HP laptop compatible memory upgrade

[CodrinMarius]

Hi,

I want to upgrade the memory on my laptop and it's problematic. i read reviews of people who just bought a memory and then blue screen, or not opening. So, the info is:
- laptop name: HP Pavilion Dv5 - 2074dx, and i3 with 3Gb of ram, 250 hard and integrated graphics.
- laptop has 2 sticks, a 2GB one and a 1Gb one. I want to remove the 1 GB and add a 4gb.
- the part no. for what i want is 599092-001, info taken from here.
- a compatible one would be Kingston KTH-X3C/4G, but currently is not being manufacured anymore and cannot find it at romanian retailers.
- the widest variety of ram for laptops from where i can buy is here.

Can you help me by telling me if one of the new kingston memory is compatible? The customer service guys cant.
Or some other brand. Those kingstons would be in my 45 euro budget.

thank you

 

[G73S]

What I usually do is go to Crucial's website as they have a memory compatibility tool where you can select your laptop and it will give you a compatible upgrade option.

So let's say it says PC12800 4 GB DDR3 1600 Mhz. then that tells you that any memory with the same specifications should work.

Thats what I did to upgrade to my Kingston HyperX 1866 Mhz. memory

 

[CodrinMarius]

A bit confusing. Running the tool returns ram at 1600 with 1.35v while the other was at 1300 with 1.5v. But it's a good advice. I'll look to see if i find compatible items form other brands i can find in my country. thank you

 

[Coup27]

Personally I don't think using a generic RAM compatibility checker is actually good advice, especially when one the good things about OEM's is they produce a ton of literature which make selecting additional parts much easier.

I have found the maintainence and service manual for your laptop on the HP site, download link below:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02666786.pdf

You will see the maximum speed listed in this is 1333Mhz. On page 15 you can see exactly what configurations of RAM are supported and if people have been experiencing BSOD's after a RAM upgrade it's likely it's because they either did not adhere to a supported configuration or used the wrong spec RAM. This model of laptop was sold with an AMD or Intel CPU and if you want 6GB of RAM you need one of the Intel models (which you do have). Googling one of the HP RAM part numbers from that document reveals a voltage of 1.5v, which is also the JEDEC standard.

In short, you want DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10600 (1333) 1.5v.

When running two sticks it's also advisable to run matching pairs, or dual channel kits. This also further reduces the chances of instability. If your budget can stretch, you would be better off buying a proper 2x4GB dual channel kit from somebody like Corsair instead of mixing modules.

 

[bonehead123]

I have that same lappy, and trust me, dual channel is the way to go....mine came with 2x 1GB sticks, so I got 2x 4GB Patriot Viper X sticks DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-10600 (1333) 1.5v (they were the lowest price at the time), & sold the 1GB sticks to make back some $$...a win-win situation as they say

 

[G73S]

yes putting dual pairs (kit) is a no brainer. I would run a dual matching pair of 4 GB for example rather than putting mixed RAM of 6 GB.