ThinkPad T14 Gen3 (intel) RAM upgrade

[antonnetapp]

Hi, I have seen some good positive reports for this ram (CT16G4SFRA32A), but it was for gen2 and AMD models.

The crucial official website ( https://eu.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16g4sfra32a ) lists my laptop as unsupported because they probably think of the T14 which has ALL memory soldered, while mine (Type 21AH) has one soldered RAM (16GB), but one slot free for upgrades.
I want to add another 16GB to make 32GB in total.

I wonder if somebody with the same specs has already done the same and can encourage my decision. Or if there is some caveat that I'm missing and if I could get a warning before pulling the trigger.

[RealBlackStuff]

Try Crucial, Samsung, Hynix, Kingston, they're all good.
Up to 48GB (16GB soldered + 32GB SO-DIMM) DDR4-3200

Note: Memory module replacement might cause memory retraining during POST. When memory retraining occurs, the screen cannot display the progress information and might be blank. You might see the LED indicators on ESC, F1, and F4 blinking sequentially to indicate the progress. Do not press the power button to interrupt the process. Wait a few minutes until the logo screen is displayed.

[antonnetapp]

Yes of course, but any feedback on that very specific crucial model?

I got retraining when the bios upgraded too, slightly unsettling even when you know that after the post-upgrade startup you have to be patient.

[RealBlackStuff]

According to them it's 100% compatible: https://eu.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct16 ... CT22031277

[MikalE]

I was told that about the Crucial and Hynix memory for my T16, but BIOS upgrades render the memory slot useless. T14's T15's and T16's are all experiencing problems with memory slot usage after upgrades past 1.03. If you upgrade (or have upgraded) to BIOS 1.30 or later, downgrade will not be possible.

Seems that Lenovo can't get this BIOS correct and renders the memory slot unusable. If your machine gets stuck for more than a few minutes during memory training, you may as well remove it because it will never finish.

A BIOS updrage to 1.05 bricked my new T16 and the motherboard had to be replaced. After the tech installed it, it downloaded the new BIOS and installed it and rendered the memory slot useless. I turned off all Windows and Lenovo updates and rolled back the BIOS to 1.03 and the memory slot was once again usable. I've since started Windows updates again, but none from Lenovo until I hear about a working BIOS.

[antonnetapp]

Thank you for you insights, i'm on bios 1.10

[MikalE]

I know the BIOS release numbers are different between all of these machines whether or not it is the same BIOS. I suspect there are similarities. So similar in fact, that one of more of the BIOS'es for these machines are corrupting the memory slot past a certain release.