Acer Helios 500 - RAM upgrade

skyrunner86

hi everyone,

i'm seriously considering a purchase of Acer Helios 500 with Ryzen 7 CPU. Apparently it's an issue to have Ryzen 7 CPU paired with RAM with frequency set to 2400 Mhz. I'm no expert in this matter, but i've heard it's a limiting factor for AMD Ryzen. I've seen reviews criticizing Acer for putting such a slow memory into this model. So i consider replacing out of the box memory sticks  (2 x 8 GB 2400Mhz) with 2 x 16 GB 2666 Mhz CL 15. Are there any manuals describing how to get to less accessible RAM slots where stock RAM sticks are mounted?

laurent_14

Hello,

You'll find informations in this procedure:

https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/60682

skyrunner86

thanks for your reply. The problem is that i want to replace 2 stock RAM sticks with more capable components. This laptop has 4 RAM slots. Two are occupied by stock memory sticks, the other two are free and easily accessible (as described in the link you provided). So the trick is the get rid of 2 slow memory sticks in the less accessible area.

sri369

skyrunner86 said:

I've seen reviews criticizing Acer for putting such a slow memory into this model. So i consider replacing out of the box memory sticks  (2 x 8 GB 2400Mhz) with 2 x 16 GB 2666 Mhz CL 15.

Out of curiosity, are you intending to replace these cos some reviewers said 2400 is slow and should use 2666, or did you feel that the system was infact slower than what it is supposed to be?

skyrunner86

sri369 said:

skyrunner86 said:

I've seen reviews criticizing Acer for putting such a slow memory into this model. So i consider replacing out of the box memory sticks  (2 x 8 GB 2400Mhz) with 2 x 16 GB 2666 Mhz CL 15.

Out of curiosity, are you intending to replace these cos some reviewers said 2400 is slow and should use 2666, or did you feel that the system was infact slower than what it is supposed to be?

I want to have as capable piece of hardware as i can without limiting factors. If i hear, that 2400 memory isn't working well with the AMD CPU, then it's a thing to get rid of for me. I will also replace mediocre SSD as well as HDD, but this is not a problem - IF i decide to buy this laptop. I don't own this laptop yet, if it's too difficult too replace those sticks i will simply buy something less problematic to reconfigure.

sri369

skyrunner86 said:

I want to have as capable piece of hardware as i can without limiting factors. If i hear, that 2400 memory isn't working well with the AMD CPU, then it's a thing to get rid of for me. I will also replace mediocre SSD as well as HDD, but this is not a problem - IF i decide to buy this laptop. I don't own this laptop yet, if it's too difficult too replace those sticks i will simply buy something less problematic to reconfigure.

Why not buy the one with intel processor then? It is already set with all needed parts - including 2666 RAM and a decent SSD.

skyrunner86

sri369 said:

skyrunner86 said:

I want to have as capable piece of hardware as i can without limiting factors. If i hear, that 2400 memory isn't working well with the AMD CPU, then it's a thing to get rid of for me. I will also replace mediocre SSD as well as HDD, but this is not a problem - IF i decide to buy this laptop. I don't own this laptop yet, if it's too difficult too replace those sticks i will simply buy something less problematic to reconfigure.

Why not buy the one with intel processor then? It is already set with all needed parts - including 2666 RAM and a decent SSD.

Unfortunately, there are only 2400 RAM available on the market in my country, also for Intel-based configurations. The obvious reason for AMD is the price - it is way cheaper than Intel configuration with i9 CPU. This laptop would be used mostly as a workstation, with some occasional gaming involved. AMD configuration seems to fit this purpose better than its Intel counterpart (Intel config is often described as better for gaming). With RAM it's tricky to replace - no manuals/pictures are available online. based on what i found out so far apparently the most optimal choice would be to install 3200 RAM (a sweetspot for AMD Ryzen) which is not compatible with the motherboard used in Helios 500. I don't know what kind of performance drop we're talking about with 2400 RAM onboard compared to 2666. I need to think this through - if i go with this laptop, maybe i just leave the RAM be as it is. I'll just additional 16 GB of RAM, add 1TB of fast SSD and replace the HDD with something faster. 

laurent_14

skyrunner86 said:

thanks for your reply. The problem is that i want to replace 2 stock RAM sticks with more capable components. This laptop has 4 RAM slots. Two are occupied by stock memory sticks, the other two are free and easily accessible (as described in the link you provided). So the trick is the get rid of 2 slow memory sticks in the less accessible area.

Hello,

May be this information about PH517-61 will interest you:

1. Acer memory specs:
   1 of 2/CH (xR-0) : SR(2667), DR(2400-2667) MT/s
   2 of 2/CH (1R-1R) : 2133-2400 MT/s
   2 of 2/CH (2R-xR) : 1866-2133 MT/s
2. AMD Ryzen™ 7 2700 memory specs:
   
   System Memory Specification: 2933MHz maxi

For example, PH517-61-R0GX is shipped with memory modules of 2400 or 2666MHz.

The two other memory slots are located on the other side of the motherboard (under the keyboard) so it will be a big work to change these ones:

skyrunner86

laurent_14 said:

skyrunner86 said:

thanks for your reply. The problem is that i want to replace 2 stock RAM sticks with more capable components. This laptop has 4 RAM slots. Two are occupied by stock memory sticks, the other two are free and easily accessible (as described in the link you provided). So the trick is the get rid of 2 slow memory sticks in the less accessible area.

Hello,

May be this information about PH517-61 will interest you:

1. Acer memory specs:
   1 of 2/CH (xR-0) : SR(2667), DR(2400-2667) MT/s
   2 of 2/CH (1R-1R) : 2133-2400 MT/s
   2 of 2/CH (2R-xR) : 1866-2133 MT/s
2. AMD Ryzen™ 7 2700 memory specs:
   
   System Memory Specification: 2933MHz maxi

For example, PH517-61-R0GX is shipped with memory modules of 2400 or 2666MHz.

The two other memory slots are located on the other side of the motherboard (under the keyboard) so it will be a big work to change these ones:

Thank you for this information, Laurent. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret information you provided, in terms of what is the max frequency i could put in there. You mention AMD memory specs, does this mean i could insert 2933 Mhz? 

For me i guess it's a bit too much of work but i could take it to some laptop repair service and they would do it without any problems. I just wonder about Acer warranty if i decide to replace those. Acer has their official service center in my city so i could take it to them if it would void warranty otherwise. I guess i can call Acer to figure this one out.

laurent_14

skyrunner86 said:

Thank you for this information, Laurent. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret information you provided, in terms of what is the max frequency i could put in there. You mention AMD memory specs, does this mean i could insert 2933 Mhz?

Hello,

I understood the Acer specs like this:

1.  1 of 2/CH (xR-0) : SR(2667), DR(2400-2667) MT/s
    Simple ram: 2667MHZ maxi - Double Ram: 2667MHZ maxi in the same channel
   
   
2.  2 of 2/CH (1R-1R) : 2133-2400 MT/s
    1 Ram + 1 Ram in the both channels: 2400MHZ maxi
   
   
3.  2 of 2/CH (2R-xR) : 1866-2133 MT/s
    2 Ram + 1 or 2 Ram in the both channels: 2133MHZ maxi

The AMD specs were just for information. The maxi frequency will be 2667MHZ in the first memory configuration.. no more.

Red-Sand

2666MHz RAM would compliment the Ryzen system best (at price to performance).

Also as mentioned before the existing RAM is located on the bottom side of the motherboard. Meaning you would have to remove all components inside to get to flipping the board over revealing the RAM slots.

TechJunkie69

I too am interested in this.  Looking to get the laptop and pair it with 2x16 GB Hyper X sodimms, but want to know which pair to get.  If it is limited to only 2400 no matter what, the CL14 pair would seem the best option.  However, faster options would be better to speed up inter cpu communication (2667 CL15 and 2933 CL17).

TechJunkie69

laurent_14 said:

skyrunner86 said:

Thank you for this information, Laurent. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret information you provided, in terms of what is the max frequency i could put in there. You mention AMD memory specs, does this mean i could insert 2933 Mhz?

Hello,

I understood the Acer specs like this:

1.  1 of 2/CH (xR-0) : SR(2667), DR(2400-2667) MT/s
    Simple ram: 2667MHZ maxi - Double Ram: 2667MHZ maxi in the same channel
   
   
2.  2 of 2/CH (1R-1R) : 2133-2400 MT/s
    1 Ram + 1 Ram in the both channels: 2400MHZ maxi
   
   
3.  2 of 2/CH (2R-xR) : 1866-2133 MT/s
    2 Ram + 1 or 2 Ram in the both canal: 2133MHZ maxi

The AMD specs were just for information. The maxi frequency will be 2667MHZ in the first memory configuration.. no more.

Do they mention all 4 sodimms, or is it just referrencing the open slots?  If it is referring to open slots then we could go with 2x 2667 sodimms replacing the stock ram, or 4x 2400.

Edit: Re-read it.  Was mistaken, thinking of the configurations wrong in my head.

skyrunner86

OK, so the laptop came today. 2 x 8 GB 2400 Mhz inside. I started AIDA64 to check and it tells me the following thing:



The highlighted part is described as "Supported Memory Types". As you can see it's a pretty impressive list ending at 3200 Mhz. So is this information reliable in any way?

I've found this post online:

http://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/2633/corsair-vengence-ddr4-3200-compatible

PredatorHelios500

skyrunner86 said:

OK, so the laptop came today. 2 x 8 GB 2400 Mhz inside.

Hello, skyrunner86. Just saw this thread today and it interests me greatly. Could you run the following commands and copy-and-post the output?

In Command Prompt, these two commands:

wmic MemoryChip get

and

wmic MEMPHYSICAL

and in Windows PowerShell this command:

Get-WmiObject win32_physicalmemory

Red-Sand

The occupied slots can be upgraded to 2666MHz according to service guide (some come with 2666MHz from factory).

The empty slots can also be 2666MHz.

skyrunner86

Red-Sand said:

The occupied slots can be upgraded to 2666MHz according to service guide (some come with 2666MHz from factory).

The empty slots can also be 2666MHz.

According to guide, definitely yes. But this motherboard (apparently) can handle more. I'd really want to know if it's possible to go all the way to 3200Mhz. Going from to 2400 to 2666 might be a marginal increase in performance, but 2400 to 3200 is a different story. I guess even if i put more, i'd have to mod the BIOS.

skyrunner86

PredatorHelios500 said:

skyrunner86 said:

OK, so the laptop came today. 2 x 8 GB 2400 Mhz inside.

Hello, skyrunner86. Just saw this thread today and it interests me greatly. Could you run the following commands and copy-and-post the output?

In Command Prompt, these two commands:

wmic MemoryChip get

and

wmic MEMPHYSICAL

and in Windows PowerShell this command:

Get-WmiObject win32_physicalmemory

I apologize for the small font, i don't know how to reformat output in powershell:



__GENUS              : 2

__CLASS              : Win32_PhysicalMemory

__SUPERCLASS         : CIM_PhysicalMemory

__DYNASTY            : CIM_ManagedSystemElement

__RELPATH            : Win32_PhysicalMemory.Tag="Physical Memory 1"

__PROPERTY_COUNT     : 36

__DERIVATION         : {CIM_PhysicalMemory, CIM_Chip, CIM_PhysicalComponent, CIM_PhysicalElement...}

__SERVER             : LAPTOP-BJ4TD5FP

__NAMESPACE          : root\cimv2

__PATH               : \\LAPTOP-BJ4TD5FP\root\cimv2:Win32_PhysicalMemory.Tag="Physical Memory 1"

Attributes           : 1

BankLabel            : P0 CHANNEL A

Capacity             : 8589934592

Caption              : Pamięć fizyczna

ConfiguredClockSpeed : 2400

ConfiguredVoltage    : 1200

CreationClassName    : Win32_PhysicalMemory

DataWidth            : 64

Description          : Pamięć fizyczna

DeviceLocator        : DIMM 1

FormFactor           : 12

HotSwappable         :

InstallDate          :

InterleaveDataDepth  :

InterleavePosition   :

Manufacturer         : Hynix

MaxVoltage           : 1200

MemoryType           : 0

MinVoltage           : 1200

Model                :

Name                 : Pamięć fizyczna

OtherIdentifyingInfo :

PartNumber           : HMA81GS6AFR8N-UH

PositionInRow        :

PoweredOn            :

Removable            :

Replaceable          :

SerialNumber         : 32F8807E

SKU                  :

SMBIOSMemoryType     : 26

Speed                : 2400

Status               :

Tag                  : Physical Memory 1

TotalWidth           : 64

TypeDetail           : 16512

Version              :

PSComputerName       : LAPTOP-BJ4TD5FP

__GENUS              : 2

__CLASS              : Win32_PhysicalMemory

__SUPERCLASS         : CIM_PhysicalMemory

__DYNASTY            : CIM_ManagedSystemElement

__RELPATH            : Win32_PhysicalMemory.Tag="Physical Memory 2"

__PROPERTY_COUNT     : 36

__DERIVATION         : {CIM_PhysicalMemory, CIM_Chip, CIM_PhysicalComponent, CIM_PhysicalElement...}

__SERVER             : LAPTOP-BJ4TD5FP

__NAMESPACE          : root\cimv2

__PATH               : \\LAPTOP-BJ4TD5FP\root\cimv2:Win32_PhysicalMemory.Tag="Physical Memory 2"

Attributes           : 1

BankLabel            : P0 CHANNEL B

Capacity             : 8589934592

Caption              : Pamięć fizyczna

ConfiguredClockSpeed : 2400

ConfiguredVoltage    : 1200

CreationClassName    : Win32_PhysicalMemory

DataWidth            : 64

Description          : Pamięć fizyczna

DeviceLocator        : DIMM 0

FormFactor           : 12

HotSwappable         :

InstallDate          :

InterleaveDataDepth  :

InterleavePosition   :

Manufacturer         : Hynix

MaxVoltage           : 1200

MemoryType           : 0

MinVoltage           : 1200

Model                :

Name                 : Pamięć fizyczna

OtherIdentifyingInfo :

PartNumber           : HMA81GS6AFR8N-UH

PositionInRow        :

PoweredOn            :

Removable            :

Replaceable          :

SerialNumber         : 32F89689

SKU                  :

SMBIOSMemoryType     : 26

Speed                : 2400

Status               :

Tag                  : Physical Memory 2

TotalWidth           : 64

TypeDetail           : 16512

vanadium

Well, increasing RAM speed mostly doesn't result in any performance gain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Yt4vSZKVk

It's the best way to waste money. That being said, I was able to overclock the factory Hynix DDR4 2400Mhz to 2933Mhz (21-21-21-43) by modding the bios (to unlock custom memory settings):

https://octoperf.com/blog/2018/09/02/acer-predator-helios-500-mods/#useful-unlocked-bios-settings

The performance improvement was barely noticeable. I'm running 2x16GB G skill 2666Mhz along with the 2400mhz sticks right now, everything at 2666Mhz (19-19-19-43). That's a total of 48GB, with 24GB on each channel.

If you want to fully exploit 3200Mhz RAM, then you will need to mod the bios and remove the factory RAM by entirely disassembling the laptop. Not easy but feasible. You may see 0% to 5% performance improvement.

skyrunner86

vanadium said:

Well, increasing RAM speed mostly doesn't result in any performance gain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Yt4vSZKVk

It's the best way to waste money. That being said, I was able to overclock the factory Hynix DDR4 2400Mhz to 2933Mhz (21-21-21-43) by modding the bios (to unlock custom memory settings):

https://octoperf.com/blog/2018/09/02/acer-predator-helios-500-mods/#useful-unlocked-bios-settings

The performance improvement was barely noticeable. I'm running 2x16GB G skill 2666Mhz along with the 2400mhz sticks right now, everything at 2666Mhz (19-19-19-43). That's a total of 48GB, with 24GB on each channel.

If you want to fully exploit 3200Mhz RAM, then you will need to mod the bios and remove the factory RAM by entirely disassembling the laptop. Not easy but feasible. You may see 0% to 5% performance improvement.

First of all, i've seen your post before as it came up on google when i was looking for any useful information on this subject. I'm honestly impressed with what you did. If i'm going to do it - i'm not going to do it myself. For 35 EUR a local laptop service is going to replace stock RAM sticks without any hassle. I talked with Acer as well - they told me that replacement of stock RAM sticks will not void the warranty. I do realize that if i go for something higher than 2400 Mhz i will have to mod the BIOS as you did. but what about warranty after modding BIOS? this is another issue. I am indeed worried that it's simply not worth the trouble. Although i hate to see this AMD not to live its full potential. The most sane option would be to buy a set of two 2666 Mhz sticks and get over it.

sri369

vanadium said:

Well, increasing RAM speed mostly doesn't result in any performance gain:

This is especially important when upping speeds  like from 2400 to 2666. You get better performance with a nicely optimized windows. Check the below stats of my laptop - fully loaded, not bare bones, with all needed software.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/10977437

Check below the stats of CPU (92nd percentile) and GPU (99th percentile) especially - the effects of fine tuning windows.