0

Compaq's SG3745IL model specifies its maximum install-able memory as 4GB DDR2. However many as people have found success installing more than specified memory I'm wanting to upgrade my system's memory to 8GB or atleast to 6GB. Will my chipset be able to support it ? My chipset as I found under my Compaq model's specifications was NForce 430. Could I upgrade it? My OS is win7-64.

Rajat Gupta
  • 713
  • 3
  • 11
  • 27

2 Answers2

2

The product page for the mainboard mentions:

Supports up to 4 GB* on 32 bit PCs

Which is very unhelpful, since the system already comes with a 64bit CPU.

But the key is in the line above that one:

Supports 2GB DDR2 DIMMs

It has two slots. Both of which support 2GB DIMMs. That's it.

But if you already know people who managed to run it with more, maybe you should ask them how they did that.

Oliver Salzburg
  • 86,445
  • 63
  • 260
  • 306
1

Yes.

Regarding oliver's post - if you pull up the system specs they will usually feed you the information that the pre-installeOS (usually 32 bit) supports. on the bottom of the page of all the links provided, both by the askee and by oliver - go to the bottom right of the page and click "product information", then expand "motherboard specifications"

They like to bury the real facts....

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00906129&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=3913359&query=SG3745IL&tool=#N131

I run into this question often, and usually a few google searches will result an answer.

the trick is usually finding what the real motherboard model# is... manufacturer web site - system specifications is usually the easiest then search for keywords like: motherboard model# max ram motherboard model# bios update max ram

the manufacturer web site is often the most informative, in this case it indicates your mainboard is made by Asus, "Asus M2N68-LA"

Bear in mind that these mainboards, though usually made by another company, often are customized by the manufacturer through bios or other modifications.

If bios updates are available, I usually install them, ecpecially if they fix something important...

In your case, it doesn't appear bios updates are available, but several other drivers/updates are available that you may want to install: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=4063&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3913359#N332

David K
  • 21
  • 2
  • The product page says the board is the [Narra5L](http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01701291&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3913359#N145) and not the board you linked to in your answer. Does that not make a difference? – Oliver Salzburg Feb 27 '12 at 21:04
  • here's the correct link - compaq users specs link in the original question, click product information, motherboard specifications... http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00906129&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=3913359#N131 – David K Feb 27 '12 at 21:06
  • 1
    What I'm saying is: There are many different versions of the Asus M2N68-LA. The version you are referring to (Narra) **does** support more than 4GB of RAM. The version that is in the SG3745IL (Narra5L, which the OP has), **does not** support more than 4GB of RAM. – Oliver Salzburg Feb 27 '12 at 21:11
  • @OliverSalzburg indeed there are 8 versions of the M2N68-LA motherboard....http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/searchResults?tmp_qt=M2N68-LA&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&submit= – Moab Feb 27 '12 at 22:04
  • I stand corrected - 4gb is indeed the max for the 5L. I'd still pop the case and see how many slots are in it - 2 slots = 4gb, 4 slots = 8gb. – David K Feb 27 '12 at 23:09
  • Can I try adding 4gb in each of the sockets, are there any chances that it might work ? Some people have found success in installing more than the supported RAM, I hope that it might work for me as well !? – Rajat Gupta Feb 28 '12 at 07:41
  • I just noticed there is space for 4 memory sockets (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf-JAVA/Doc/images/c02261457.jpg) but only 2 sockets are installed, is there any way to add more sockets on the board so that total becomes 4 sockets !? – Rajat Gupta Feb 28 '12 at 07:51
  • @user No. The actual plastic board part is used in many different boards (most likely the whole Narra series). Some boards will have different amount of slots depending on how many they can support. *Expanding* a mainboard like you want to do is generally to be considered impossible. – Oliver Salzburg Feb 28 '12 at 10:24
  • ok so is it worth to try using 4 GB each in 2 slots provided ? any chances that it might work ? – Rajat Gupta Feb 28 '12 at 11:47