Macbook pro takes 16GB Ram - Why doesn't the X220 ?

Not all Corsair ram will produce problems, but the chance of having a Corsair ram not working in ThinkPads are greater then most other brands of ram.

Also, Corsair RAM can use chips from Elpida, Samsung, Hynix, Micron, etc.

 

Anyone have thoughts on this 16GB set?

Patriot Memory

Any reason to believe that it won't work in my x220?

 

Well, I guess I'll try it out and report back.

 

Your information is misleading, as you are quoting a pretty old chipset, which obviously isn't supposed to support that large amount of memory. If you can find a case that a ThinkPad with Core 2 Duo CPU cannot support 16GB while another brand of laptop can do it with Core 2 Duo CPU then you can get your conclusion that ThinkPad is picky with RAM. Otherwise I don't see how you reach that conclusion.

I've just seen someone's X120e could support a full 16GB:

link

People should buy 16GB kits with confidence.

 

you're twisting my words and debating completely different points.

you brought up the word "picky" in your original post so i made light of your odd word choice.   given that not all 16GB kits work in the X220, it's unreasonable to make a blanket statement leading people to think that all kits work and that people should "buy with confidence." they can't.   not all kits work.   given that not all kits work, it's fair to say that a system can be picky in certain cases.   here is an example for proof.

no mobile C2D CPU supports 16GB that i've ever found.   i've not mislead anyone on this point.   if you feel that i have, please let me know.

the X120e uses an AMD chipset, not intel.   that's a different topic entirely and completely irrelevant to the X220.


since we're focused on the topic of "misleading", this is where the original conversation went off track:

in the above exchange, you never mentioned that the T500 being asked about (a core 2 duo processor) didn't support 16GB.   you replied saying you didn't think thinkpads were very picky with RAM.   that is misleading and why my post was made to help clarify this point.


i'm not saying this to be mean or vindictive.   i'm bringing this to light so we can end the debate, understand each others' points, and hopefully move on.   i shouldn't have brought up your use of the word "picky."   that's definitely where i went wrong.   i should have simply clarified your error on T500 memory support and left it at that.

 

Don't forget that his X220 recognized all 16GB. It tends to be a faulty SODIMM he's got there. Symptom of incompatibility is usually inability to POST or recognize all 16GB, not BSOD or failing stress tests.

My bad, didn't see Core 2 Duo model here.

That thread would require reply to be able to see the main contents. That OP has given a list of compatibility (not guaranteed to be 100% accurate):

 

FWIW - Patriot Signature 2x8GB is working fine for me on my x220. Got on Newegg.

 

Thank you! Mine's on the way!

 

Also FWIW, after all this talk of corsair incompatibility, I took a gamble and purchased and installed 2x corsair CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB dimms in my x220 and they're running great in it with no problems.

 

same here. except not 8gb dimms, i have 2x4gb dimms in my X201. unfortunately i read about the issues after i already ordered it

i stuck them in and thankfully no issues.

 

Like I said, ThinkPads are not picky with RAM. Just run memtest and LinX to verify the DIMMs are not faulty.

 

@sniper_sung

You pointed that all SB support to 16GB, which is wrong as Intel specs. suggest that core i7 2620M supports up to 8GB and i7 2640M does 16GB?!

It is something that confuses me! Is it possible to populate two 8GB DDR3 dimms with Core i7 (dual core) motherboard, or it isn't?

Links in question:
Intel® Core? i7-2620M Processor (4M Cache, 2.70 GHz)

Intel® Core? i7-2640M Processor (4M Cache, 2.80 GHz)

Question is, does for example HP Elitebook 8560w with core i7 2640M support more than 8GB RAM? (HP officially posts 8GB support for two dimm motherboards).

EDIT: i7 2630qm also on Intel page supports only 16 GB!RAM! When as quad it should support 32?!

 

Edit: I just spoke with Intel chat, they admitted that it is up to manufacturer, so if you upgrade to i7 2640M it can still does not support more than 8GB RAM.

 

Not sure about that one, I have an i5-2520M alongside with 16GB RAM and it has no problems running it so most likely it would work just fine with the i7-2640M setup as well.

 

@Hearst , confused even more !

Why then HP states that their (dual core) laptops support up to 8GB RAM?
Quote: 32 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
(Four SODIMMS for a total of 32 GB of memory is available on quad-core systems only. The Intel® Core™ i7-2620M Processor supports 2/4 GB SODIMMs, up to 8 GB total.)

 

Most likely they never tested it with 8GB modules because they were quite rare / expensive when the hardware was being finalised a year ago. We had the same problems when 2GB modules first came out. Many notebook manufacturers hadn't test them so their specs said 2GB max when 4GB worked fine. Or maybe HP is a rare manufacturer who actually put a RAM limit into the BIOS.

John

 

Hey Hearst,

Which brand of 16 gig ram are you using? By any chance do you've the direct link handy? I'm interested in putting 16 gig in my upcoming T520 (Core i5 - 2520).

thanks.

 

@Chris_ast1:

When Intel specified the specifications, they had only tested the capacity available in the market at that time (e.g. for i7 2620M only 8GB total was available).

Later on 16GB total is available in the market, but there is little point for Intel to update the specification as it would cost them a lot to do the tests again, while updating the specifications may reduce potential number of customers buying their new products thinking that the old products could not catch up with the latest 16GB.

 

The problem is not with Intel, who designed the chipset to support 8GB modules (and, as a memory manufacturer could probably find make some 8GB modules for testing purposes), but the individual notebook manufacturers.

John

 

they certainly aren't innocent though.   take the i5-2537M for example.   i've had 16GB in mine with zero issues whatsoever despite their own spec sheet still listing it as 8GB maximum.

Intel® Core? i5-2537M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz)

blame the industry.   everyone is at fault when it comes to memory qualification.

 

Nice thread. Newegg has 16Gb today as a shell shocker. No, I don't need it but the price makes it very tempting..... Thank you to the quality posts, it seems likely that there would be no problems with my i5 X220.

 

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& successfully installed and working 2 х Team P/N:TSD38192M1333C9-E 8GB ~60USD per module

WEI stays the same 7.1\7.5\6.4\6.4\5.9

 

Has anyone had success with this Patriot memory? I recently bought two sticks.

Newegg.com - Patriot Signature 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model PSD38G13332S

 

As a follow up, that Patriot memory does work. I've got it running in Windows 7.