Question How to determine maximum RAM a PC can accomodate

[Yazzoo7]

I have an older HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF with an i7 processor and 8GB of RAM. I purchased it from Amazon and in the Q&A area, when the question was posed about the the maximum RAM, there were conflicting results. Two respondents said the max was 16GB and two said 32GB. The board has four RAM slots (all are white in color, if that matters), two of which are currently occupied with two sticks of 4GB RAM. I want to max out the RAM capacity but I don't know what that is. How can I determine what the maximum amount of RAM is that I can upgrade to? Also, do the sticks have to have an equal amount of RAM? If the max is 16GB, can I add one 8GB stick to the existing two sticks of 4GB or, do I need to match the amount of the existing RAM and add two more sticks of 4GB? And finally, is there a rule of thumb when adding RAM with regard to capacity and number of sticks? Meaning, if the maximum is 32GB, does it matter if I install two 16GB sticks or four 8GB sticks?

Thank you in advance.

 

[logainofhades]

When in doubt, check the manufacturer.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-compaq-elite-8300-ultra-slim-pc/5232866/document/c03345460

 

[geofelt]

Looks like the answer is 32gb, a 4 x 8gb kit:
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/hp---compaq/hp-compaq-elite-8300-small-form-factor

 

[Yazzoo7]

When in doubt, check the manufacturer.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-compaq-elite-8300-ultra-slim-pc/5232866/document/c03345460

Thank you for the prompt reply. Sorry if I sound like an idiot but, in this area, I am. What if some of the components in the machine were upgraded prior to me purchasing it? Would that change the RAM capacity or would the manufacturer/factory specs still apply? Is it possible to upgrade a PC so that the amount of maximum RAM is increased? The reason I ask is, I have seen this same model PC offered at a cheaper cost because it has an i5 processor and smaller HD which I take to mean, the machine I purchased had some upgrades made.

 

[Yazzoo7]

I have new information but I don't know if it is relevant. Upon closer inspection, I found the two occupied RAM slots are black in color and the two remaining slots are white. Again, not sure if that is relevant but...

 

[kanewolf]

Thank you for the prompt reply. Sorry if I sound like an idiot but, in this area, I am. What if some of the components in the machine were upgraded prior to me purchasing it? Would that change the RAM capacity or would the manufacturer/factory specs still apply? Is it possible to upgrade a PC so that the amount of maximum RAM is increased? The reason I ask is, I have seen this same model PC offered at a cheaper cost because it has an i5 processor and smaller HD which I take to mean, the machine I purchased had some upgrades made.

That wouldn't change the maximum RAM. That is a motherboard limitation.

 

[geofelt]

Whenever you upgrade ram, it should be a complete replacement kit of whatever was in there originally. The reason is that ram must be matched to insure proper operation.

The maximum ram will be determined by the motherboard.
How many ram slots, and the max ram per slot.
Run cpu-z and look at the memory and spd tabs.

DDR3 ram is reasonably able to tolerate mismatched ram.
If you have unequal capacity of ram, you will run in flex mode.
The matched capacity will run in dual channel mode and the odd capacity will run in single channel mode.
I think your pc can only handle 8gb per stick.

Do you have a need for more than 16gb?

 

[Inthrutheoutdoor]

I recently was in the same situation, having been given an older HP at work that was headed for the trash bin.....I upgraded from the single 4GB stick to 2X16GB and it was like I reinvented the wheel performance-wise...

But anyways, HP, as well as just about all pre-built mfgr's, will offer the same machine with various configs of ram, storage. cpu etc...

HOWEVER, changing/upgrading those components will NOT change or increase the max ram that these machines will accommodate, regardless of whether they did it while building the machine or the end user made the changes....UNLESS they actually use a different mobo, which could affect the capacity limits.

Normally, most mobos that have 4 slots are designed to max out at either 32 or 64GB of ram, but there are exceptions here & there...

You should have & buy all sticks in matched sets, ie 2x8GB or 2x16GB etc and buy them all at the same time from the same vendor...because it DOES matter, because mixing different sizes, speeds, and brands will usually cause a lot of issues that you wouldn't wanna throw on your worst enemy...

Also, most machines will produce slightly lower performance from using 4 sticks instead of 2, that's only because of the additional latency from having to access the pool of memory across 4 slots instead of just 2, and most machines wont be able to run all 4 sticks in dual-channel mode vs. single channel. But if your daily use is not dependent on or sensitive to having the max performance possible, this won't really matter much to the average user...

Better to ditch those antique 4GB sticks & start fresh with new, larger ones

 

[Yazzoo7]

Thank you for the informative replies. After doing a Google search, crucial.com came up and after installing a small file, I did a scan of my machine. The results were the machine is upgradable to 32GB and geofelt is correct. This machine can only handle 8gb per stick. Crucial recommends replacing the two 4gb sticks with four 8gb sticks. Thanks again for your help! It is greatly appreciated.