[SOLVED] Pentium P6100: How much RAM in total, and what frequency?

[UglyStuff]

Hi everyone,

Posting here (in "CPU") because I think it's a good place to start, but I'll relocate in "Memory" if need be.

I have this 2011 Lenovo Edge 15 laptop with a Pentium P6100 whose RAM I'd like to upgrade and which, currently, has 6 GB of RAM under the following form:

1 x 2 GB @ 667 MHz (Ramaxel; was in the laptop when I bought it online with no OS installed)

1 x 4 GB @ 533 MHz (Kingston; bought online after I got the PC. The vendor sent it by mistake, because I had ordered another 2 GB @ 667 MHz, and got a 4 GB stick @ 533 MHz instead. Didn't object at first, and all is working fine, except for a few BSODs of late, but both sticks have been in the PC going on 9 years, now...)

Here's the rub: According to Intel themselves, my Pentium P6100 can't support more than 8 GB of RAM in dual-channel, which my motherboard (a "Lenovo") offers.

The thing is, when I enter "wmic memphysical get MaxCapacity, MemoryDevices" in Command Line, I get this :

MaxCapacity 16777216

MemoryDevices 2

Apparently, the chipset could support up to 16 GB of RAM, but the CPU won't, or at least that's what I understand.

Am I correct in my assumption?

Additionally, I'd like to know more about how DDR (Dual-Data Rate) works, because I've read tons of contradictory stuff online, like "your bus supports up to 1066 MHz, so that's the same as 2 x 533 MHz, so you don't need 1066 MHz RAM sticks because your bus will downclock them anyway", that sort of things.

So, how does it work exactly, that clock speed thing? Can I put 1066 MHz RAM sticks in my PC, knowing that according to Intel's litterature, the Pentium P6100 supports DDR3 in the 800-to-1066 MHz range, or not?

 

[SamirD]

It depends on whether that chipset really supports it or not. Also, the processor may support more, but 8gb was the max at the time.

Crucial thinks that 16gb is the max:
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/lenovo/lenovo-edge-15

But compuram.biz thinks that 8gb is the max (and I've found them to be quite accurate):
https://www.compuram.biz/memory/lenovo/notebook/thinkpad/edge-series/15-intel/?st=tab_maxmem

I would do some more research and see if you find an instance of one installed with 16GB with the p6100--that would confirm it possible.

As far as the way ddr works, this should explain it quite nicely:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_data_rate

 

[UglyStuff]

Hi and thanks for taking the time!

I'm not sure they've got the right Edge 15, on both websites. There's a more recent version with Core i CPUs that can probably support more than 8 GB of RAM.

As for DDR, thanks for the link, but I've already visited the page, and I'm none the wiser for it.

On another website (in French; don't have the link handy but I'll look it up and post it later), someone says that as long as you have a 533 MHz DDR RAM stick, it'll equal to 1066 MHz in total, due to dual-data rate, and that's what having a 1066 MHz bus means.

In other words, if I put a 1066 MHz DDR3 stick on my PC, it would clock out at double the nominal speed, hence 2133 MHz, whereas the bus on my PC can't take any more than 1066 MHz.

This is all very confusing, and I'd just like to know if I can, or have to, put a couple of 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM sticks to make use of the full bus speed.

 

[SkyNetRising]

On another website someone says that as long as you have a 533 MHz DDR RAM stick, it'll equal to 1066 MHz in total, due to dual-data rate, and that's what having a 1066 MHz bus means.
In other words, if I put a 1066 MHz DDR3 stick on my PC, it would clock out at double the nominal speed, hence 2133 MHz, whereas the bus on my PC can't take any more than 1066 MHz.

That someone talks nonsense. It's exactly opposite.
DDR3 533mhz ram internally operates at 266mhz. You get 533mhz (virtually) because of 2 data transfers per clock.
DDR3 1066Mhz ram internally operates at 533mhz.

I'd just like to know if I can, or have to, put a couple of 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM sticks to make use of the full bus speed.

Yes, you can do that.

 

[UglyStuff]

OK, that makes a lot more sense than the other way around, where the guy said that I already had a 1066 MHz RAM stick since it said "533 MHz" on the label, what with DDR and all.

Thanks for the heads-up! I just got confirmation from various websites that the chipset (Havendale/Clarkdale Host Bridge / HM55 SouthBridge) can only support up to 8 GB of RAM (up to 4 GB per slot), so I now have my work cut out for me: Find that kind of RAM at a reasonable price...

Thanks a bunch to all of you guys! Y'all have a great day!