adding different RAM - performance issue?

so theres no way i'm gonna pay lenovo $160 to put in 2 sticks totalling 8gb of RAM when newegg can sell me the same for $40

so the lowest lenovo config is 4gb with 1 stick ddr3 pc-12800

i'm thinking of buying two more sticks for a total of 3. either 2 more sticks totalling 8gb or 16gb. so it will look like:

- 1 dimm 4gb stock lenovo
- 1 dimm 4gb or 8gb newegg
- 1 dimm 4gb or 8gb newegg

obviously i will match the ddr3 pc-12800, but on the newegg page it lists other specs such as Cas Latency and Timing. i'm assuming that these will likely not match the stock lenovo stick.

what kind of performance/compatibility issues will there be? is there even a problem running 3 sticks? from my old school building pentium3 desktop days, i never remember using an odd number of memory sticks..

 

From memory (no pun intended), using an odd number of sticks disables dual channel functionality (except in triple-channel configurations, which you can usually identify by only having three slots). This results in less memory bandwidth (half as much going from dual to single), which is relevant for some high compute applications as well as gaming on integrated graphics. Should be okay otherwise.

By the way, what model laptop is this? Does it even have four slots, or just two?

 

Quick question, for which notebook is this, just in case it's an ultraportable and the RAM would be soldered on the motherboard.

If it's not, then yes, you can, but you'll be running asymmetrical dual channel which isn't ideal. Also, most laptop RAM these days is CL9 and Lenovo's should be no exception.

 

this will be the w530, which i'm pretty sure has 4 slots

interesting that there will be an issue running 3 sticks. thanks that will save me.

looks like it would be cheaper to just throw out the one 4gb stick that comes with it though. to go from 1x4gb to 2x4gb is a $160 upgrade

 

w530 is definitely upgradeable. There won't be any "issues" with 3 sticks in the sense that everything will still work, but performance won't be as good as an even number of SODIMMs. Whether you will notice the performance difference or not depends on what you do, but i'd say you're likely not to notice that much.

 

why not buy 3x 4gb sticks. Not a huge price increase over 2x 4gb.

 

How would the performance of 1x8GB compare to 3x4GB? You might want to get those instead?

 

Hello
i ordered W530 with 4G memory.
Also I ordered Corsair - Vengeance 2-Pack 16GB 1.6GHz DDR3 SoDIMM Laptop Memory Kit to upgrade the memory.Is this the right one for w530?
should I buy another 4GB memory to make it(8-8-4-4) 24GB? or i have to remove it and make 16GB.

Thank you

 

More memory is always better, especially for high demand situations like vmware. You can mix sizes but to optimize it, look at Lenovo hardware guide. I believe the first and third slots require the higher capacity sodimms.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

@mikew3456 and farmhandi
If I may, yes you can sometimes mix memory brands, size, speeds, timings, ect..., but is not preferred. At best, the issue you will have is every thing will default to the lowest rated blade. However some chips just do not play well together, or at all when mixed. In other words, dump the factory (but save it), install your Corsair - Vengeance 2-Pack 16GB 1.6GHz DDR3 SoDIMM Laptop Memory Kit - CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10(farmhandi), and maybe buy another set for a matched max of 32gb. For $125.98 more, you get what Lenovo charges $1120 for.

I'm sure you are aware if your W530 has the i7-3520M, you are limited to 2 RAM slots only, the QM's give you 4 slots.

+1 sgogeta4. Yes more is better when it comes to memory. DDR3 is very cheap now compared to just a year ago, 32GB@ $200-$300. Tried pricing DDR2 lately?

 

thanks i'll probably just pull the 4gb and run the aftermarket ram

i like very much how the sager/clevo resellers allow you to choose no ram, no hdd if you want, but i dont think i want to carry around a big bulky laptop

 

well then i'll have 3 aftermarket 4gb sticks and 1 stock 4gb stick. i'm worried about compatibility