T520 shipped with 1 stick of ram - what slot does factory use?

Update/edit: The laptop arrived with the 1x4gb stick installed under the keyboard, confirming what some people already told me in their replies. BTW my 2nd stick of ram (that I purchased from lenovo) is exactly the same as the one the factory uses. In case someone comes across this post in the future and needs this info....

Brand: Samsung
Part#: M471B5273CH0-CH9
(4gb 1333mhz DDR3)
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As with many thinkpads, the T520 has a dimm slot accessible underneath a panel on bottom/underside of laptop and a dimm slot beneath the keyboard.

I'm wondering if you buy a laptop with 1 stick of ram in the build, does the factory put that single stick of ram in the slot beneath the keyboard, or in the underside panel? I know the keyboard removal isn't hard, just a few screws etc. but just wondering if anyone who owns a T520 (or T420?) knows this info.

 

don't have the answer, but interestingly, when I bought one with 2+4, they made it (to my annoyance) so that I'd have to remove both sticks for an upgrade to 4+4, meaning they put the 2 under the keyboard.
still, I think they'd make it so that you'd have easier access to the empty slot if you got a single stick

 

I believe the primary slot is under the keyboard, so you can just add a DIMM easily in the underside slot.

 

Thanks for the info, I thought the keyboard dimm might be secondary since they charge an extra $160 for 2x4gb (to upgrade from 1x4g). Like maybe they think the hassle of kb removal would discourage customers from doing a DIY upgrade.

Either way I'm fine with removing a few screws to save $130, but its good to know what to expect.

 

Nope, that's just the typical OEM charging ripoff prices for HDD and RAM upgrades... those, you'd best do on your own!

 

Just an FYI and don't know the reason why but ThinkPad's tend to play nicer with Lenovo brand memory sticks. On my T60 I tried three different brands, Mushkin, Corsair and Patroit and all three would generate random BSOD's.

I dropped a Lenovo stick and problem solved. It could be just my particular machine but i've read comments on the net that the ThinkPad's for some reason tend to be a little more stable with Lenovo memory.

 

You must be really unlucky having BSODs and three different RAM modules Rodster. I don't often have problems with aftermarket RAM in my ThinkPads, through my ownership of 6 ThinkPads I only had 1 bad RAM module which was from Kingston but that was swiftly RMA'd and the replacement worked like a charm after.

 

I don't doubt that people have said that.

I do doubt that those people have anything more than anecdotes in support of those statements.

 

I've never even given brand a thought when buying RAM for any computer, and have never encountered any problems. My T500 has a stock Lenovo stick plus a SuperTalent stick. My X120e has a stock Lenovo stick and a refurb IBM stick (by the label, seems to be Samsung). Rodster, you probably just got extraordinarily unlucky

 

I would get random BSOD's on my old X201i with a 2GB Crucial stick of RAM, but I thought it was due to an Intel HD Graphics error where the driver would freak out from not having the newest version from intel's website because I had the lenovo graphics driver installed. I always suspected the RAM, but checking the error logs made me think otherwise. Now I don't know what to think. >:T

 

Bad RAM definitely happens, and I'd recommend anyone with instabilities, etc. to use memtest86+ as part of their diagnostic routine.

I wouldn't buy RAM out of the back of a van, but past that I'm not picky brand-wise. I've had both brand-name and "no-name" RAM fail, and I've never seen any studies showing any significant difference in reliability between brands.

 

the single stick will go into the primary slot under the keyboard. you will have the easily accessible slot on the bottom empty.