ?

If it is PM45, you can read about it here. The block diagram
says DDR3-1066 is the fastest speed PM45 can run (page 13).

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

If you install DDR3-1333, and the chipset cannot run
that fast, then it will run the memory at DDR3-1066 instead.

Paul

Paul,

Yes, it is.

Gr
Jos

On Fri, 27 May 2011 05:59:11 -0400, Paul wrote:

JoSSo wrote:
Tanx,

Yes it is using DDR3, currently running 2*2GB 1066 MHZ DDR3.
So upgrading to 2 * 4GB on 1066 is possible.

However will it run with 2 * 4GB 1330 MHz?

Gr
Jos

That is a function of the chipset.

Is the chipset PM45 ?

If it is PM45, you can read about it here. The block diagram
says DDR3-1066 is the fastest speed PM45 can run (page 13).

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

If you install DDR3-1333, and the chipset cannot run
that fast, then it will run the memory at DDR3-1066 instead.

Paul

JoSSo wrote:
Paul,

Yes, it is.

Gr
Jos

Fortunately for you, HP mentions the possibility of supporting 8GB total,
so your installation may work. The way this is stated, means at the
time of manufacture, the laptop may have been verified in the
lab with 2GB modules. But the hardware supports 4GB modules. If
you encounter trouble, then look for a BIOS update from HP.

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/c01646468.pdf

Memory 4096 MB (2 x 2048 MB)
Supports up to 8 GB of DDR3 memory ----

To take advantage of the total amount of memory, you'll need
an x64 installation of the operating system.

When the new memory is installed, you can use memtest86+ to
do an initial check that the memory is working. The test pattern
you observe, while it's testing, shows how the memory is mapped
(leaving space between 3GB and 4GB for hardware bus addresses).

http://www.memtest.org/

Scroll half way down that web page, to find the downloadable software.

If the memory completes a couple passes with that tool error free,
then it is safe to boot into Windows.

Once in Windows, further testing should be carried out, with a
stress tester. The reason that is necessary, is because memtest86+
doesn't do a good job of stressing the hardware and uncovering all
possible transient faults. And sitting idle in the desktop, it
takes hundreds of hours of runtime, to spot even one error. A stress
tester program, reduces that discovery time to only a few hours.

I use Prime95 from mersenne.org/freesoft for that, but considering
your machine will have 8GB, it's getting a bit difficult to
cover all of the memory. You can run multiple copies of Prime95
on a computer, but I've noticed instability in Windows when I do that.
It just doesn't like to run too many copies, even when memory
management should be allowing it. Those tests were done on WinXP.
Perhaps Vista/Windows7/x64 will behave better ?

HTH,
Paul


On Fri, 27 May 2011 05:59:11 -0400, Paul wrote:

JoSSo wrote:
Tanx,

Yes it is using DDR3, currently running 2*2GB 1066 MHZ DDR3.
So upgrading to 2 * 4GB on 1066 is possible.

However will it run with 2 * 4GB 1330 MHz?

Gr
Jos
That is a function of the chipset.

Is the chipset PM45 ?

If it is PM45, you can read about it here. The block diagram
says DDR3-1066 is the fastest speed PM45 can run (page 13).

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

If you install DDR3-1333, and the chipset cannot run
that fast, then it will run the memory at DDR3-1066 instead.

Paul

Paul,

Heaps of information. Tanx for that, again. I am running Windows 7 64
bit. So that is not the problem.

Gr
Jos

On Fri, 27 May 2011 12:21:07 -0400, Paul wrote:

JoSSo wrote:
Paul,

Yes, it is.

Gr
Jos

Fortunately for you, HP mentions the possibility of supporting 8GB total,
so your installation may work. The way this is stated, means at the
time of manufacture, the laptop may have been verified in the
lab with 2GB modules. But the hardware supports 4GB modules. If
you encounter trouble, then look for a BIOS update from HP.

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/c01646468.pdf

Memory 4096 MB (2 x 2048 MB)
Supports up to 8 GB of DDR3 memory ----

To take advantage of the total amount of memory, you'll need
an x64 installation of the operating system.

When the new memory is installed, you can use memtest86+ to
do an initial check that the memory is working. The test pattern
you observe, while it's testing, shows how the memory is mapped
(leaving space between 3GB and 4GB for hardware bus addresses).

http://www.memtest.org/

Scroll half way down that web page, to find the downloadable software.

If the memory completes a couple passes with that tool error free,
then it is safe to boot into Windows.

Once in Windows, further testing should be carried out, with a
stress tester. The reason that is necessary, is because memtest86+
doesn't do a good job of stressing the hardware and uncovering all
possible transient faults. And sitting idle in the desktop, it
takes hundreds of hours of runtime, to spot even one error. A stress
tester program, reduces that discovery time to only a few hours.

I use Prime95 from mersenne.org/freesoft for that, but considering
your machine will have 8GB, it's getting a bit difficult to
cover all of the memory. You can run multiple copies of Prime95
on a computer, but I've noticed instability in Windows when I do that.
It just doesn't like to run too many copies, even when memory
management should be allowing it. Those tests were done on WinXP.
Perhaps Vista/Windows7/x64 will behave better ?

HTH,
Paul


On Fri, 27 May 2011 05:59:11 -0400, Paul wrote:

JoSSo wrote:
Tanx,

Yes it is using DDR3, currently running 2*2GB 1066 MHZ DDR3.
So upgrading to 2 * 4GB on 1066 is possible.

However will it run with 2 * 4GB 1330 MHz?

Gr
Jos
That is a function of the chipset.

Is the chipset PM45 ?

If it is PM45, you can read about it here. The block diagram
says DDR3-1066 is the fastest speed PM45 can run (page 13).

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/320122.pdf

If you install DDR3-1333, and the chipset cannot run
that fast, then it will run the memory at DDR3-1066 instead.

Paul