Adding more RAM

I would like to add more RAM to my laptop which is running Vista Home Premium ... presently I have 2 gigs of ram ... the laptop is running great, I have no problems but I would like to upgrade it .... the laptop supports dual channel ...

here are the specs on my laptop

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...name=c01300383

I've noticed alot of laptops that are out now are running with 3 gigs of ram ... and I know that vista 32 bit won't recognize 4 gigs of ram ... what are the benefits of running dual channel ... am I better off to purchase 2 - 2 gigs strips of ram and run with a total of 4 gigs, or can I just add one 2 gig strip of ram and run with a total of 3 gigs ...

will there be a drop in performance if the laptop isn't running dual channel ...

thanks for your help ...

Performance would be better if you add them in pairs. And as your laptop has onboard video, that will take some of your system memory for it. I'd go ahead and get two 2gb modules.

thanks PhotoLady ... what would the performance be like if I just got the one 2 gig strip and went with having 3 gigs of ram ... would the performance be better than just having the 2 gigs and not running the dual channel ... I don't understand anything at all about dual channel ram and I'm seeing so many laptops and computers nowadays having 3 gigs of ram and obviously having 3 gigs of ram these systems aren't running dual channel ...

You wouldn't have 3gigs, to use because of the video card taking part of that. And wikipedia explains dual channel better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture

thanks again ... I do realize that because of the video card being onboard I won't have the full 3 gigs of ram, just like I don't have a full 2 gigs of ram now ... I read the article in the link and I'm still a bit confused :eek: ... one of the paragraphs said that there really wasn't that much of a performance increase with the dual channel ( maybe I misread this ) ...

and would there be a performance increase in my system if I had 3 gigs of ram and not run the dual channel ...

I believe the other mods here and some members also say there isn't that much difference in performance in dual channel useage or single channel. But I can't swear to this. Maybe I can find another mod on board that can explain this to you. I don't have a computer that uses dual channel so I can't verify the difference either way.

PhotoLady ... THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP ... and I appreciate you trying to find someone else to explain this to me .... this whole dual channel thing really has me puzzled as to whether or not there is a difference in performance ... since Vista 32 bit doesn't recognize 4 gigs of ram I can't see installing 4 gigs, even though my video card is using some of the ram ... the laptop runs great on 2 gigs, but I would like to install more ram and I keep seeing all kinds of laptops and desktops nowadays coming out with 3 gigs of ram .... and I just don't understand if there is a HUGE benefit to running dual channel and if I choose not to run dual channel I wonder what kind of hit I would take in performance ... thanks again for all your help, its greatly appreciated

From what articles and Virtual Dr's own threads, using single channel can have affect on performance, in that it slows your system down. How much? That is something I can't answer. All systems are different.

I found this tidbit in a thread here by SpywareDr.

Quote:

---

A single memory channel can transfer 64 bits of memory to the CPU at one time while dual channel memory doubles that rate (128 bits).

---

Laptops may not have Dual Channel yet. Anyway the cheaper ones do not.
And I seriously doubt your has it either.

Dual Channel - Why dual channeling makes a difference
http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Memory/Dual-Channel/1/

Train ... here is a link for the manual on my laptop ... the manual is FOR ADDING MEMORY MODULES ....

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01083471.pdf

on page 7 there is a NOTE and it says to use a dual channel configuration make sure both memory modules are the same size ....

I assumed by this NOTE that my laptop was dual channel, am I wrong in assuming this ?

Just looked at the article Train posted and I ran CPU Z ... under the memory tab it says I am running DUAL CHANNEL MEMORY

Well, I'll be> > . . .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: To use a dual-channel configuration when adding a second memory module, be sure
both memory modules are the same size.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can try a 2 and a 1 but do not be surprised if things slow down.

Lets us know how it does.

thanks Train and I'm sure glad I surprised someone :eek: ... I really don't want things to slow down, so to be on the safe side I will keep the laptop with the dual channel configuration and up it 4 gigs ...

That should work out to be nice.