Can I go brutal force on installing 32 GB RAM on T430s?

[ircfas133]

Will it work? T430s supports only 16 GB RAM. But I see some people online install more RAM nonetheless. How many RAM slot do T430s has by the way? Thank you!

I mainly use my machine to run SAS software, so RAM is an important factor. Thanks!

[wolfman]

The processor will support 32gb of RAM with 2 channels. However, I am not sure where you will find 2x16gb RAM sticks at the moment. There are two RAM slots, so your practical limit today is 16gb of RAM. That may change in the future, but no one knows when or if each channel can support the full 32gb or is limited to 16gb.

If you need 32gb of RAM today, your best bet is to get a W530 (or W520 from the outlet) which has 4 RAM slots and you can install 4x8gb sticks for 32gb of RAM. The W series is your only option for 32gb of RAM in a Thinkpad at the moment. Good luck.

[jdrou]

If you need 32gb of RAM today, your best bet is to get a W530 (or W520 from the outlet) which has 4 RAM slots and you can install 4x8gb sticks for 32gb of RAM. .

Note that only the quad-core CPU models have 4 slots. I believe dual-core models only have 2.

[wolfman]

Note that only the quad-core CPU models have 4 slots. I believe dual-core models only have 2.

Yes, that is correct, thanks for clarifying. The dual core W520 and W530 only have 2 usable slots (believe they have blanks in the other two slots).