Is it possible...

bdrilling5

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This may be a dumb question, but I have an HP Pavillion DV6871us model laptop. The motherboard says it maxes out at 4GB of RAM, but it was written before there were 4GB sticks really available.

I guess my question is, where does the 4GB limitation come from?

Is it simply because 2GB was the largest DDR2 chip available at the time, or is it actually embedded somewhere in the hardware?

For instance, now that 4GB chips are available, would I be able to put one into my laptop and have it recognized?
 
Solution
You ask a good question. On the "early" motherboards, some manufacturers would not run all of the address lines to the RAM since dense sticks were not available at the time nad they saved a couple of pennies.

You would have to look at the tech manual to see if they did use all of the lines or not and you would need that BIOS update as well.

And if you are lucky there is no limitation and it will work...
If the motherboard was made before 4GB sticks were available how would the motherboard possibly be able to recognize them? Unless there is a BIOS update to deal with the larger memory size, 2GB sticks are the best you can do without taking the whole thing apart and replacing the motherboard.
 

vvhocare5

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You ask a good question. On the "early" motherboards, some manufacturers would not run all of the address lines to the RAM since dense sticks were not available at the time nad they saved a couple of pennies.

You would have to look at the tech manual to see if they did use all of the lines or not and you would need that BIOS update as well.

And if you are lucky there is no limitation and it will work...
 
Solution

bdrilling5

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Well, that would be why I'm asking. I didn't know if it was possible through a BIOS update, or even how RAM is recognized. I didn't know if room for future expansion would have been taken into consideration. That is how the motherboard "could possibly recognize them." Quite simply put, I didn't know. But thank you for your reply.
 

bdrilling5

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Thank you! I appreciate your time and your input. I will be sure to follow the advice you have both given me!