A few weeks ago, a friend asked me what the problem might be when all browsers stop working. More specifically: Whenever they tried to launch either Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox, they only got an error message saying they didn’t have sufficient permissions. It was a strange error – why would permissions suddenly be missing after years of trouble-free operation?

After some back-and-forth, we managed to install a new version of Mozilla Firefox with step-by-step phone instructions and finally installed AnyDesk using a working browser, which allowed me to take a look at the problem myself. That’s when a surprise came to light: The PC has been running Windows 8.1 Home, 64-bit, just as it always has!

Having gone without any updates for quite some time (end of life was on January 10, 2023!), the problem ultimately came down to expired root certificates. Continuing to run 8.1 wasn’t a viable option anyway, so I performed an in-place upgrade to Windows 10 22H2 remotely via AnyDesk. That took hours because the factory-installed 3.5″ WD hard drive with 1 TB capacity* is still the boot drive. The already very underpowered fourth-generation dual-core i3 is further severely hampered by the now very limited 4 GB of DDR3 RAM in the form of a single memory module. All in all, a significantly outdated system, but one with the potential to be upgraded very cost-effectively. That’s exactly what I did today, a few days later.

After a deep clean, everything looks so much brighter:

Upgrades

The PC is used solely for viewing photos and occasional web browsing. So there’s no reason to switch to the very latest and most expensive hardware. For a reasonable price, you can still get a lot out of this 2014 Acer Aspire, here’s a comparison of the current components and the planned upgrade:

The UEFI was already up to date; I checked that before taking anything apart. The reason is that newer processors within the same generation are usually only supported by updated microcode in the form of a newer BIOS or UEFI version. The planned i7-4790 is actually a refresh within Haswell-DT, so it’s even newer than the original i7 release models and incompatibilities cannot be ruled out.

Here are the components; everything except the CPU is from my own stash:

Processor replacement

This is incredibly easy thanks to the FC-LGA 1150 socket:

For thermal paste, I used the tried-and-true MX-4 from Arctic* and 99.9% isopropyl alcohol* to clean the components. I added the two new RAM modules, and lo and behold: POST was successful, and it’s running. Everything is recognized correctly in the UEFI. Now I just need to shrink the partitions, clone the hard drive to the SSD, and put everything back together.

Success?

For comparison purposes, I ran Cinebench R23 and the PassMark Performance Test v11.1 on the original hardware at the beginning and then again after the upgrade. Both tests were run on the same Windows 10 Home 64-bit system. This makes it easy to see the performance gains:

The performance gains are consistently very substantial and extremely noticeable. In particular, the integrated graphics unit – which is slightly more powerful in the i7 than in the i3 – benefits further from dual-channel operation with two memory modules (instead of just one as before). However, due to the patches addressing Spectre and Meltdown as well as other factors, the results do not quite match the reference scores. Here are the Cinebench screenshots:

Next, the PassMark results – though, due to a lack of internet connection at the time of testing, these are only available offline:

Last but not least, here is the HWiNFO overview of the respective configuration:

Der Beitrag Acer Aspire XC-605: A Late Upgrade in Times of Skyrocketing Storage Prices erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

As a 32-bit operating system, Windows XP can only handle a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. So far, so clear – but, similar to the RetroBooks, the PC should ultimately be quad-bootable, and everything after XP can address significantly more RAM in the 64-bit version. Besides, 4 GB of RAM with quad channel seems a bit strange – four 1 GB sticks, or what?

The maximum configuration without ECC on this board is 8 DDR3 sticks with 8 GB capacity each – 64 GB in total*. Pretty impressive for a 12-year-old system.

Fast RAM, matching the CPU rarity

At the time of the search, RAM was very cheap, especially the “old” standards such as DDR, DDR2, and DDR3. So I ended up buying two 32 GB kits (CMY32GX3M4A2400C11) on eBay, each consisting of four brand new Corsair Vengeance Pro modules with 2400 MHz, CL11 Volt XMP profile in red, which came directly from China. I suspect overproduction or stock items, as no discrepancies could be found upon closer inspection.

I chose red so that everything would match the motherboard, which is also red and black. The red component is made of aluminum and can be easily removed if necessary.

⧉ Corsair

The exact configuration of these memory modules is:

• DDR3-1333 as JEDEC basis with 1.5 volts
• XMP v1.3 on DDR3-2400 with 1.65 volts
• Clock rates with XMP then 11 – 13 – 13 – 31 CR2

I paid around €140 for all eight bars, but now the same kits cost more than double that at the same retailer. I was lucky.

Der Beitrag <h5>Retro-XP-PC #4: </h5><h3><b>RAM?</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

As with the previous processors, the documents from HP provide some assistance.

The original service and maintenance manual for both models can also be found here:
https://www.levnapc.cz/ProductsFiles/hp-elitebook-8540p-8540w-manual-en.pdf (archive.org)

On page 60, there is an overview of the memory modules that are supported:

It’s a bit strange that the smaller modules are listed as 1600 MHz, which, to my knowledge, is not supported by any of the processors that run on the motherboard/chipset. It doesn’t make any difference; faster RAM is simply throttled down. I suspect that this made it easier for HP in terms of hardware inventory management. 1600 MHz was standard for DDR3 in many devices at that time and especially in the years that followed.

The maximum RAM for the models would be as follows:

Digression: RAM designs

To briefly explain, as there is often little differentiation between them, there are generally three types of DDR RAM designs, which apply to DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5. This will likely also apply to their successors.

Design	Description	Application	Modular / interchangeable?	Types
DIMM	Dual Inline Memory Module	Desktop, Server	Yes	UDIMM, RDIMM, NV-DIMM, etc.
SO-DIMM	Small Outline – Dual Inline Memory Module	Mobile	Yes	UDIMM, RDIMM
LP	Low Power	Ultra-Mobile, Smartphones, Tablets, etc.	No	unbuffered or registered possible

More detailed information here: DIMM

Provided that the RAM has not been soldered (which is unfortunately increasingly the case with modern devices), ONLY SO-DIMM modules fit into a notebook; in the case of the 8540p, this is the DDR3 variant.

If the notebook is to be used exclusively for Windows XP, a total of 4 GB RAM is optimal, preferably in the form of two modules with a capacity of 2 GB each (dual channel operation). As a 32-bit operating system, XP cannot address more than 4 GiB, regardless of how much memory is installed.

In our case, I am utilizing the maximum amount of RAM that fits into an 8540p motherboard, namely two DDR3L SO-DIMM modules, each with 8 GB, 1600 MHz* from the manufacturer SK Hynix, which adds up to a total of 16 GB.
After all, I’m planning a multi-boot setup, more on that later.

By choosing an i7-840QM as my CPU, I can achieve clock speeds of up to 1333 MHz – so my memory modules are throttled, but fortunately in exchange for slightly better latencies:

It is important to note that DDR SDRAM (DDR stands for Double Data Rate) specifies twice the clock rate, as data is transferred on both the rising and falling edges of each clock cycle.

However, the screenshot above shows the “real” clock rates – 666.7 is actually 666.6667 period and corresponds to 1333.3334 period MHz clock. This therefore matches the maximum capacity of the CPU (“1333 MHz”). I’m glad that these memory modules seem to have these latencies etc. stored in the SPD chip ex works and that the appropriate values for the clock are applied automatically (probably by the BIOS). Lucky me.

There are no settings for this in the BIOS of the 8540p, so it’s all the better that everything is detected and set fully automatically. Cheap no-name modules will probably not have these functionalities, or at least not completely, so be careful!

In my case, I had another, slightly newer notebook that was irreparably defective (I destroyed it myself…PROCHOT Override, burned out – another story), from which four of these bars were “left over”—ideal, two for each of the two 8540ps. I had previously purchased eight of these bars at auction for a good price (at the time) – according to the description at the time, they had been removed from Apple Mac Minis.

SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron (Crucial), and Kingston are all reputable brands; I usually tend to go with Samsung.
There are many model names, but not many memory manufacturers, so it’s best to do your research carefully.

Digression: Types of DDR3 SO-DIMMs

It is important to mention that there are two widely used versions of DDR3 as SO-DIMM in the mobile sector and one less common version:

I have never seen the “U” variant in the wild, but DDR3L is very common in devices that came onto the market later in the DDR3 life cycle. It is also backward compatible with “normal” DDR3 and can therefore be used as a direct replacement for DDR3 in most cases (as is the case with the 8540p).

But be careful:

The early CPUs of the first generation Core i, and especially those before that, i.e. Core 2 and earlier, are in exceptional cases very sensitive to RAM, which, like the processors themselves, is known to consist of silicon dies manufactured using different lithography processes.
Old processors can sometimes only handle the “older,” “coarser” RAM modules. This problem was particularly pronounced in the Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Quad era, when the basic structure of a motherboard/chipset was still somewhat different.

This also has something to do with the fact that these older processors usually had to cope with two generations of RAM (e.g., DDR2 or DDR3) and therefore simply seem to be more sensitive.

Finally, on the subject of RAM, it should be noted that there are general differences in the configuration of the individual modules, but these are not relevant in this upgrade project, as the memory controller is located in the CPU and, except for overclockable Intel processors, determines the maximum clock speed (1333 MHz for the i7-840QM, which is fixed).

For example, there are SS and DS modules, i.e., single-sided and double-sided. There are also ranks that do not necessarily follow the configuration: single rank, dual rank, and quad rank.
The whole thing is definitely a science in itself, just as RAM overclocking is a complex topic.

We continue with the most important of all upgrades, provided that a hard disk drive (HDD) was still installed.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #4: </h5><h3><b>Upgrade – RAM</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.