x230 memory upgrade? 4GB to 16GB What to get?

[whfrat]

OK I took the plunge and ordered the X230.

Lenovo was very cool and gave me a great discount. Don't wait for a cheap X220, get the X230 now!

I ordered it with 4GB ram. I want to go ahead and just get two 8GB Dimms. Can anyone recommend what memory and brand to use for a X230 laptop?

Computer comes with 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (is this 240 pin?)

Thanks in advance
Seth

[wolfman]

Your RAM is 204 pin. I'd go with any of Crucial, Corsair or G.Skill based on a scan of what is currently available at Newegg.com or Crucial.com - based on price. I got my Corsair sticks on sale 3-4 months back. Congrats on the new machine.

[awolfe63]

I went with the Corsair - but reviewers are reporting that Lenovo is shipping Samsung if you want to be extra safe. I have used G.Skill on many thinkpads without a failure as well.

I assume you have a good reason for 16GB. I run on 8GB now and it never all gets used. 16GB is cheap but it makes hibernation take a long time. Unused RAM does you no good at all. It also does almost no harm - hibernation time is the only downside I have found.

Also - there is almost no performance hit to keeping the 4GB and adding an 8GB stick if you can get by with 12GB.

[awolfe63]

Lenovo's current memory prices are absurd. Over $1000 for 16GB instead of 4GB when the retail price difference is $100-125.

[rydog003]

WHY ARE THE CHARGING SO MUCH FOR THE UPGRADED MEMORY? ARE THERE ANY ADVANTAGES OF GETTING THE UPGRADE IN THE OEM PACKAGE AND OR WILL IT VOID THE WARRANTY IF I UPGRADE IT MYSELF OR HAVE THEM DO IT LATER?

Lenovo's current memory prices are absurd. Over $1000 for 16GB instead of 4GB when the retail price difference is $100-125.

[wolfman]

No it won't void your warranty to add the ram yourself. As for the price, it seems to be industry standard to overcharge for ram upgrade sad to say.

[maxx228]

I've installed KINGSTON "KVR16S11/8" *2 total 16GB

http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR16S11_8.pdf

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7808 ... 76fd_b.jpg

about NTD:2100 = USD 70 for 2 DIMMs

Admin edit: Replaced inline image (450KB) with link. Please keep image <50KB.

[awolfe63]

How long does hibernate take with 16GB?

[griffonw]

I also want to know......
16GB ram....hibernate.....how long does it take?

[dtowsey]

It takes about as long for me to resume from hibernation as it does to boot -- in my case just under 10 seconds (I've upgraded to a 512GB SSD)

[Cigarguy]

My personal belief is that ram brand don't matter that much. Size and speed is more important. Corsair, Kingston, GSkill, Patriot, Mushin, etc are all good. I'd pick up whatever is cheapest for the size and speed you're looking for.

I was seriously looking for either a T430 or x230 but the keyboard is a no go for me. Just love the old IBM keyboards so I'm on the prowl for a x220 or T420.

[wolfman]

There were tons of good deals on the Lenovo outlet last weekend on T420's and X220's. Worth a look... A nice T420 with 2.6ghz 2540M processor, 1600x900 resolution, ultimate N, windows 7 professional, bluetooth, 320gb 7200 rpm disk was $585 for example.

[Cigarguy]

There were tons of good deals on the Lenovo outlet last weekend on T420's and X220's. Worth a look... A nice T420 with 2.6ghz 2540M processor, 1600x900 resolution, ultimate N, windows 7 professional, bluetooth, 320gb 7200 rpm disk was $585 for example.

I know but only if your Stateside.

[wolfman]

Ah I didn't realize those weren't available for you, sorry.

[whfrat]

Update: Well....... I tried Corsair Vengeance 16GB. Two separate sets failed. The second set was a RMA direct from Corsair and it was NOT an easy process. A lot of, call back on Tuesday-then Call back on Friday, Not in yet call next week. "If you want us to test the memory it will take another 4 days" My favortite part. "All our memory is tested at the factory!" Yea Right

[Tony Chan]

Not sure if this matters but Corsair Vengeance is spec as 1.5v., like most of the 1600 ddr3 sodimm in the market.

I also upgraded my x230 from 4Gb to 16Gb. I was considering Corsair Vengeance 16GB as one of my option, but then I realize the 4Gb (Samsung) memory that comes with the laptop is actually spec as 12800 1.35v ( instead of 1.5v that is widely available online ). My first choice would be with the same vendor but Samsung does not have 8Gb sticks, and the only one I can find is crucial. It's about 5 to 10 dollars more than the others brands if you buy direct from them. For the price of couple cups of coffee, if it runs cooler and may be squeeze few extra minutes of run time, it's probably worth it. It is now running on my x230 for over a week and I did not have one single problem with it. Total cost is $81 and change after tax. Here the link :

http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Lenovo-m ... rades.html

With 2 sticks installed, the bottom of x230 is not even warm to touch. Not sure if this has anything to do with the 1.35 voltage. I believe they have lifetime warranty too. Give it a try if you are hitting a brick wall with Corsair.

Good luck.

[Tony Chan]

It takes about as long for me to resume from hibernation as it does to boot -- in my case just under 10 seconds (I've upgraded to a 512GB SSD)

7 seconds on a Intel 330 240Gb ssd.

[awolfe63]

I'm running the Vengeance at 2x4GB. Different board than the 8GB - but runs fine.

[Tony Chan]

Thanks awolfe63, it's good to know someone is running 1.5v ram without any problem.

I wonder what's the actual voltage running on this 2 sets of ram, cause mine actually spec as 1.35-1.5v. Is the laptop actually send 1.5v to ram? Or it has the smart to send different voltage according to ram spec.

[awolfe63]

CPU-Z reports that the RAM is requesting 1.5V

[kaivalagi]

I too am looking at 4->16gb upgrade and am wondering if the mobo/bios of the x230 will support higher speeds than 1600MHz? Would 2x8GB of 1866MHz SO-DIMM ram work and be runnable at the maximum rating? Anyone know?

[awolfe63]

I too am looking at 4->16gb upgrade and am wondering if the mobo/bios of the x230 will support higher speeds than 1600MHz? Would 2x8GB of 1866MHz SO-DIMM ram work and be runnable at the maximum rating? Anyone know?

Won't run faster than 1600MHz without serious hacking.

[Txiasaeia]

My set of Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB sticks is flawless, so YMMV.

[kaivalagi]

Oh well, I went ahead and ordered 1600mhz ram today anyway, it sounds like I would be wasting higher rated modules. I got a little carried away on the Crucial site though and grabbed a 512MB SSD whilst I was at it

[ducky2802]

My unit came with 1.5V samsung (or hynix?) from the factory. Got a another 4gb stick samsung which was 1.35V and stuck it in there. No problems, runs just fine. The new samsung ram is also about 20% shorter than the one in the laptop. Must be a trend as, unrelatedly, I picked up some desktop ram and it was like 1/2 the height as the one that came stock 2 years ago.

[blackomegax]

I put 1866mhz ram in my X230.

I can confirm it runs at 1866mhz.

[skinnie]

I put 1866mhz ram in my X230.

I can confirm it runs at 1866mhz.

any picture?
Mine came with kingston 2*8Gb form lapstars.de (special order).
No problems.
A few years ago I had a defective PC133 512mb stick from kingston, contacted them, new replacement: 4Gb DDR3 (for my macbook).