Notebook RAM question

[Jonotallica]

I have an older notebook that I repaired recently and was thinking about giving it a new RAM stick (to run dual channel).  It's a really cheap one, but just playing around with it to learn and have fun.  I know a lot about PC's but when it comes to notebooks I know next to nothing.

 

It uses DDR3 at 1.5V.  It's BIOS is extremely limited and basically just lets you change boot order.  If I buy a DDR3L stick (or 2 of them) for cheap, will they be able to run at 1.35V due to the SPD profile on the RAM sticks themselves?  Can it auto sense that?  Or will the BIOS be locked at 1.5V since there's no option to manually change the voltage in the BIOS?

 

Is it a thing where if there's no voltage adjustment that it will always use stock voltage?  Or is there a chance to it will downgrade to 1.35V due to the profile that comes with the RAM sticks?  Worst thing that would happen is that it'll run at 1.5V anyway, which is what DDR3L is capable of doing (dual voltage RAM).

 

Have I missed anything?

[Eigenvektor]

You'd have to check the notebook's manual whether it supports DDR3L. Maybe mention the model of the notebook and RAM as well, so people can actually check the details rather than speculate.

[Jonotallica]

The manual is so limited, it doesn't even list the specs.  It's very generic.  It doesn't even list the max capacity of the RAM.  It's a HP, with Intel GL40 Chipset, and the RAM stick is Samsung DDR3 PC3-10600 2GB.  But it only runs at 400mhz (800mhz DDR).  The CPU is Celeron 900 dual core @2.3Ghz.

 

It's so outdated, there is very little info, drivers or anything.  I was able to get everything working.  The HDD failed, so I had to go find the drivers from scratch.  I was able to install Windows, but updating was tough.  I'll have to integrate updates into the install if I want to try that again.

 

If I had any more info I'd share it, but it feels like this is going to be a trial and error or speculating thing in a best case scenario.  Maybe the safest thing would be to simply buy another of the exact same RAM stick that's already in there.  I was just curious if there is any precident for a Notebook auto adjusting it's voltage based off of the RAM's profile.  I have no frame of reference for if that's possible or not.

 

This isn't a serious thing, I'm mainly just playing around with it to learn, in case I get a high end laptop one day.  At best, this is will be a spare that's used in blackouts or in emergencies etc.  Otherwise, my 12 core Zen 3 with 64mb of RAM feels a little bit easier to use.  Even my Samsung NVME has more/faster RAM than this thing.

[Eigenvektor]

42 minutes ago, Jonotallica said:

It's a HP, with Intel GL40 Chipset, and the RAM stick is Samsung DDR3 PC3-10600 2GB.  But it only runs at 400mhz (800mhz DDR).  The CPU is Celeron 900 dual core @2.3Ghz.

So you don't even have a model number of anything? It would make finding information a lot easier.

 

In any case, for dual channel your best bet is identical sticks of RAM. The CPUs integrated memory controller can only run at a single speed at a time. If you mix different sticks there's a (slight) chance it won't work, but otherwise both sticks will simply run at the same speed and latency (of the slowest stick in the system). So buying faster (more expensive) RAM is a waste, because it'll run at the same speed as the existing slower one.

 

Likewise you can't really mix DDR3 and DDR3L. The system will either run at 1.35v or 1.5v. Since the existing RAM probably isn't able to function at 1.35v it would default to 1.5v. The reason to go for DDR3L would be to save power, but you'd have to change both sticks and make certain the system supports it. Otherwise you won't get that advantage.

[Jonotallica]

Yeah, I'd probably either get a copy of the first stick, I can get one locally for $10 free shipping.

 

Or buy two new ones.  But I've been reading today that apparently OEM laptops like HP can be picky and it needs to be a brand/spec that is approved.  I believe Hynix and Samsung are approved (I've seen some used listings that have "HP Spare" stickers on them).  So maybe two new Hynix DDR3L sticks would work, if I could find a good price for them.. but it does still seem like a small risk.  And there's no guarentee that it'll go down to 1.35V.  That's my main question.. if this is even possible or not with such a limited BIOS.

 

Compaq CQ62-XXX is the model (but all the software and manual is by HP, I guess they bought them out or merged).

 

The XXX is unknown because there's a bunch of different variations and I've been busy with too many other issues to do a deep dive on it.  There's a bunch of models like 220SA or 219WM or 227TU.  It's hard to know the exact model and on HP's site, the only listing has DDR2.  So I was very surprised and confused to see DDR3 inside of mine, when I opened it up.

 

Actually.. it might be Compaq CQ62-227TU because the HDD I pulled out was 320GB Seagate, and 320GB is a random number for a drive and not too common.  All the other specs seem to line up from this link at the bottom of the page..  https://www.mwave.com.au/product/hp-compaq-presario-cq62227tu-p-t4500-23-ghz-ram-2-gb-hdd-320-gb-dvd-aa42150

 

[Selle]

DDR3L is backward compatible with DDR3

 

[Jonotallica]

Yeah, that means that it'll work at 1.5V.

 

The question is.. will it work at 1.35V.  Or will it will work in regular DDR3 mode.. defeating the whole point of buying DDR3L in the first place.

[Jonotallica]

To update this..

 

I went from 2GB original to 4GB buying the same brand and spec (Samsung DDR3 1.5V).  That worked ok and the best thing was that it was so cheap, because that second stick was second hand and found locally.

 

Since then, I've upgraded the BIOS to version F.37 and then successfully upgraded the CPU to Core 2 Duo T9300.  It brought extra performance and lower temps (a better binned chip and higher cache).  Temps are 60C at 100% load and 70C after prolonged 100% use like multiple Cinebench runs.

 

Today I tried upgrading the RAM to 8GB with DDR3L and that was also successful.  There were mixed reports in terms of.. if the motherboard/chipset allows 8GB or not, but I saw enough people have success that I tried it.  I went with DDR3L 4GB Samsung dual rank sticks, since someone said it needed to be dual rank (I don't know if it actually does).  It's very similar to the original RAM that came with the laptop, just the higher capacity version from a few years later.  The RAM was brand new and was $35USD and arrived from China in 5 days.  (Sometimes SpeedPak from China to Australia is really fast.. if the store is based in Hong Kong or Shenzen).

 

The RAM sticks show in CPU-Z that they can be run at 1.35V but I have no way to verify if it's running at 1.35 or 1.5V.  I'm going to guess that it's running at 1.5V mode since the laptop's BIOS is so simplified and basic, it's just that there's no way to know for sure.  There's BIOS mods you can get that unlock more advanced BIOS features for "Insyde" BIOS that this laptop has including advanced power options.. I'm just not sure if it's worth the effort to do that.  I wonder how much power is actually saved in terms of battery life.  I also upgraded the battery to a 98 Wh battery that also acts as a monitor stand (and cools underneath better), it's quite heavy now though.  The original battery was never used and died at some point many years ago.

 

But yeah, the upgrades have worked well.  No problems with DDR3L.  This is basically just a backup laptop in case of emergency or power blackout.  With a 1TB Samsung SATA SSD, it's quite fast to boot into Windows or load up the browser considering how old it is.  Gaming is out.. but for basic computer tasks it works ok, and there's some potential for multi tasking with 8GB of RAM.