DV9000 ram question

So I have a DV9000... not real sure which one exactly.. anyways I am currently running 2.5 gigs of ram and trying to get up to 4 gigs... and its running the F.16 bios.. I did some searches on here to try and find anything but all the threads I came across were from early this year....

Any help would be appreciated.. and how can I determine for sure which EXACT version of the 9000 series I have

 

What does upgrading your RAM have to do with what model 9000 you have? Only place it's going to be is on the box.

 

Well when checking for updates on hp's site i kept coming across questions of which exact model i had.. and I didnt know and couldnt find it right off hand... I finally found in the computer where it said the max was 2 gigs yet it is reading 2.5... now if only I could can get it up to 4

 

Max is 4 GB, but it'll only show 3.5ish due to 32-bit limitations.

 

ok dv9207us....

When I put both 2 gig chips in though the computer wont boot... It just gets stuck with a black screen...

any ideas?

 

I believe the newest BIOS is F27, I'd try that first.

 

Well I got it updated to F.28.. Still says i only have a max of 2 gigs... So do I have any options or am I up a creek???

 

I know for a fact that the dv9000's can support up to 4 GB of RAM. Check if you have a faulty stick.

 

Woohoo... Well I tried it again and the bios read 40xx and it booted... It still says max of 2 gigs... maybe it is per slot... Her is a pic.. Thanks for the help

 

Originally the 9000 series only officially supports 2GB. They issued a BIOS update that enabled 4GB support, but they are sloppy in updating all of their documentation and specs. Since you now see 4GB installed, it's being detected. I also suggest you run memtest on the RAM for a while to make sure it's all working correctly. See the guide in my sig.

 

I have a question along these lines. I have a dv9230us, with 2gb of RAM (came installed). At the beginning of next year, I'd like to upgrade and push my laptop as far as it'll go; being a gamer, I tend to do this anyway

Anywho, if I upgrade it to 4gb, sell the 2gb I have, find and upgrade my copy of Vista to a 64-bit version (btw, any tips or suggestions on that?), and maybe investigate a faster drive (I have two 100gb drives right now, and swapping out one of them for a faster one (the one I'd keep my games on) surely wouldn't hit all that badly in the battery performance pocket when I'm not using it, right?), would it be worth it? Or is my CPU (T5500) and GPU (7600) too limiting to see a difference?

Oh, and also, I happened to see on NewEgg when checking out RAM that one of them said that only the Santa Rosa chipset allowed 4gb of RAM. That can't be true, can it? I've heard of other laptops that were made before mine have 4gb in them (around the release of Vista, of course).

 

/bump for justice!

 

Your GPU will be the limit. Getting faster HDD's improves load times, but everything else will be limited by the GPU.

 

For changing to 64bit, you only need to get a hold of the 64bit media. The license key you have will work with it, as long as you install the same version (premium, ultimate). If you use ABR (found in the clean install guide in my sig), you will be able to skip the activation also.

The dv9000 does support 4GB of RAM, just make sure you have the latest BIOS. It used to only support 2GB, but the update allowed 4GB to work.

 

Here's a question for you: if I decide to go ahead and upgrade to Vista 64 (using Upgrade Anytime disc, if I can find mine), will I see any notable improvements? I know that I'll have a hard time finding drivers, but will I see any performance gains? I know I will once I get that ram, but I'm looking for "in the mean time" suggestions.

 

64bit does have some other advantages, such as a little more security and drivers that should be more stable, but the main thing right now is access to 4GB RAM. It does not really unlock some huge performance gain that's in youre computer somewhere.

Drivers are only an issue really for external devices. The 9000 series is fully supported for 64bit, so you shouldn't have any problems with the laptop itself. For external devices, like printers, PDAs, etc..., you'll need to check their web site.

Also, the Anytime Upgrade disc must be the 64bit version. Chances are you have the 32bit version, so that will not work. It is on a separate disc.

 

Really? I thought that disc had all versions on it. Oh well; if it doesn't, surely I can find an Anytime Upgrade disc that has the 64bit version for cheap, right?

 

It has all versions, but not all architectures. 32bit and 64bit are different architectures (they run on different CPUs), so that's why they are separate. Within the same arch, each disk has Premium, Ultimate, etc... on it.

It's a little confusing because a 32bit OS will run on a 64bit CPU, but not the other way around. You also cannot "upgrade" from 32 to 64bit, you must do a full reinstall.

 

i have a hp dv9000 to i see 3 gig out of the 4 gig i installed how yo get all 4 gigs? i heard u have to upgrade to 64 vista?? thanks
joe

 

Guide below.

 

Just a note, if you run the 32-bit install of any Windows Server install, you'll be able to use all memory. I recommend installing Windows Server 2008 (which is essentially a slimmed-down Vista).