Question: Memory for a X220?

Greetings!

I recently purchased a Lenovo X220 for school/work. I want to increase the memory for it, and have a question. I'm a novice so please forgive.

My X220 came equipped with 4MB of RAM. My goal is to have a total of 8MB. Should I just buy another 4MB or do both need to 2 sticks of same maker/kind, thus I really should buy 8MB of new memory?

Can someone also suggest a kind of RAM I should be looking at and why? I'm hoping to keep the price below $100.

Thank you!

 

It's not a good idea to mix different speed/brand ram together. I'd recommend get a pair of 4GB (i.e. 8GB in total), and sell the 4GB that came with your laptop.

Get this:
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1117664/
$35 for 8GB, you can't get any better than this. I'm running the same pair on my X220, work fine without any problem. (I bought them half a year ago for around $80... Had been using them on my X200, then transferred to my X220 this week)

 

I think you can get away with using the existing (assuming one 4GB DIMM) RAM if you try to match speeds.

 

1. I'd recommend matching the chip that came with your laptop. Either look inside the computer to get the exact specs of the existing chip, or try CPU-Z: CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

2. The deal posted by khtse is a good one if you decide to sell the chip in your laptop now.

3. Even if you decide not to match for some reason, your system performance may not be noticeably different. Some tests have shown only up to a 5% difference when two identical sticks are used, versus two different ones. (That said, of course you need RAM with the correct specs.)

 

I'm gonna assume you meant Gb and not Mb. Very hard to find 4mb sticks of ram these days.

On my X220, I just went to Fry's and bought a single 4gb Corsair to add to the Samsung 4gb it came with. X220 booted right up and indicates 8gb total. As others have said, there shouldn't be problems as long as the new stick has same timings, 1333 speed with CL9 (CAS Latency).

The important thing is that you tell them you need DDR3 for a laptop (204pin SODIMM) at 1333 with CAS9.

I only bother to get matched DIMM kits if I'm dealing with a desktop and overclocking the hell out of it for gaming or x264 video encoding.

 

Not sure about laptop. But as throny said, my experience from building desktop (and overclock the hell out of them! why else are you buying desktop? ) is that mix RAM is never a good idea. Even if they are of the same spec, as long as they memory chips are different, they could cause stability problem.

Keep your eyes on sites like fatwallet.com or slickdeals.net. I've been seeing deals for 2 x 4GB SO-DIMM memory for less than $40 for the last few weeks (like the one I posted). You may also find some deals for single stick of 4GB, if you decide to go that route.

 

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and advice. Memory is so much cheaper then buying it when purchasing a new computer. I'm going to look around and see if I can get a good deal. If so, I may just buy 8GB otherwise look for 4GB.

 

Why would you buy 8 GB??????????? You already have 4.

 

There's no need to go out of your way to match the RAM modules. The BIOS looks at the timing data (SPD data) store on each module and selects the fastest timings and speed supported by both modules. It's about 4 years since i had a notebook (Samsung R20 with AMD chipset that wouldn't run with some RAM combinations). You also don't need to go to 8GB unless you are running virtual operating systems (and the more RAM you have then the longer the hibernation and resume times) but using 2 RAM modules, not 1, gives a noticeable boost to the SandyBridge integrated graphics performance. After much testing I am using 4GB + 2GB on my T420s.

John

 

I believe it's a good idea to match the modules to get the most benefit out of dual-channel memory. I know there have been some changes in the tech since it was first introduced, though. John, are you sure that matching RAM gives no benefit?

 

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it gives no benefit, but the benefit of matched pairs, compared to unmatched pairs, will be small. See the timings shown below as an example of what one gets by mixing two different modules which have similar, but not identical, specifications.



John

 

Right, that's my understanding.

So I would agree that there's no need to match the RAM (just as most people do not need 8 GB of RAM either), but if one wants to get the most dual-channel performance (which could be as little as 5% or so extra on certain memory-intensive tasks, according to some benchmarks I've read) one should get a matching set.

Since RAM is so cheap these days, and the RAM that they put in standard notebooks is not the highest-end available, it probably makes sense to spend a minute or two matching the RAM to get a bit of extra performance if one is going to buy RAM for a specific notebook. That's all.

 

You are right its a very small increase, and I recongize that. However, when its $25 for 1 stick(4GB) or $35 for 2 sticks(8 GB) I might as well buy 2 sticks for only $10 more dollars.

I ended up going with the deal suggested earlier after doing a little research. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

 

Whatever one does, I suggest not buying RAM upgrades from Lenovo Canada when you order the computer. For Canadians it runs about $70 to upgrade from 2GB to 4GB when you buy an X220... which is ridiculous because you can order a 2GB memory module from Lenovo Canada for $25. Guess they think the installation fee of $45 is justifiable. Even funnier is that the RAM module that you buy for $25 from Lenovo Canada appears to ship on its own via UPS from Asia.

Not sure whether this applies in the United States.

 

What about the heat generated from 8gb vs 4gb? Is there a noticeable difference? If I get the higher speed of 1600 8gb ram with heatsink better than 1333 without heatsink? I read that many users are happy with the hyperX Ram with heatsinks but Kingston and Lenovo don't recommend any higher speed than 1333. They say it may damage the internals or Ram overclocking will cause some heat that may do some damage as well.

Please advise.

thanks!

 

yeah don't buy from lenovo canada too cause im waiting for newegg.ca to have a discount on memories soon but if I can't wait anymore I can just go with $47+ $10 shipping for 8 gb ram which isn't that bad.

 

Only the 2nd generation Sandybridge mobile CPU (some, not all) can even run PC3-12800 DDR3 SODIMM's at their full spec so it's not surprising Lenovo suggesting to stick with PC3-10600.

As for heat, mobile PC3-12800 chips run at 1.35V (so long as you get ones made with the newe 28nm I believe manufacturing process) while virtually all PC3-10600 SODIMM's out there run at 1.5V due to the older thus larger and somewhat more power hungry (a few watts) manufacturing process. Either way both give out very little heat. The heatspreader save for the really high-end (desktop) memory modules is in the vast majority of cases just decoration, it's a blast from the DDR days where PC3200 DIMM's (desktop) run somewhat hot. OEM's just use the heatspreaders these days to make their modules look visually appealing, in making cases it's a marketing rather than technical decision.

 

Does the higher voltage the main cause of heat or the overclocking speed? or both? Both 1333MHz and 1600 MHz have the same 1.5V and same CL9 latency.

 

Voltage x frequency generates heat so the higher the frequency at the same or higher voltage the greater the heat. On the plus side DDR3 SDRAM chips don't generate much heat anyway so remain cool either way. Your hard drive (if you still one rather than an SSD) let alone processor, graphics card, even LCD inverter will generate more heat than the SODIMM's themselves.

 

And don't forget that extra or faster memory takes more current and reduces the battery running time.

 

which means less overall heat?

 

No, if anything it means a little more heat since more modules produce heat and given the memory compartment size stays the same (with little air room in there) temperatures will rise a little. As I've stated above however, SODIMM's don't produce much heat either way so not to worry.

 

Absolutely. When the battery has run out the system will be much, much cooler.



S