HP Pavilion 500-314 memory configuration

Even dual-channel motherboards can operate in single-channel mode if one stick or multiple stics with differeing specifications are present.

HP makes so many computers they may well have made some with a single stick, leaving the other slot free for a future upgrade.

Visually inspecting the PC, or running a diagnostic tool such as Speccy or CPU-Z will yield a conclusive result.

yes, dual-channel memory operation requires matching RAM on both channels. It is however possible to operate in single-channel when only one stick of RAM is present. The degradation is minimal and inconsequential. If it concerns you, but another stick of 8GB RAM that matches the specifications of the existing stick.

jberry:

A second 8 GB stick and the memory will dual channel on the motherboard. The motherboard was made by MSI: a much respected company for its quality. If you are going direct with HP, get them to put the 8GB stick in for you. Hewlett-Packard has put together an amazing "bang for the buck" computer in the 500-314. It gives up nothing to entry and MIDDLE LEVEL gaming computers. The 4 core A8-7600 has a passmark score of over 7,000 which puts it halfway up the page of "Highest Performance Processors" you can buy today. It is above ALL the i3's, Pentiums and several Haswell CPU by Intel. Only the top i5 and i7 processors and newer Xeon, six core and eight core FX processors by AMD are even with it or above it. Check out cpumark.com The integration with the AMD R7 250 should be seamless. You won't run out of room with 2 TB either. And its got excellent good sound! You'll need better than average headphones to appreciate how good it is. Recommend Sony MDR-V6 or 7506. Then buy a cheap mike when you have the money or your birthday rolls around. Voice gives away your age when you are on the internet, BTW, so its OK to wait. I don't use a mic when I'm on Steam.

Loud colors don't make a computer fast. The configuration inside is what makes it fast. I like the HP500-314 because it looks like a serious student's computer and it can be an effective home theater computer as well but it secretly has a competitive heart. Highly recommend pairing with a monitor like AOC 2351F (23" 1920x1080 LCD/LED) I paid $119 on sale at Best Buy. The 500-314 is currently on sale at Newegg.com for under $400, BTW. Figure to keep the computer home...they don't travel in cars well and a fracture to the motherboard due to being twisted in cold temperatures can be the end of them. Motherboards are fragile.

HP as a computer company offers a level of user support like no other. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another HP machine (I've already had two and the one I'm typing on is 8 years old.) Join Steam...buy Counterstrike. Have fun. Good luck. HP will support the computer as long as you register it with them at HP.com. Be particular and exacting about adding identical memory. The latency and timings of the memory have to be identical to the other board. HP can help with this as can Corsair and others. New Egg.com has HP compatible memory and HP has a video on how to upgrade your memory.