Okay. So here's the scoop. We all know that technology has made leaps and bounds in recent years (decades). It's no surprise that our computers are getting faster and faster. Too often though, our software developers are a little bit ahead of their time. Or should I say that we consumers are power hungry and devour too much process for our hardware to handle. Well I'd like to discuss and query the nitty gritty details about some of the hardware limitations we face with certain builds.
If you were cool enough to read my last (and first) post you already know a bit about the situation I am in. I will go over it briefly and give a little more detail here. My hard drive crashed and I did some digging and got it running again on a clean version of windows 8.1 enterprise. I was slowly getting it set up the way I had it before the crash (minus some non essential data) and then it bit the dust for good. I decided to go with an upgrade whilst I had everything torn apart. I doubled my storage, doubled my cache, doubled the write speed, and increased the RPM by a third. I thought why not slap some more RAM in this mobo too. I could use more room to move while I am drafting. I'm in school right now, but soon I'd like to see myself drafting for industry, where I will likely be using the internet for email, parts/files, research, and I'll probably have other office like programs open at the same time. But being a noob I didn't check the max RAM limit. Although, I did make sure it was the right KIND of RAM. Consequently, my noob fail brought me to do some more research on the matter. I am as much a tinkerer as I am noob, so I have committed myself to learning about my mistake and finding a solution that resolves my inefficient RAM access.
I've soaked up a lot of info in the last 48 or so hours, so bear with me. What follows are excerpts from a convo I have been carrying with a techy family member.
ME--Sweet. I'm modding my laptop a bit since the hard drive completely bit the dust on Christmas. I put a new (upgraded) hard drive in and I got some more RAM thinking I could double the 6gb I already had with no problem since I'm running on x64 architecture. Unfortunately, I found out that it can only access 8gb max. Idk if you would have a better explanation for that than I have found in tech forums or not but to me it just doesn't make sense why a x64 wide processor is limited so much when technically a x32 processor running on PAE can access 64gb.
HIM--The 8gb limit is common and stupid. In reality it boils down to manufacturing costs. The choke point is at the data buses. It is costly to add bus lines because they have to upgrade every peice of hardware between the CPU and ram. Even if you dig hard and get a high end mother board that supports ram, you may find that a ram drive might be cheaper and it can access terabytes of ram. When I get some cash in a few months, I will be building a freak machine. The plan is to put money onto a few gigabytes of high speed ram and get a board with a best sata I can find and hook slow but cheap ram via ram drive.
ME--So there wouldn't be a way to switch out the processor and chipset to gain access to more RAM if the buses don't already exist on the motherboard? I'm trying to find a schematic to my PoS proprietary hp board which looks like it was manufactured by palwonn. Haven't had any luck. I have an AMD a6-4455m apu with an a70m chipset. It looks like there isn't much choice for an upgrade in the chipset department. But even if I could find compatible upgrades there is no way to tell if there will be a gain in accessible RAM unless I knew if the board supported it, right?
I'm super wikied out, but I think I may have stumbled on to something. Newer tech has begun to do away with the southbridge and replaced it with the Platform controller hub (PCH) which is now linked to the northbridge with a unified media interface or UMI (AMD). So with my a70m fusion controller hub (the PCH or southbridge) I have a x4 gen 1 UMI which is based on PCIe 1.1 x 4 lanes at 1gb/s bandwidth. Is that a limiting factor? In other words would a better processor with a beefier northbridge still be limited to 8gb of ram by that specific chipset?
On another note, would a compatible upgrade for the a70m with an updated UMI allow access to more RAM or would there be restrictions within the mobo itself that would nullify a newer chipset?
Along with any answers to the questions already posed in the conversation, I'd like to get some opinions or insight on a few more topics if it's not too much trouble for anyone. Firstly, as I already stated I'm having trouble finding any mapping schematics for my MoBo. All CPUid tells me is that it is an HP 193b. I looked up what I could find on HP's website but the only real useful item I have come across so far is the part number - 709174-501. Here is a picture of the bottom of it with the components labeled as best as I can tell.
If anyone has any info on changing out the CPU and/or PCH on this board or OEM boards in general and would like to share that would be much appreciated. If all you can do to help is find me a wiring diagram/schematic/mapping layout anything at all, that would be a start at least.
Another question is whether the APU with an integrated GPU is better than a CPU with a discrete GPU that has dedicated memory instead of having to allocate physical memory to different set of processes at the same time as all other data processes. It seems like having a separate and discrete graphics card that has it's own memory would be the better option, but the real question is if it is actually faster. Does having the graphics integrated into the CPU give an advantage (as far as processing performance goes) over having to run signal through a bus to/from a separate graphics card? I know that the discrete option would offer better graphics, but I'm not that big on games so graphics aren't that big of a deal for me. And like I said, I am a Manufacturing Drafter. I use CAD programs that eat up a good bit of graphic power while rendering. So, would I be better off with an APU with integrated graphics or an APU/GPU combo running off the GPU with the integrated graphics turned off? I tend to run other programs on top of and underneath my CAD application so I need more computing power. The reason I feel a need for improved RAM is that during the period between crashes I experienced some major lag while drafting. I shutdown all of the other programs like Firefox, word, windows explorer, winRAR, etc and still had ridiculous lag problems. This is getting to be a lot longer than I had expected.
Anyway, moving on, I am wondering about my cousin's suggestion of a RAM drive. Upon reading up on (what I could find about) these infernal logical drives made out of physical memory, it doesn't seem like it would help my case any. My computer is still only able to access 8gb of RAM and I wouldn't be saving any time when it comes to securing files or booting or having multiple programs open at once. I might be wrong on that last thing, but I assume you can only operate within the limit of your physical memory so every program that you have running on your RAM eats up more of your limited operating space because the program is loaded into the RAM plus all of it's processes are being computed within it. As for a SATA with a TB of storage there is basically a limitless amount of programs you can run as long as you have enough physical memory to accommodate the processes that occur within each program. I would be better off solving the issue I have been working on which is breaking into the rest of the memory I have available, right?
Sooo.....to clarify:
Would a RAM drive be worth investigating further in lieu of my pursuit for greater RAM?
What piece/s would need to be upgraded for me to enable my computer access to more RAM; I.e. which piece of the puzzle is the main culprit in the limiting factor (please don't say motherboard)?
Does anybody have access to schematics for my motherboard or any experience with replacing OEM PCB parts like CPU, GPU, Southbridge Chipset?
Suggestions for parts that are compatible with my motherboard? I really like the A10-5757m, but I can't seem to find it anywhere except AMD and forum/info sites. According to Wiki, my choices are limited for FCH's that are made for laptops if I stick with AMD. Does anybody know of something that would work with an AMD APU that serves the same function but would be an upgrade to my A70m?
While I'm upgrading everything else, would it be advisable to move to a discrete GPU with dedicated memory and turn of the graphics function of the APU? If so, what are your suggestions?
I think that sums it all up...
If you are really interested in helping me with my situation, not focused on telling me to go in a completely opposite direction by getting a new laptop, and you have the time to put together a list of components (AMD or other as long as they fit my application) that would work together and solve my problem, giving me more RAM I will consider giving you monies. Or maybe something else since I'm a little cash strapped at the moment having funds (that shouldn't be) tied up in this mess.
I THOUGHT THAT WOULD NEVER END.....
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
George