Question Is it ok to use DDR3L Ram on the motherboard designed to work for DDR3 and vice versa?

[Jayzeee98]

I actually switched Ram of 8GB DDR3L from an HP Elitebook 4th Generation to Dell 3320m. As Hp elitebook uses DDR3L of 1.35 V now its running 1.5 DDR3 but with an error at startup, i.e 2E3 incompatible DDr3 type. On the other hand Dell 3320 which works on 1.5 V memory is now running fine on 1.35 V DDR3L. Is that an issue for any of the laptops as the official forums of both dell and hp discourages this idea.

 

[PC Tailor]

DDR3L modules are backwards compatible with DDR3 slots as DDR3 slots can run at both 1.5V (DDR3) and 1.35V (DDR3L)

But it is not advisable to use DDR3 on DDR3L slots as the L motherboard will expect to run the modules at 1.35V, where DDR3 requires 1.5V - so you'll probably end up damaging the RAM module, the CPU, or potentially both over time. You have to lower voltage in the BIOS to 1.35V to avoid this. But in most cases - it probably won't work.

Obviously all this is assuming the RAM model is compatible with your MB and CPU in the first place. You'd have to run stability tests in both cases to ensure there are no stability issues anyway.

 

[Jayzeee98]

Thanks for writing back!
Bit releived from Dell's perspective but is there as way to remove the taunting error 2E3 from HP elitebook startup. Also if it is possible to lower down the voltage manually, would that cause any further issues.