Thinkpads Forum

Hi,
I'm seriously considering purchasing a W520. Lenovo's website listing up to 32 GB for this type of product while on the purchase configuration page, it is possible to choose 16 GB max only. What should you believe?
Thanks.

magekyou wrote:Hi,
I'm seriously considering purchasing a W520. Lenovo's website listing up to 32 GB for this type of product while on the purchase configuration page, it is possible to choose 16 GB max only. What should you believe?
Thanks.

I believe that the machine has 4 memory slots and you can populate them with 4 4GB sticks of memory rather inexpensively or you can pay though the nose and populate them with really expensive 8 GB sticks if you can find them and you have enough gold to trade for them.

Yup, like MikeM said, 32GB is sort of a theoretical possibility, not a practical thing for most people. Most places aren't even stocking the parts. The only one I can find in only a minute or three of searching is from OWC/macsales.com: a 16GB (8gbx2) kit for US$1600... I guess Apple users are more accustomed to paying too much? That 32GB upgrade would easily double the cost of a W520.

32G is the limit. I'd guess Lenovo is out or not stocking 8G sticks, and therefore don't have it in the configurator at this time. It's common for items to float in/out of the configurator, depending upon availability.

Dunno if this shortage is cuz of the Japanese thing or Lenovo just being S L O W.

If you really want >16G, you may have to call and talk to a live body to scope it out.

The PSREF definitely lists 32G, so you may just have to wait a bit or buy some after market memory.

I want to thank each of you for having take the time to answer me. Obviously, if I asked this question it is not in order to buy sticks that are currently overpriced, but only to estimate as precisely as possible the real value of the product. It is clear to me that a laptop that can accept up to 32 GB of memory can be used much longer and its cost will be then better amortized.
Thanks again.

I would look at it more as a laptop which can take 16GB of RAM which is still double most. The DDR3 specification is already in the process of being upgraded/replaced; I wouldn't place bets that anyone will ever make 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs at a reasonable price.

davidhbrown wrote:I would look at it more as a laptop which can take 16GB of RAM which is still double most. The DDR3 specification is already in the process of being upgraded/replaced; I wouldn't place bets that anyone will ever make 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs at a reasonable price.

On the contrary, since 8G sticks are out there now, at a street price of ~$600, I'd expect them to be rapidly dropping in price and available for some years to come. Typical new hardware rollout. While this ain't cheap, it's not that out of line with past generations of memory.

I remember buying some desktop memory for ~$600 back in 1994...-then-, it was for 16M...ouch! Slight diff between 8G and 16M

That may be. Memory modules are much more standardized than they used to be; I may be thinking back too many generations to my experiences of seeing the higher capacities sail away on a different form factor boat. On the other hand, while Wikipedia says DDR4 isn't expected to hit the streets until 2015, Hynix says they've already got some. Still, at this moment in time, 8GB SO-DIMMs are a bird in the bush, not a bird in the hand.

None of Hynix, Micron, Kingston, G.Skill, Corsair, nor Crucial currently list an 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM part. Almost thought Patriot did, but it's a 4GBx2 kit. Samsung does have one (M471B1G73AH0)... you can find all three speeds of the available from some vendor I never heard of if you google it.