Dual channel upgrade

[Pasha_man]

Hi, So basically I have a Hp pavilion 14-al003ne (ENERGY STAR). It came with a 6Gb configuration. 1 stick of 4Gb and 1 stick of 2Gb both running at 2133Mhz. Now I want to upgrade the ram. If I want to take the full advantage of dual-channel should I replace my 2Gb stick with a 4Gb stick and go with a collective 8Gb or get an 8Gb stick and go with the 12Gb collective? If I go with the 8Gb and the 4Gb (12Gb collectives) config will the ram be used equally or will the load only be at the 8Gb one and the 4Gb one remain idle? 

and will the dual-channel only run at 2133Mhz as it says in the manual?

[Wolly9102]

16 minutes ago, Pasha_man said:

Hi, So basically I have a Hp pavilion 14-al003ne (ENERGY STAR). It came with a 6Gb configuration. 1 stick of 4Gb and 1 stick of 2Gb both running at 2133Mhz. Now I want to upgrade the ram. If I want to take the full advantage of dual-channel should I replace my 2Gb stick with a 4Gb stick and go with a collective 8Gb or get an 8Gb stick and go with the 12Gb collective? If I go with the 8Gb and the 4Gb (12Gb collectives) config will the ram be used equally or will the load only be at the 8Gb one and the 4Gb one remain idle? 

and will the dual-channel only run at 2133Mhz as it says in the manual?

I would suggest going with the (rare) 12 GB configuration of RAM. The ram gets equally utilized. 8 GB is not really an upgrade over 6 GB

[Pasha_man]

12 minutes ago, Wolly9102 said:

I would suggest going with the (rare) 12 GB configuration of RAM. The ram gets equally utilized. 8 GB is not really an upgrade over 6 GB

Now the last thing is the ram speed. The manual says "Support for DDR4-2133 dual channel". I can't find any other user guide that tells me that will dual-channel will work with 2400Mhz or any other speed? So Should I get an 8gb 2133mhz stick(hard to find) or will an 8Gb 2400Mhz stick(easily available) work with my existing 4Gb 2133Mhz stick?

[Wolly9102]

21 minutes ago, Pasha_man said:

Now the last thing is the ram speed. The manual says "Support for DDR4-2133 dual channel". I can't find any other user guide that tells me that will dual-channel will work with 2400Mhz or any other speed? So Should I get an 8gb 2133mhz stick(hard to find) or will an 8Gb 2400Mhz stick(easily available) work with my existing 4Gb 2133Mhz stick?

What CPU is in your system? Memory speed depends on the CPU.

[.Apex.]

26 minutes ago, Pasha_man said:

Now the last thing is the ram speed. The manual says "Support for DDR4-2133 dual channel". I can't find any other user guide that tells me that will dual-channel will work with 2400Mhz or any other speed? So Should I get an 8gb 2133mhz stick(hard to find) or will an 8Gb 2400Mhz stick(easily available) work with my existing 4Gb 2133Mhz stick?

all RAM can run at 2133mhz, it's just the question of if the BIOS is smart enough to configure it on its own or will it create problems, because technically 2400mhz is also JEDEC speed and it could default to that, and if it can't run at 2400mhz, it might get stuck (Laptop BIOS is primitive), even though the RAM itself CAN run at 2133mhz

So I suggest going with 2133mhz just to be safe, though if you can't find one then go with 2400mhz and return it if it doesn't work, it should..

[Pasha_man]

5 hours ago, Wolly9102 said:

What CPU is in your system? Memory speed depends on the CPU.

Its intel i7 6500U (2.5 GHz, up to 3.1 GHz, 4 MB cache, 2 cores, 4 threads)

Codename: Skylake-U/Y.

 

P.S.

How did you add your pc and laptops specs below the comment?

[Wolly9102]

41 minutes ago, Pasha_man said:

Its intel i7 6500U (2.5 GHz, up to 3.1 GHz, 4 MB cache, 2 cores, 4 threads)

Codename: Skylake-U/Y.

 

P.S.

How did you add your pc and laptops specs below the comment?

The max memory speed is 2133 supported by the CPU. But still if you put 2400 mhz in your laptop it runs at 2133. Just make sure you buy the same brand of memory.

 

 

You can add your PC specs in your signature under the account information if you click on your username.

[Pasha_man]

13 hours ago, Wolly9102 said:

The max memory speed is 2133 supported by the CPU. But still if you put 2400 mhz in your laptop it runs at 2133. Just make sure you buy the same brand of memory.

 

 

You can add your PC specs in your signature under the account information if you click on your username.

Thanks for your help. 1 last tiny question: How does one check the ram speed supported by the MOBO?

[Wolly9102]

1 hour ago, Pasha_man said:

Thanks for your help. 1 last tiny question: How does one check the ram speed supported by the MOBO?

Ram speed is not determined by your mobo but by your cpu:

 

In this case 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/88194/intel-core-i7-6500u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-10-ghz.html

 

[Pasha_man]

3 hours ago, Wolly9102 said:

Ram speed is not determined by your mobo but by your cpu:

 

In this case 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/88194/intel-core-i7-6500u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-10-ghz.html

 

Thanks man. you have been a tremendous help