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  • nandnandnand - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    "Currently available HP Envy 15z can be equipped with either 6 GB (two DIMMs) or 8 GB (one DIMM) of DDR3L memory, so it is unclear whether they can support dual-channel mode or not."

    Does that mean you can take a laptop with 1 DIMM, fill the other available DIMM, and you have dual-channel mode?
  • BrokenCrayons - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    "Does that mean you can take a laptop with 1 DIMM, fill the other available DIMM, and you have dual-channel mode?"

    Without HP confirming that their new laptops will support dual-channel mode, there's no way to say yes or no to that question with any degree of confidence. Carrizo's problems with single-channel memory are covered in the deep dive Ian wrote recently:

    http://anandtech.com/show/10000/who-controls-user-...

    To sum it up, Carrizo and Carrizo-L are pin compatible processors, but Carrizo-L only supports single-channel. Because of this, laptop manufacturers may not bother with a second memory channel for non-L Carrizo CPUs due to the added cost of having a second design that enables the functionality.
  • Flunk - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    In most cases the laptops only have one DIMM slot.
  • Amoro - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    How can you have 6GB with 2 DIMMs? Do they make 3GB DDR3L RAM?
  • frelledstl - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    A lot of the time this means they have one 4GB stick and one 2GB stick. Without dual channel support, I guess vendors feel this is a cost effective solution?
  • meacupla - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    it's not limited to HP, but sometimes you get....
    4GB soldered + 2GB stick

    some asinine designs have 2GB soldered + 4GB stick.
  • tipoo - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    No, likely 4+2.
  • tipoo - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    HP doesn't give a crap about pairing for dual channel apparently.
  • Amoro - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    Duh. I feel stupid now. I guess the though never crossed my mind to mix different sized DIMMs.
  • tipoo - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    Because it's engrained in enthusiasts minds to match pairs for dual channel, right? It still annoys me that HP hobbles systems with single channel to save a buck. Especially the AMD APU systems that could benefit from dual channel the most.
  • h4rm0ny - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Don't feel stupid. To anyone who has grown up in a world of dual-channel it's an almost instinctive assumption. Single channel is antiquated for any decent processor like Carrizo. Hopefully HP will accept the small hit to their design costs and do a separate dual-channel design for these laptops. Articles like this might make them realize that not everybody buys a laptop based on just the bare numbers.
  • tipoo - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    HP has a pretty bad record for laptops with single channel iirc. Plus as an AMD model, as we saw with the other article, it's even more likely they skimped with the combined controller thing.
  • harrkev - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    I currently have an HP Pavilion with a Carrizo A10 (model 15-ab153nr) that I got from Office Depot.

    It had a single 8-GB module in it. I swapped that out for a pair of 4GB modules that I have lying around. It worked like a charm. I also swapped the HD with a SSD that I also was using on an older laptop. Good solid machine (except for the craptastic touch pad).

    Other than the touchpad, my biggest complaint is that to upgrade RAM, you have to remove a LOT of screws. Apparently, HP does not expect anybody to upgrade a Pavilion.
  • valinor89 - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    But is the memory running as dual chanel?
  • Gaugamela - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    I would like to applaud Anandtech for exposing the OEMs for crippling AMD APU based notebooks with boards that only supoprt single channel memory besides the already costumary terrible TN panels, crappy battery capacities and slow HDDs.
    If more tech sites did the amazing job that you did the other day and exerted more pressure for the OEMs to offer decent systems powered by AMD APU's the consumers would have a much wider range of options to choose from.
  • Murloc - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    fast HDDs still increase the cost too much in cheap laptops.

    If you shell out money, you can have an SSD and great battery life in an ultrabook.

    As far as panels go, there are offering that cost even more to satisfy that need too.
  • Gaugamela - Sunday, February 14, 2016 - link

    I don't want an ultrabook. I want an AMD system that isn't crippled.
  • Fullmetaldwarf - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    You do allready have laptops with AMD freesync tehnology,Asus N551ZU/ZE has that.
  • Pameela - Thursday, March 10, 2016 - link

    The current-gen HP Envy 15z notebooks are powered by AMD’s A10-8700P APU with the Radeon R6 graphics or AMD FX-8800P APU with the Radeon R7 graphics. The systems feature 15.6-inch displays with 1366x768 or 1920x1080 resolution and have a premium metallic finish to stay true to their Voodoo DNA. http://bit.ly/1p9z1me

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