I have a few questions that are all related to trying to figure out if my laptop has soldered or upgradable memory.
The memory section in Task Manager says Slots: 2 of 2, Form Factor: SODIMM. Likewise,
wmic memorychip get formfactorreturns 12 (twice), which also stands for SODIMM. So the question is, since SODIMM is a type of slot, does that confirm that the motherboard has two (upgradeable) SODIMM slots instead of soldered RAM chips? Edit: What I'm trying to ask is: does SODIMM necessarily mean not soldered? Or is there such a thing as a soldered SODIMM?On the other hand,
wmic memorychip get devicelocatorreturns "Bottom - on board" (twice). What does this mean?Finally, my motherboard is HP 863E, so if someone has confirmed information about what sort of RAM (soldered or upgradeable) that contains, I would appreciate it since this would directly answer my main question.
Edit: I already have looked online for this information about my particular device, but information from various sources is a bit conflicting. One reason in particular I'm confused is that wmic memorychip get partnumber returns H5AN8G6NCJR-VKC, which an online search reveals is an SK Hynix Ram IC, not a SODIMM RAM module, so if someone knows the answer to specifically my first two questions, that would be very helpful.
3 Answers
The tools offered by Kingston or Crucial will give you details about memory and expandability
0Question, marked "Solved" on HP support forum about RAM upgrade:
I have an HP Spectre x360 ... Motherboard : 863E ...
Answer
5You can install 2 x 16 GB of memory in your notebook, and definitely get DDR4-2666 because your notebook's processor should run the memory at the full 2666 MHz speed and not bridge to 2400 MHz as it does with most of the Intel 8th gen processors.
Adding faster memory than 2666 MHz would only bridge to 2666 MHz, so no performance benefit would be derived.
The parts list for your notebook's product number shows a single 8 GB memory chip came with the unit.
For HP laptops you often can find a "maintenance and service guide" document, which is intended for "authorized service centers" and describes exact procedures to disassemble a computer, replace or add components, together with a component HP product numbers. This is an example of such manual.
You can find it with, you know, google search " maintenance service guide" or like, just be as verbose as you can for model name, include a "generation" and so on. Just "hp spectre" is not enough (and with that you likely to find this example I linked to).
From such manual it must be clear if your computer has upgradable RAM or not, and also which RAM it supports.
