Laptop DDR

Hello everybody. This has probaply been asked before. But this is one thing I can't wrap my head around fully, so please bear with me...

I recently bought a pretty decent laptop second hand (clevo P157SM-A), it has a quad core (with HT) socketed I7 (4710MQ), which I might upgrade in the future, and a GTX980m. It also has 8Gigs of 1600 DDR3. Altho it had 4 sockets for Sodimms, it only used one 8GB stick, so it's running in single channel.

I would like to expand and possibly improve my RAM now.
What would be the best course of action for me?

I plan on going with 16 GB max, due to budget constraints, altho even 2x4GB would be on the table if it would improve performance in dual channel.

What is preferable, 1 stick of 8GB or 2 sticks of 4 in dual channel?

The thing I dont get is, the one installed right now is 1600mhz, what would happen with 1866 or even 2000mhz would be installed on a stock bios (no prema bios).
Would it run at those speeds?
Does my mobo even support them? What timings should I shoot for?
Is there much difference between Kingston valueram or lets say Corsair Vengeance or Kingston HyperX?

Thanks in advance.

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Best solution is to try and get an exact match of the stick you have, the two of them will run in dual channel. The more differences, the higher the risk of compatibility issues and the lower the performance (although this can range from significant to unnoticeable depending on the application).

No point buying faster than what you have since it runs the speed of the slowest stick.

 

Yes, that I already knew. Finding the exact same brand and spec proves to be difficult. I would opt to buy a dual stick kit, be it 2x8GB or 2x4GB.

So what about the speeds and timings if I would.

Would buying a 2x4GB kit with the same speed but possibly tighter timings net me gains over the 1x8GB stick thats in it right now?
Would a faster kit be supported or do you need custom bios for that?
And is there a lot of difference in the ' value' ram sticks vs the 'shiny' ram sticks for laptops?

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Your system will run the memory at any speed you tell it to. You can overclock memory in Intel XTU. If you mix a bunch of sticks together the system will run at whatever stick has the lowest rating by default, but it's highly likely that even the 1600 stick you have now can run 2133 if you loosen timings.

Also you don't need to make a choice between the current 8GB stick and two 4GB sticks. You can run all 3 at the same time. Just put the 8GB on a different channel than the 4GB sticks and you'll have a nice even 8GB per channel. You can even just put a single 4GB stick in and you'll have 12 GB total, and dual channel will function as long as you use less than 8GB total.

Mixing different brands doesn't really matter. They'll have slightly different timings which the system will take the worst particular timing from each stick and set that.

 

Thanks for the information Khenglish.

What do you mean dual channel will function as long as I get less than 8GB total??

Can I get either an 8GB (2x4GB) kit or a 16GB (2x8GB) and still use my 8GB stick in the third slot? And it will work in dual channel mode anyways but at the slowest speed/timing?

I dont really need 24GB tho, so if I get the 16 GB kit I wouldnt reuse my 8GB stick...

I've never seen any memory speed/timing options in XTU tho...

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So to keep it simple, I'm looking at a 16GB (2x8GB) kit from HyperX.

The following are available;

1600 - CL9-9-9-33
1866 - CL11-11-11-34
2133 - CL11-12-13-31

The memory inside my laptop is:
Team Group
1600 - CL11-11-11-28

Not very good in terms of timings I guess???

What kit would be my best bet?

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The 2133MHz CL11 kit would be best.

 

You got to love the holiday season...

Upgrade time!

Bit the bullet and ordered a 16GB 1866 Mhz HyperX kit for my laptop.

Pictures say more than words, so here goes...

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