t420 new owner ram upgrade question...

sorry i feel like a real noob asking this...i've searched around, but the searching terms for this question are so generic its hard to find anything...i'm sure it's there somewhere but...

so I just got a t420, and I left the ram the base 2gb... and went ahead and orderd 2 4gb sticks from newegg at the same time...

I get the lappy and there's only one slot in the easy access door on the bottom...do i have to take off the whole bottom to get access to the other slot? and is it removable (ie not soldered in)?

you have to be able to get 8gb in these suckers right? and will taking off the bottom (if that's the only way) void my warranty? I don't see any stickers or seals i'd be breaking, but sometimes those suckers are hidden.

Thanks for any help.

 

There are two RAM slots in the T420, one at the bottom of the base (easiest) and one underneath the keyboard (trickiest). To access the latter you need to remove the keyboard from the system to access the slot (usually Lenovo will put the sole RAM module in this slot).

You can have a read of this post where I written brief instructions on how to do this procedure for the slot under the keyboard. You may also want to download a copy of the Hardware Maintenance Manual so that you can have some visual instructions not just for the RAMs but for the other components as well.

 

awesome! thank you, that is exactly what was needed. up and running with 8gb. took all of 2 minutes, thanks!

I'm porbably too much of a noob to rep, but anyone else help me out by repping hearst

 

so if u ordered the 4gb model like me then all you need to do is add a 4gb stick to the nonkeyboard slot and you have 8gb. that is what I just did.

will I encounter any problem though as the 2 sticks are probably not the same exact sticks? thanks.

 

There will be no issue, as long as the new stick you're adding is compatible with the T420 (DDR3 SODIMM @ 1333MHz).

 

As long as your machine POSTS, passes a few rounds in Memtest and doesn't BSOD in Windows, mismatching RAM honestly doesn't matter.

 

whats the easiest way to run memtest. i vaguely remember some bios having memtest and some not having them and having to run from a bootable cd.

 

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

AFAIK no BIOSes ship with memtest86+. The easiest way to run it is to grab and burn one of the bootable ISOs from the link above.

 

memtest86 vs memtest86+?

 

I personally use Memtest86+ for my memory diagnostics, you have a choice of using bootable CDs or even storing it as a bootable USB stick.

 

9 passes and good on 86+ thanks