Need help bypassing limitation.

andrecastillo

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Sep 9, 2011
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I've got an MSI CR720. I love this laptop except for one thing. I can't upgrade the RAM past 4GB.

Here's the scoop:
- Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor 2.26GHz
- Front-side Bus 1066 MHz
- Cache 3MB
- RAM 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3
- Size 17.3"
- Chipset Intel® HM55
- GPU Intel® GMA HD
- Video Memory Share
- HDD Capacity 320GB
- Optical Drive Type BD Combo

My OS is Ubuntu and I'm a developer that must use multiple VMs at the same time. Recently I've been hitting the top of my RAM 3.7GB. I hate when my system starts using swap because everything starts slowing down. So my goal is to do some serious upgrading. I want to upgrade processor, RAM, HD, everything if possible. But first RAM.

I can't seem to get it through my head that this system won't accept more than 4GB of RAM. Considering that any new laptop with a Core i3 or higher can take more than 4GB it's incomprehensible that this system can't do the same.

That's where you come in. I need someone to tell me that there is something that can be done. Would a BIOS update work to allow 8GB. Is there hack, does anyone know what motherboard my system is using, is there any way around this 4GB limit. It's a 64 Bit system, I thought they were supposed to be past the 4GB limit.

Thanks for any help.
 
Solution
My guess is that if it has 2 DIMM slots, it will support 8GB just fine. Sometimes it's just that they didn't bother qualifying the device with that much so they simply put 4GB as the limit. The other thing is that if it ships with a 32 bit OS, saying it supports 8GB might have been interpreted as false advertising.
Any CPU upgrade you could do would be a sideways move, unless your motherboard accepts one of the i7 quad core CPUs.

No need to guess what motherboard your laptop has.
Run CPU-z and the Mainboard tab will tell you all the details you need to know.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
softwares-cpuz-03.jpg


 

Chainzsaw

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Dec 31, 2002
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Hello,

Just did a quick search. Your laptop is a general purpose laptop. It cannot upgrade past 4GB. It may be possible to hack in more ram, but the amount of effort to do that wouldn't be worthwhile (in my opinion), and your likely to damage it if you try to hack it. The limit isn't your OS, but your motherboard and BIOS.

You need a better laptop for more than 4GB of RAM.

The next best thing you could do is get an SSD drive if you are unwilling to get a new laptop that supports more than 4GB of RAM.
 

Zenthar

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My guess is that if it has 2 DIMM slots, it will support 8GB just fine. Sometimes it's just that they didn't bother qualifying the device with that much so they simply put 4GB as the limit. The other thing is that if it ships with a 32 bit OS, saying it supports 8GB might have been interpreted as false advertising.
 
Solution

AntiZig

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if you are looking for such vast upgrades as CPU on a laptop, I think you should consider a new laptop. I understand new laptop seems like a huge investment if you only had current one for like 2 years, but seriously, consider it. Because once you start upgrading parts in a laptop you got to look at some other things you typically don't have to worry about in a desktop. Like, will your mobo provide enough power for the new components? will the DC adapter provide enough power? how about heat dissipation? if you putting in better processor, chances are it will eat more energy and produce more heat, same thing for everything else. Can the cooling system handle it?
You'd be correct if you do all the hardware installations yourself it will be quite cheap only paying for components, but add up how much everything will cost, consider if you have to get a new dc adapter and a laptop cooling pad. Will it really be that much cheaper than getting a brand new laptop and selling your current one to recover some money?

That motherboard will support up to 1st generation i7 processors. (link)
Interestingly enough, your 430 isn't listed as a compatible processor...

What WR2 suggesting for RAM, sounds like a good solution, question is whether the motherboard can provide enough power for those 4gb sticks and if your processor can support them.

according to 1st gen i7 spec sheet, 1-gb and 2-gb DDR3 ram technologies are supported. So, as I understand it the only way to get 8Gb is by motherboard having 4 RAM slots.
 

DelroyMonjo

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I just looked at the same Crucial site as shown above by WR2. For your laptop model it only shows 4GB max.

Memory Type: DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 PC3-8500, DDR3 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 4GB
Slots: 2
Each memory slot can hold DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 PC3-8500 with a maximum of 2GB per slot.*
*Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.
 

Zenthar

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The website will follow whatever spec the manufacturer provides. The site says the max memory for my Netbook is 2GB and it is happily running with 4GB ...
 

andrecastillo

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Anyone wanna buy a used laptop?

lol

I guess, I'm gonna purchase some ram, see what happens, if it works, great, if not, I need a new laptop. As for the CPU, I can live without a new one, but the RAM is really killing me.
 
DelroyMonjo is right though;
If you plug in the correct model number @ the Crucial site CR 720 (and not the CX 720 which I used by mistake) you'd have seen that Crucial is only suggesting 4GB for your model.

And as Zenthar suggests it might be possible to run 8GB anyway.
Both the CR 720 and CX 720 use Arrandale Core I CPUs and a HM55 chipset on the motherboard. Although Im guessing the motherboards might be different; CR has an express card slot and CX doesn't, for example.

You should be prepared that it won't work though.
And I support AntiZig's suggestion that most reasonable upgrade path is a new laptop. This is especially true if it's holding back the work that earns you a living.
 

halcyon

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Wow...didn't even know contemporary laptops could have such a limitation as a 4GB RAM limit. Is that even legal? :heink:
 

andrecastillo

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Ok, all, tested and the results are in. I'm officially a member of the 8GB club. It worked. Screw what MSI says on their website.

Now, the next step is an SSD. Before I do that though I need to know if anyone has a suggestion to rectify the following issue. My laptop has a BD Combo drive, when I take it out the connections look like SATA but they don't match that of my SATA HD drive. They are a bit bigger. I wanted to find some way of replacing my BD Combo Drive with a hard drive so that my OS would sit on my main SSD, and all my other stuff could be on the regular drive.

So, firstly. Anyone experience a good increase in performance with SSD? Secondly, anyone have an idea what this connection can be, and if there are any ways to utilize it to connect a hard drive.

Thanks.
 

Chainzsaw

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Well nice going andre, didn't think it would work! Haha proves how much i know...apparently :p

As for your combo drive....well you should start a new thread as this will get confusing.

If i were you i would give zenthar the "best answer" as he was the first to say 8GB would be fine.