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    Thinkpad X60 ram question

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by ilikebeer33, Aug 13, 2010.

  1. ilikebeer33

    ilikebeer33 Newbie

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    Hi,

    I have an old thinkpad x60 that i want to refresh a bit. I just bought a new battery for it and put in a new HDD.

    However it only had 1GB ram (2x Elpida 512mb DDR2). I took those 2 old ram sticks out and put a single 2GB ram stick into one slot. Then when i booted up the system works fine but windows 7 only recognises 1GB of ram.

    Is this a limitation of the X60 that each ram slot can only accept max 1GB ram? I checked which bios i have and its a very old version 5.02 i believe. I will upgrade the bios to the newest one.

    So my main question is... i am willing to buy a new 1GB ram stick if it will bring the total the laptop can use to 2GB. Would having 2GB stick in one slot, and another 1GB stick in another slot work and give me overall 2GB? Does it matter if the sticks are different brands?

    Thanks for your time.
     
    ilikebeer33, Aug 13, 2010
    #1
  2. LegendaryKA8

    LegendaryKA8 Nutty ThinkPad Guy

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    Get the BIOS updates done first, and see if it'll still recognize the 2GB stick. If so, IIRC the X60 can recognize up to 3GB RAM maximum.
     
    LegendaryKA8, Aug 13, 2010
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  3. ilikebeer33

    ilikebeer33 Newbie

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    If that does recognize the 2GB stick... would it be ok to put a different brand 1GB stick in the other slot?

    I tried the 2gb stick plus the old 512 stick and the computer wouldn't even boot.
     
    ilikebeer33, Aug 13, 2010
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  4. LegendaryKA8

    LegendaryKA8 Nutty ThinkPad Guy

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    Hmm... that's strange. I think the extra 1GB stick should work. You may want to try switching the 2GB and the 512MB sticks around... it might be picky about RAM order.
     
    LegendaryKA8, Aug 13, 2010
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  5. ilikebeer33

    ilikebeer33 Newbie

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    I flipped the 2GB and the 512mb around and now the system has 1.5GB ram :) Thanks for the tip. I hope once i install the bios update it will have 2.5GB recognized.
     
    ilikebeer33, Aug 14, 2010
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  6. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    run memtest+ on the ram.
     
    lead_org, Aug 14, 2010
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  7. ilikebeer33

    ilikebeer33 Newbie

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    I ran memtest and didn't get any errors however, it says the ram is running at like only 400 Mhz. However the old 512 stick (the slowest of the 2 sticks) is rated at DDR2-667 MHz.

    Why is the ram running at a slower speed than the minimum stick?
     
    ilikebeer33, Aug 19, 2010
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  8. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    hum.... did you get the 800 mhz version of the DDR2 ram?
     
    lead_org, Aug 19, 2010
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  9. ilikebeer33

    ilikebeer33 Newbie

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    I just updated the bios to the latest version 2.18. However the system still only recognises 1Gb of the 2Gb stick. I am beginning to think this model can't recognise more than 1gb per slot.

    AFAIK the 2gb stick is also rated at 667 mhz. I see no reason why the system would run both sticks at only around 400mhz. :(
     
    ilikebeer33, Aug 19, 2010
    #9
  10. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    what is the exact model of your X60? xxxx-xxx

    what CPU do you have?
     
    lead_org, Aug 20, 2010
    #10