4g Memory Max In Dv9000t

A lot of notebook manufacturers have a max of 4G of memory. HP has it in its business line. If HP offers 64 bit OS for the dv9000X, why don't they offer a 4G max. Just wanted to get some feed back on this subject. Will they offer it soon? and how long do you think it will be until we see 800 MHZ in notebook memory? I thought i heard something like sata rosa will sopport 800 MHZ in memory- is that ture?

 

It's not 800MHZ it's just 400MHZ but since it's DDRII (double data rate means that they send two signals with each clock) hence it has the effective rate of 800MHz.
To go to the subject : All of them do support the 4GB [They just have to upgrade the BIOS] but you will usually notice very little difference in comparison with the 2GB.And 2GB stick are very expensive at the moment.

 

So the dv9000x supports the 4GB [I just have to upgrade the BIOS] That's good news for a future upgrade with a 64 bit OS. when, in the future, you might need 4G and when the price is around $150 for a 2GB stick . I wasn't sure because on the hp site it said max 2G.

 

If and only if HP supplies this kind of BIOS. I would bet, they won't.

 

I dout they will

 

They will never offer the bios update to support 4GB memory when they will make much more money from selling you a shiny new notebook that supports 4GB. You don't want a new notebook? ... then HP don't care about you, anyway.

 

Has any one actually tried to see if single 2GB SODIMM modules work in the dv9000 series laptop? thx

 

You don't need a bios upgrade!!!!!! Just tried a 2GB sodimm stick (2GB corsair value) in my dv9008tx and it works. Currently running 3GB of ram.
But 4GB definitely will not work. You will only see 3GB and a bit more regardless of whether you have a 64 bit OS installed or not. this is supposedly a limitation of the chipset that we use as our northbridge (i945; can't map I/O address spaces to above 4GB).

I can't believe NO ONE at least tried to install more than 2GB of ram.......

and the hp tech support is really hopeless to say the least..... all they say is "this laptop only supports 2GB of ram"....... -_-......

 

Interesting....if the chipset supports up to 4gb, why are you saying 3gb will work but 4gb wont? Any idea if >2gb works in the 6500t series which they say only support 2gb? Or is this a support in that it works but they wont support it? I dont like the idea that if 2gb stix drop to $50 a piece in a year that i cant upgrade to 4gb ram and have alot of apps just preloaded in memory.

 

The reason 4GB won't work is because your system need to reserve addresses for I/O devices like your video card. if say u have a 512MB video card, thats 512MB of ram that your OS can't use already (if u install 4GB). What needs to be done is to remap these I/O addresses above 4GB so that u can address all of the memory installed. to do this u need the right chipset and the right firmware/bios to map these I/O addresses to above 4GB address space. Once you've mapped it to above 4GB u need to atually be able to address the larger than 4GB address space, so u need a 64 bit CPU running a 64 bit OS as well. If u don't all of those requirements you computer will befored to run a addressing space of 4GB in total, from that the system first need to reserve addresses for I/O, then let you use what is left of the amount of memory u've installed if there is any overlap between the memory installed and the reserved addresses.

for laptops with the i945 chipset, the total/largest address space will be 4GB. so the maximum memory you will be able to see if 3GB + a lil bit more. you can chuck 2x2GB into it, it will boot, but theres very little benefit in the addition 4th GB because u're gonna get very little of it in return. whether u want to install 2x2GB is up to you.

as to whether >2GB will work in the 6500t series, i'm not sure at all. If it has a i945 chipset or newer as the northbridge then it probably will. u can check by using cpu-z under the motherboard tab under chipset. with the i945, u won't be able to see the endtire 4GB if you choose to install that much, but PEOPLE SAY with the i965 chipset (the new laptops with santa rosa cpus) will be able to see the entire 4GB of ram if u use a 64 bit OS.

 

Does anyone know if the new dv95000 will have the i965 chipset? or any way to find out now?

 

The 965 chipset is by definition Santa Rosa, so yes, it will have the 965.

 

Great post Squallff8aus. Now I'm thinking of going to 1x1GB and 1x2GB, for a total of 3GB. That's still pretty good and you can stick to a 32bit OS for all the other compatibility reasons.

We don't need to have matched pairs in these things, right?

 

So, from what i understand, the dvx5xxs have the i965 chipset. With a 64 bit OS we should be able to see the endtire 4GB. Even with HP saying Max 2GB. Right?

Great post Squallff8aus.

 

I was speaking to someone a few weeks ago who said that it is possible that this can be a limitation in hardware, but the only way to really know would be to test it out. Thanks to Squallff8aus, now we know.

Can anyone else confirm this before we all go out spending $$ on 2GB modules? a 1x2GB module is almost the same price that HP charges for a 1GB to 2GB upgrade.

 

Are you sure it will not recognize 4GB?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mobile/display/centrino-duo_7.html

 

I doubt it can be a chipset limitiation because its the same chipset in hp's business line which all support 4gb ram. If there is anything preventing the consumer line to support 4gb, its prob a limit hp put into their bios. However, I'm betting if you run a 64-bit OS, it doesnt use what the BIOS is telling it which is why you may be able to access all 4gb.

If I purchased the 32-bit Home Premium edition of vista with my hp laptop, does that license allow me to upgrade to the 64-bit version or is that a totally different license?

 

i'm 'pretty' sure the i945 chipset can't let u see 4GB of memory regardless of whether u install a 64 bit OS or not. I am not 100% certain as i have not tried it personally. This fact seems to be alot better documented on the internet than whether hp laptops will support > 2GB of ram. If u guys are thinking of getting something like http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1954103&postcount=1 i suppose u could wait for someone to try it on a 64 bit OS first.

ram manufacturers give warnings like this :
http://www.gskill.com/en/f2-5300cl5s-sa.html <<-- it says i945PM, no idea about i945GM, but supposedly the same applies.

its not so much a BIOS thing, its SUPPOSEDLY a hardware limitation of the i945 chipset so the OS can't do much about it. its true that the hp business class laptops says that it can support 4GB of memory, but i have not read anywhere that the OS installed on it can see the entire 4GB. But you could have came across something that i have not.

from here : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145172 <<-- it is claimed that the BIOS couldn't see all of the 4GB of ram installed on the dell D520 and the D520 uses the i945GM chipset.

it does certainly sound stupid that u have a 64 bit CPU, but the north bridge does not allow an address space of more than 4GB.

edit: another link about bios only seeing 3GB of ram http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=100670

 

As to whether the 1GB module and the 2GB module (or any 2 types of modules for that matter) need to be of a matching pair, I don't know; it all depends on the BIOS.

but generally its a good idea to buy ram that runs at the same speed with similar timings (especially the default CAS timing - this value should be the same).

My 1GB module runs at 667MHz with timing of 5-5-5-13-18 by default
My 2GB module runs at 667MHz with timing of 5-5-5-15-18 by default

together they run at 667MHz with timing of 5-5-5-15-18 by default and no problems so far.

The CAS timing value is the first digit, which is 5.

When I run it in this configuration CPU-Z still says its running in dual channel.

 

Got 3.2GB after installing 4gb on a nc8430 running a 32bit OS.

 

villageman, what memory size does BIOS report?

 

well... i'm on the business line... i have a nx9420... latest bios and two 2gb infineon sticks...

the bios sees 4096 but windows xp 32 bit with pae AND vista 64 bit BOTH see 3.37 gb ( 3450 mb ) of ram.

from what i've read it's a BIOS memory mapping limitation and it has something to do with MTRR Mapping (Discrete, continuous)

 

hmm, and the nx9420 has the i945pm chipset. sounds like my deduction was right.

 

yes... BUT my understanding ... from what i've read is that ... the 945pm IS capable of adressing the whole 4096 BUT the bios limitation concerning MTRR mapping causes it to see only 3450....

that's still 600 megs of ram short...

any ideas?

 

Well if the chipset is the same you should be able to use that BIOS to any other lappy with the same chipset for and update. At least that's what's I've done with my old emachine M6805 when I updated it with the M6811 BIOS and it to date still runs like a Champ.

Anyone got a link on where you can purchase a 2Gb stick?

 

well... you can't...

you could because the laptops share the same mainboard....

cross-flashing is not adviseable

 

So can the dv2500/dv6500/dv9500t address 3gb ram with no probs?

 

3 gb + yes... 4gb no

 

Care to elaborate on this? Have you tested this configuration? Are you basing this on using a 32bit OS?

 

So if they say the business line supports 4gb ram but windows will only see 3.3gb....and pavillions they say support only 2gb but it also can see 3.3gb than I guess we can deduce that there is not a 2gb limitation on the pavillion hardware itself.

 

intel has the final say in this unless hp crippled the platform

see this intel mobile chipset comparison chart

http://compare.intel.com/pcc/default.aspx?familyid=7&culture=en-US

 

Interesting. That comparison says that the 965 chipset supports 533MHz memory, but then says the memory type is 667/533MHz. So now it doesn't even support 667MHz RAM? I'm hoping that chart is wrong, but it's getting very frustrating.

Intel has been promoting the 800MHz FSB, but the only thing that runs that fast is the CPU, but the northbridge runs at 667MHz. Now it seems that the RAM can't even run that fast! I'm beginning to wonder what the point is of this.

 

So is that chart saying that it will support memory at 667mhz however if you want to run 4gb ram, it must run the memory at 533mhz?

 

Squallff8aus, that is great information.
I will eventually install a new 2GB stick and keep one of the 1GB sticks that came preinstalled.

thank you ....

 

I was thinking of doing the same thing. I want to point out that the cost of the upgrade from 1GB to 2GB on HP's site is almost as much as the price of a 2GB stick. So if you just order the system with the base configuration, then buy the 2GB aftermarket, you can wind up with 2.5GB for almost the same price as 2GB. Or you can sell the 2 512MB modules on ebay, and put that towards another 1GB, and get 3 for about the same price as you are paying HP for 2.

 

OK, before I run out and buy a 2GB stick for my dv9000t (currently running 2GB), I just want to make sure that we all agree that it can indeed run more than the stated 2GB limit. Has anyone else tried it? (Again, referring to the dv9000t ... don't know if there's a difference between the business version and the consumer version.)

 

one of the bios updates mentioned the ability to run 4GB so yes it should work, but i think u shud upgrade to the latest BIOS to be sure.

 

Thanks ...

 

yup just checked....it was the F25 BIOS that mentioned a bluescreen problem being fixed when 2x2GB modules were installed.

I would suggest the F27 BIOS as this is the closest to the F16 BIOS and keeps the laptop running cooler

upgrade to F25, install your RAM then upgrade to F27 and see

 

I have a new dv6426us and I dropped to Crucial 2gig sticks in it right away. Vista 32bit and this chipset only sees 3062mb.

The only negative to going with a 1gig and a 2gig is that intergrated video will slow down since its not running in dual channel mode. I tested this, in sigle channel mode my Vista rating for video was 2.1...with dual channel its 3.1