Memory Which would be fastest/best RAM MEMORY possible for HP800 G1 SFF computer?

[Bangforbuck]

I have https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitedesk-800-g1-small-form-factor-pc/5387475
(i5 4590 3.3 GHZ, 860 EVO SAMSUNG SSD disk, INTEL HD 4600 GPU, 240 W PSU...)
and am wondering which RAM would be fully compatible with my computer and (very) fast for games.
I cannot even find info which motherboard is in it to look myself, and even with that I probably would not have a clue.

I would really like it if bought RAM would be very well used and optimally balanced with my other components too.
Best value for money would be also prefered, but not necessary, any info is welcome.

DDR3, DDR4? Clock speed MHZ? Suggested RAM brands and models? Etc...

Whatever you write, I would be grateful for

 

[rfarmer]

I have https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitedesk-800-g1-small-form-factor-pc/5387475
(i5 4590 3.3 GHZ, 860 EVO SAMSUNG SSD disk, INTEL HD 4600 GPU, 240 W PSU...)
and am wondering which RAM would be fully compatible with my computer and (very) fast for games.
I cannot even find info which motherboard is in it to look myself, and even with that I probably would not have a clue.

I would really like it if bought RAM would be very well used and optimally balanced with my other components too.
Best value for money would be also prefered, but not necessary, any info is welcome.

DDR3, DDR4? Clock speed MHZ? Suggested RAM brands and models? Etc...

Whatever you write, I would be grateful for

That is an 1150 socket Haswell CPU. 1600 MHz DDR3. It is not a K processor so you can't used faster ram. Honestly there were literally hundreds of different types of 1600 MHz ram, take a look at this and read through the reviews.

I just found this link for ram upgrade for the 800 G1 from HP support site.

 

[sheepdog43]

Ram speed itself is generally only noticable on benchmarks, often falls within the margin of error and is generally not felt in the "seat of the pants". It will often let you overclock more (when you can), but in terms of performance you can notice faster ram by itself does pretty much nothing. Spend your money on more ram, not necessarily faster ram.

You need DDR3L-1866 (also known as PC3-14900).
DDR3L is low power ddr3 memory, basic memory will do perfectly fine in such a system. You don't need fancy brand, rgb or heat spreaders. Get two 8gig sticks and call it done, this is all your system can handle.

Beyond ram, I wouldn't put any more money into this box, the cpu is good, but it's showing it's age and the form factor really limits your upgrade path.

 

[Bangforbuck]

You need DDR3L-1866 (also known as PC3-14900).
DDR3L is low power ddr3 memory, basic memory will do perfectly fine in such a system. You don't need fancy brand, rgb or heat spreaders. Get two 8gig sticks and call it done, this is all your system can handle.

Beyond ram, I wouldn't put any more money into this box, the cpu is good, but it's showing it's age and the form factor really limits your upgrade path.

Now I have 2x4GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS 1600 RAM, and I now ordered 2x4GB of the same RAM so I will have 16GB of GENESIS RAM.
(By the way-Unfortunatelly I cannot setup XMP in BIOS of OEM computer, do you know some other way or some software with which I could
turn on XMP and have all 4 slots of RAM in DC DUAL CHANNEL? XMP could make couple of percent improvement?)
Basically you are saying there isn't much difference, and the RFARMER responded here that 1600 MHZ DDR3 RAM could be best on my motherboard,
althought on his link I see CRUCIAL has 1866 RAM made optimal for HP800G1 tower (I have SFF, but it does not matter).

Even if I put on motherboard DDR3L-1866 RAM (also known as PC3-14900), there wouldn't be much difference than 1600, right?
It wouldn't be more about 5% faster in games, right?

Yes exactly, good point, I was thinking the same even before I posted to this FORUM - this box is limited,
when I saw I couldn't upgrade GPU much, I got an idea I could get in faster RAM and put GENESIS RAM out of HP800.
(best would be GT 1030 Low profile 35W GPU, right? And even this needs 300W PSU, I have 240W only,
plus benchmark is only 3 times better than integrated HD 4600 GPU,
which wouldn't make much difference for about 5 year old games and Android EMULATOR, right?
I do not need 1080p or stuff like that though, HOWEVER I was also thinking to try ANDROID and iOS emulators for games,
which seem very demanding for specs).

Another option would be to change the HP PSU for 320W HP PSU, I do not know is the correct model, but If
I found a good offer with good price for used one, that might be better than buying and setting everything on new computer, right?
Then I could put in some 75W LOW PROFILE GPU like GTX 1050TI Low profile or similar, although they seem more expensive
in LP version, which makes it even more expensive as I would already use money for 320 HP PSU and possibly shipping
(it would then be better to save that money for another computer or a game console).

Probably smartest would be to buy 2x8GB GENESIS DDR3 1600 RAM, so that I would then have 24GB RAM, right?
In the future I could even buy more and have 4x8GB GENESIS 1600RAM=32 GB
(and use 4GB GENESIS RAMS in another computer, it's good that RAMs are so 'transferable' and I wouln't lose money on it,
as I would on PSU and GPU upgrade).

 

[sheepdog43]

You can't enable XMP outside of bios. It may be built in and just not in the menus, which means it can be done through a bios hack/tweak, but that's a rabbit hole you're best not to go wandering down as it can destroy everything, and it won;t help anyhow.

Even if if faster but equal quantity ram gave you a 5% improvement you generally you need 10% increase in total system speed to actually see/feel a difference. 10% is about what you get going from one generation system to the next and that usually comes from cpu, chipset and ram improvements. More importantly, think about what 5% means, if you're getting 50fps now, a 5% improvement is only 2.5fps and that would require everything going 5% faster, not just ram. You would notice 2.5 frames down at 25fps, but that's 10% not 5%.

You may want to check, you may already have the 320watt psu, it's still not enough for a 1050 in my opinion.
The problem with changing it with something else is it may not fit the case (or be wired different, wouldn't be the first time). That means a new case but then you have to make sure the motherboard is a standard size, it's not always a sure thing in an SFF. That means a new motherboard and unless you go used, that means a new processor and ram.

24 or 32 gigs of ram, to do what with? Do you actually have a use case for it?
That's a $120 of ram into a system barely worth that, which you will never get back. It is NOT usable in newer boards and the number of systems/people who use it is declining every day, in other words you will never get anywhere close to what you paid for it once you are done with it. Anything over 16 gigs, unless you have a specific use case for it is going to be wasted.

My advice is don't spend anything on this, at all. Invest in something newer (or even the same age) that actually has an upgrade path.

 

[Bangforbuck]

You can't enable XMP outside of bios.

Even if if faster but equal quantity ram gave you a 5% improvement you generally you need 10% increase in total system speed to actually see/feel a difference.

You may want to check, you may already have the 320watt psu, it's still not enough for a 1050 in my opinion.

24 or 32 gigs of ram, to do what with? Do you actually have a use case for it?
That's a $120 of ram into a system barely worth that, which you will never get back. It is NOT usable in newer boards and the number of systems/people who use it is declining every day, in other words you will never get anywhere close to what you paid for it once you are done with it. Anything over 16 gigs, unless you have a specific use case for it is going to be wasted.

XMP seems it could speed things up, question is how much-well I cannot set it up in HP OEM anyways...
Big improvement after turning on XMP.

I gave 5% as example, I have no clue how much XMP could improve speeds in reality
If system slows down 1600 RAM to 1333 RAM, do all RAM SLOTS work then with only 1333 clock?
If I would play an intensive game for specs, would then the Motherboard automatically push up all my RAMs to 1600 speed
(at least while higher RAM speed would be needed)?

I have 240W PSU, I opened the computer to check-it is standard one.

GTX 1050(ti) LP models and many similar cards have mostly 75W power required and 300W PSU recommended, why do you think 320W PSU would not be enough?

I was thinking about 24 or 32 GB RAM just by the way, so that I see what to do in the future, especially as I cannot
substantially upgrade GPU (and PSU for it)-this RAM upgrade might compensate things, at least thats my idea
If I would see my 16GB of RAMs would often use at least 15GB (and I read that GAMES and ANDROID EMULATORs for games can be demanding),
that would probably be good time to go to 24GB,...
I could use PERFMON and PROCESS EXPLORER to log RAM usage history to see it (I tried software like this already in the past and it slowed down my other slower PC a lot, do you know some other tools too?

Me and my friend have few 'older' computers with DDR3 RAM, there is always a place for good RAM to put inside, especially if I find good priced used RAM
Although I was just thinking that if I bought another GPU like GT1030 or AMD RX550, that if it would not be good to have it in HP800 for whatever reason,
I could just put it in my other computer, as I just read that GPU can be very beneficial for PC speed even when not playing games (Youtube, surfing,...)
(By the way-do you think these 35W and 50W GPUs I mentioned would safely work long term with 240W HP PSU?)

 

[Valantar]

XMP seems it could speed things up, question is how much-well I cannot set it up in HP OEM anyways...
Big improvement after turning on XMP.

I gave 5% as example, I have no clue how much XMP could improve speeds in reality
If system slows down 1600 RAM to 1333 RAM, do all RAM SLOTS work then with only 1333 clock?
If I would play an intensive game for specs, would then the Motherboard automatically push up all my RAMs to 1600 speed
(at least while higher RAM speed would be needed)?

I have 240W PSU, I opened the computer to check-it is standard one.

GTX 1050(ti) LP models and many similar cards have mostly 75W power required and 300W PSU recommended, why do you think 320W PSU would not be enough?

I was thinking about 24 or 32 GB RAM just by the way, so that I see what to do in the future, especially as I cannot
substantially upgrade GPU (and PSU for it)-this RAM upgrade might compensate things, at least thats my idea
If I would see my 16GB of RAMs would often use at least 15GB (and I read that GAMES and ANDROID EMULATORs for games can be demanding),
that would probably be good time to go to 24GB,...
I could use PERFMON and PROCESS EXPLORER to log RAM usage history to see it (I tried software like this already in the past and it slowed down my other slower PC a lot, do you know some other tools too?

Me and my friend have few 'older' computers with DDR3 RAM, there is always a place for good RAM to put inside, especially if I find good priced used RAM
Although I was just thinking that if I bought another GPU like GT1030 or AMD RX550, that if it would not be good to have it in HP800 for whatever reason,
I could just put it in my other computer, as I just read that GPU can be very beneficial for PC speed even when not playing games (Youtube, surfing,...)
(By the way-do you think these 35W and 50W GPUs I mentioned would safely work long term with 240W HP PSU?)

The Reddit post is from a user with a Ryzen CPU. Those gain far more than Intel CPUs from faster RAM due to the clock speed of their internal bus (Infinity Fabric) being linked to the clock speed of the system RAM. In other words: ignore that, it doesn't apply to your system.

In general, on Intel platforms performance gains from faster memory within the same generation of DDR are negligible, often not noticeable at all, in gaming applications. There are exceptions to this, but they are few and far between. Don't bother. As said by multiple people above: spend your money on more RAM, not faster, but don't buy more than you can use. If your heaviest use case is gaming, 16GB is plenty. For reference, I've been on 8GB of single-channel DDR4-3000 on my Ryzen system for the past couple of months as I lent one of my RAM sticks to a friend - and frankly, I've barely noticed the difference. I played through the entirety of Middle Earth: Shadow of War at 1440p with this setup and never had any issues.

As for your PSU questions: A 240W PSU is plenty for a GTX 1030 - the 300W recommendation is bonkers, complete idiocy. The card has a 35W TDP, might spike to 50W in extreme cases, and then only for a few milliseconds. Even if you were running a 140W HEDT CPU, 240W would be sufficient (if the CPU didn't exceed its TDP, that is). I have stuffed an RX 570 (a 150W GPU) into an old Dell Optiplex SFF (see this thread) which has a 240W PSU - but in reality a 200W PSU, as that's the maximum 12V output - and it works fine while gaming. It comes very close to the line (I've seen 265W measured at the wall, which translates to something like 175W internal 12V draw with its terrible 65% efficiency), but so far it's been stable. In other words, even a 75W GTX 1050 should be perfectly fine with a half-decent 240W PSU as long as there are the right connectors to provide it power. Of course, with an old PSU there's always risk of it not being able to deliver its rated output, but at least for the 1030 you ought to be entirely safe.

If you decide to go for a 1050, check the PC's manual if the motherboard slot is capable of outputting 75W of power. SFF systems often have their PCIe slots limited to 35W - this was the case for mine, at least - and then you'd need a GPU with a 6-pin PCIe connector and a matching connector on your PSU for it to work. This was what led me to the RX 570 - it was the cheapest externally powered GPU I could find at the time. AFAIK, there are no current or previous-gen low-profile GPUs with power connectors.

 

[Bangforbuck]

....In other words, even a 75W GTX 1050 should be perfectly fine with a half-decent 240W PSU as long as there are the right connectors to provide it power. Of course, with an old PSU there's always risk of it not being able to deliver its rated output, but at least for the 1030 you ought to be entirely safe.

If you decide to go for a 1050, check the PC's manual if the motherboard slot is capable of outputting 75W of power. SFF systems often have their PCIe slots limited to 35W - this was the case for mine, at least - and then you'd need a GPU with a 6-pin PCIe connector and a matching connector on your PSU for it to work. This was what led me to the RX 570 - it was the cheapest externally powered GPU I could find at the time. AFAIK, there are no current or previous-gen low-profile GPUs with power connectors.

By not having XMP option, and I think two of my four GENESIS 1600 RAMs do not work at full 1600 speed (I once looked at GPU-Z software),
how much percent is then RAM slower in computer like mine? Are we speaking closer to 1% or closer to 10%?

I do not know where to find and look in PC MANUAL for motherboard max power output. Plus 1050 seems not completely safe for me.
With RX 550 with 50W power needed, I would be completely safe?

 

[Valantar]

By not having XMP option, and I think two of my four GENESIS 1600 RAMs do not work at full 1600 speed (I once looked at GPU-Z software),
how much percent is then RAM slower in computer like mine? Are we speaking closer to 1% or closer to 10%?

I do not know where to find and look in PC MANUAL for motherboard max power output. Plus 1050 seems not completely safe for me.
With RX 550 with 50W power needed, I would be completely safe?

For the latter: again, that depends on the power output of your PCIe slot. See if you can find a detailed manual for your PC, it should be stated in the section listing the motherboard I/O. Unless someone is familiar with that specific manual your best bet is going to be reading it thoroughly. If there's no overview of the PCIe slots in the manual, check if there's a technical manual or service manual.

For the memory question: a system can't run several different memory speeds simultaneously (there's only one memory controller), so if some of your sticks are running at 1600, all of them are. Use CPU-Z, not GPU-Z to figure out which speed your RAM is actually running at. DDR3-1600 is a JEDEC standard speed, and should be supported on all platforms new enough for the standard to be implemented. Some early DDR3 Intel platforms were limited to DDR3-1333 JEDEC, if you're on one of those platforms you'll never see 1600 no matter what, as you'd need XMP or memory OC support, which pre-built systems like this never have.

If I were to guess at the gaming performance difference between your system with DDR3-1600 and a theoretical Z-series chipset system with the same CPU and 1866 or 2133 RAM, I'd wager the performance difference in games to be <5% at all times, and certainly not noticeable no matter what. CPU and GPU are going to be far more of a bottleneck for you than the RAM, so don't worry about it.