SDRAM upgrade capacity?

[go2girl]

How can I determine the maximum memory upgrade for my Pavilion 9686C purchased new in March 2000? 3 sellers of memory (Crucial.com, Dell.com, and Kingston.com) indicate that I can upgrade to 512MB from my current 128MB SDRAM and the original HP product specifications (received at time of purchase) agree, however specification now found on the HP website have been changed & say maximum upgrade is 256 MB. Recent e-mail support from HP indicated that the max upgrade is 256MB, but offered no explanation for the change from the original specs. Board: Asus K7M 1.04, BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD 1.00 11/30/99. Which upgrade capacity is correct?

 

[elzt]

I think you should follow HP's advice. Maybe they've found out that 512MB of RAM will make your PC unstable or have other problems... who knows? BTW, I found this post in another forum that might just be the answer:

<A HREF="http://bizforums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x3fa9afe90f1cd71190050090279cd0f9,00.html" target="_new">http://bizforums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x3fa9afe90f1cd71190050090279cd0f9,00.html</A>

 

[TKH]

If you can borrow one or two sticks of PC-100 SDRAM (no need branded one, try generic one) then try them on your system. I've been working in HP COMPAQ for 3 months and I found out that most "branded" system has limitation upon RAM upgrade. I don't know about HP Pavilion but somehow you can't use branded RAM like Kingstion, Trenscend etc. larger than 128MB in single slot. in some COMPAQ Presario, it just won't boot up correctly but generic RAM will run fine.

My PC has gone to hell... because it's a killing machine...

 

[TKH]

If you can borrow one or two sticks of PC-100 SDRAM (no need branded one, try generic one) then try them on your system. I've been working in HP COMPAQ for 3 months and I found out that most "branded" system has limitation upon RAM upgrade. I don't know about HP Pavilion but somehow you can't use branded RAM like Kingstion, Trenscend etc. larger than 128MB in single slot. in some COMPAQ Presario, it just won't boot up correctly but generic RAM will run fine.

My PC has gone to hell... because it's a killing machine...

 

[Crashman]

Usually it's the BOARD or SYSTEM manufacturer who is WRONG, not the memory vender! Strange but true! I'd go with Crucial's recommendation as they carry a firm warranty on all their products!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Crashman, doesn't it sound just like a RAM density conspiracy to you?

I mean tell them that their max memory is 256MB and give them only 3 DIMM slots and you're pretty much guaranteed that they'll be only using low-density RAM.

Tell them that their max memory is 512MB though, and now people might be tempted to put high-density sticks in there. They put high-density sticks in and, violla, it only registers 256MB.

<sly voice><i>Hmm. Must be limited to only 256MB then. Yeah...</i></sly voice>

It solves all of their customer complaint problems about high-density RAM incompatability. It sounds like just another density conspiracy to me anyway. My only real question is: Is Asus misleading their customers about the maximum memory on purpose, or are Asus tech-support employees actually that uneducated?

I mean I <i>suppose</i> that there <i>might</i> actually be a problem with the mobo running 512MB. I mean I have to give them a <i>chance</i> that it's </i>possible</i>. But come on, how likely is it?

<font color=blue><pre>If you don't give me accurate and complete system specs
then I can't give you an accurate and complete answer.</pre><p></font color=blue>

 

[Crashman]

Ah well, you could get a couple 128MB 2-chip sticks and still run into the density issue. I'd just follow Crucial's recomendations.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[go2girl]

elzt,
Thanks for the link. It sure looks like my question has been answered -- and not to my liking.

So it seems I'm stuck with 256MB regardless of the original specs. Guess it will still be a nice step up from my current 128MB.

By the way, my BIOS & Asus both show my board with 3 slots, but HP and the memory vendors all say I have only 2.

I sure feel like I've been the victim of "bait & switch" tactics.

Thanks to you all for your advice.
go2girl

 

[knowan]

I just read that forum link at the top of the thread and it completely invalidated my response.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by knowan on 03/23/03 05:42 PM.</EM></FONT></P>