Thinkpads Forum

how many ram memory slots does x61s have ?
if it ships with 1GB ram .. could i assume that they have 512 x 2 in there ?

2 slots, can take up to 2x2 GB of memory sticks.

Most newer thinkpads don't get shipped with 2x512 MB of modules unless customized it to be, not sure whether it's true for European region or not.

what a shame ..
i want 2GB .. means that I would have to get 2 brand new ones ..
and just take that one out

He said it's probably 1x1GB inside it, so just add another stick.

I've had four X6* machines to date, and they all came with only one slot occupied, be they 512 or 1024MB boxes. None of that use-cheap-small-SIMs-to-use-all-slots-available apple philosophy. Apple'd pro'lly solder them in too and take out all slots, if they had their way.

And yes, ye cheape ebay-obtained DDR2-667 sticks work just fine, making the most economic vista solution a 512MB laptop + 1GB in the second slot IMHO.

Unless you specify on Lenovo's site. It'll come with 1 module.

Get a 2GB module yourself and get it over with.

1) 1GB machines come with 1 DIMM. 2GB machines are available either way.

2) X61s supports dual channel. You always want 2DIMMS if possible.

I dont get to chose any options
it's a model with a student discount

You can refer to tabook if it has your 7 character product number (machine type and model) or if you've been provided with a serial number in advance you can do Parts Lookup.

Unfortunately in most of Europe you can't order custum build thinkpads. Any x61s that i have seen thusfar in the Netherlands unfortunately comes with 2x512Mb. In fact I called one of the certified Lenovo Service Stores and they even refused to let me just pay for the price differense of RAM configuration. Claiming that the 512Mb sticks had to be removed and were not being sold enough to just let customers pay the price difference.

I hence have the exact same problem. I also want a 2x1Gb X61s configuration but will have to replace both sticks for new ones adding to the price.

Regards

I'm somewhat confused with the whole memory thing. My newly ordered X61s will come with 2 strips of 512 Mb PC5300 memory . So iI was looking at replacement options to get at least 2 Gb of memory.

According to wikipedia the 965 chipset supports up to PC5300 (DDR2 667 Mhz) memory... But the front-side bus is 800 Mhz... So shouldn't it be compatible with PC6400 (800 Mhz) memory? Anyone who can shed some light on this?

Regards

bergje wrote:According to wikipedia the 965 chipset supports up to PC5300 (DDR2 667 Mhz) memory... But the front-side bus is 800 Mhz... So shouldn't it be compatible with PC6400 (800 Mhz) memory?

It is compatible inasmuch as it will work. However, the RAM will downclock itself to 667 MHz and you will see no benefit. (Other than possibly better timings at 667 MHz if you are into that and the BIOS will let you.)

Santa Rosa's 800 MHz FSB does not extend to RAM...

I'm in the same boat as these folks - the closeout X61 that I purchased came with 2x512 sticks of RAM installed and I'd like to upgrade to at least 2 gig. www.newegg.com has 1 gig Crucial sticks for $25.99 and 2 gig Crucial sticks for $85. So it's ~$30 cheaper (net with shipping) to get the 2x1 gig sticks.

Based on the comment above regarding dual channel and matching sticks - if I were to opt for the 2 gig stick and installed it along with one of the existing 512mb sticks what kind of performance hit am I looking at? A few percent? Would I be crazy to not jest get the 2x1gb sticks? Thanks
Steve

The performance from .5G+2G would be pretty close. The system is smart enough to use the dual-channel portion first. It would be faster than a 2GB stick alone and probably a tiny bit slower than 2x1GB.

I wouldn't do it though.

Here's how I figure it. Don't worry about throwing away the two 1GB sticks if you decide to upgrade later. You are going to save $33 now by going with the 1GB sticks. If you decide to go to 4GB in a year - you will be able to buy a 2GB stick to replace the ones you pull out for $30-$40 - maybe even the $26 that a 1GB stick costs now and you will be able to get $20 for the old ones. If you don't, then you still come out ahead.

That makes sense, thanks Andrew. I'm going to order the 2x1gb sticks (Crucial) and call it good.
Thanks!

well the one I wanna get here in sweden comes with One Single 1 Gb ram

I haven't found any documentation specifying the x61s supports dual channel and crucial.com says it doesn't. Any links to confirm?

Also, any links to benchmarks indicating what performance improvement can be expected?

The TABOOK says dual-channel.

rokahn wrote:Also, any links to benchmarks indicating what performance improvement can be expected?

another forum member, RonS, tested this on his T60 and found the difference to be 8% for memory-intensive tasks.   however, most users will not notice this difference under normal circumstances.

The difference will be more with integrated graphics than with discrete. I can't tell which RonS tested from his posts. My best guess is that 8% is with integrated graphics.