- Oct 17, 2011
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So, my wife is switching over from using her SMART Slate with her Macbook Air (provided by the college she works at), & I now get to use her HP ProBook 4530s. I know that, since we bought it back in 2012, the specs are a little dated now (core i3-2350M Sandy Bridge CPU, PC3-10600/1333MHz DDR3 RAM, 500GB HD, Intel HD 3000 iGPU), but I'm not planning on major gaming with it -- most likely limited to Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, maybe Age of Empires 2/Starcraft/Rise of Nations, maybe even Halo: CE -- so for the most part it should be fine.
That being said, I wouldn't mind perhaps improving it a little bit. It has the original "Hyundai" RAM in it (4GB stick, appears to be CAS 9 based on CPU-Z), but there's a 2nd slot available. Normally, I'd have just made sure that I found a compatible part for it. The problem is, even HP doesn't seem to exactly provide the same part anymore. They list a replacement part on their support site for my particular laptop (using its serial #), but when I look for that part on Amazon, for example, it lists it as PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3, with a CAS 11. And that's not just for the 3rd-party sellers, or even well-known brands like Kingston or Crucial. I'm talking about HP-branded RAM direct from HP itself.
Now, my questions are:
1. Do I ignore the CAS differences as being due to the rated speed differences (i.e. does CAS 9 @ 1333MHz = CAS 11 @ 1600 MHz)?
2. If there's a difference, then is there also a difference between CAS & CL, or are they just different ways of listing the latency?
3. Would it be better to get the HP-branded RAM (even though technically both sticks would be rated at different speeds), or would I be better off starting fresh with a new set of two 4GB sticks?
The main reason I'm asking is that HP wants about $90 USD for a single 4GB "replacement" stick, but I can pick up a 2x4GB Crucial kit from the local Micro Center for about half that ($50 USD for CL 11, $60 USD for CL 9).
4. Whichever way I go, is it going to be difficult to pop the new RAM in place, or should I consider paying Micro Center to install it for me?
That being said, I wouldn't mind perhaps improving it a little bit. It has the original "Hyundai" RAM in it (4GB stick, appears to be CAS 9 based on CPU-Z), but there's a 2nd slot available. Normally, I'd have just made sure that I found a compatible part for it. The problem is, even HP doesn't seem to exactly provide the same part anymore. They list a replacement part on their support site for my particular laptop (using its serial #), but when I look for that part on Amazon, for example, it lists it as PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3, with a CAS 11. And that's not just for the 3rd-party sellers, or even well-known brands like Kingston or Crucial. I'm talking about HP-branded RAM direct from HP itself.
Now, my questions are:
1. Do I ignore the CAS differences as being due to the rated speed differences (i.e. does CAS 9 @ 1333MHz = CAS 11 @ 1600 MHz)?
2. If there's a difference, then is there also a difference between CAS & CL, or are they just different ways of listing the latency?
3. Would it be better to get the HP-branded RAM (even though technically both sticks would be rated at different speeds), or would I be better off starting fresh with a new set of two 4GB sticks?
The main reason I'm asking is that HP wants about $90 USD for a single 4GB "replacement" stick, but I can pick up a 2x4GB Crucial kit from the local Micro Center for about half that ($50 USD for CL 11, $60 USD for CL 9).
4. Whichever way I go, is it going to be difficult to pop the new RAM in place, or should I consider paying Micro Center to install it for me?
/www.crucial.com/usa/en/probook-4530s/CT2294883
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