Ram upgrade to 8GB on laptop with DDR2@333Mhz?

Question

This is the current RAM information (1GB+1GB) for my laptop and it's DDR2. Is it possible to buy two new 4GB chips and upgrade my RAM to 8GB? Also, this RAM runs on 333MHz at the moment. Can I get 800MHz bus speed on the new chips and is that the max?

Update 01: Here are further details about my hardware:

Specs from the Manufacturer

Update 02: I do realize that it is apparent from the system specs above that the max RAM is 4GB. I would like to further clarify if I can add two 2GB chips each that run at 800Mhz bus speed to this laptop, thanks!

Solution 1

I build laptops in my company and you should try to find out and see if anyone else has managed to first.

There are very few laptop chipsets that support above 4GB and you can actually break the machine by inserting larger chips.

Solution 2

It depends on motherboard, but I think isn't possible. Maybe BIOS upgrade solved problem with max ram limitation?

Here is specifications for your laptop - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01372590&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3671083

Memory Max: Up to 4 GB

Solution 3

You cannot determine the maximum RAM capacity from the RAM specs. You have to check the specs of the northbridge.

That said, I myself have not seen a single DDR2-equipped laptop that supports more than 4GB, so my gut tells me that you are capped at four.

Comments

[ymasood]

It's an HP Pavilion DV6700. I haven't tried the upgrade at the moment but definitely plan to do so once I get to know how much more I can add. Thanks!

[ymasood]

Oh! I didn't know... so this means it isn't supported above 8GB on most models? Is there a way I can confirm this? Would 4GB at 800Mhz be supported? Thanks!

[William Hilsum]

Do you happen to know what chipset your motherboard has? Typically speaking (but not 100% always) I find that anything <£1500, standard laptop chipsets only support a maximum of 4GB, but some of the really high end models (and I mean REALLY high end) take 8GB. Newer ones that support DDR3 support higher, but I have barely seen any 8GB DDR2 models in the past few years

[ymasood]

Ahan, thanks, I found the Northbridge version using SIW and they are here - img171.imageshack.us/img171/4420/northbridge.jpg - does this help? And I do notice it states max 4096MB

[MatthewFord]

I just checked that link to hp.com. It says in the product specifications that your max is four. h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/…

[ymasood]

Ahan, here's the motherboard information - img171.imageshack.us/img171/4420/northbridge.jpg - but I reckon it may not go above 4GB, will it take 4GB at 800Mhz?

[William Hilsum]

I have the 965GM which is a slightly lower version than yours and the maximum is 4GB. I am not saying it is not possible on yours, but I think it is highly unlikely - take a look at intel.com/technology/memory/ddr/valid/… (this page is after clicking from your chipset page)

[ymasood]

Did some more research based on your recent comment and found out here - intel.com/Products/Notebook/Chipsets/PM965/PM965-overview.ht‌​m - that the supported RAM is 667bus - intel.com/technology/memory/ddr/valid/… - so I guess that answers both questions about how much is supported and what bus speed!