Ram upgrade

dwaned

Hi all,

I've an Lenovo ideapad Z500 with 6GB of Ram (2 x 3GB) installed. I need more Ram and was wondering if I buy 1 x 8GB stick can I replace 1 of the 3GB to end up with 11GB? Will that work?
The laptop supports up to 16 gb.

Cheers

Lu Tze

dwaned wrote: »

Hi all,

I've an Lenovo ideapad Z500 with 6GB of Ram (2 x 3GB) installed. I need more Ram and was wondering if I buy 1 x 8GB stick can I replace 1 of the 3GB to end up with 11GB? Will that work?
The laptop supports up to 16 gb.

Cheers

Do you definitely need more ram? 6GB is a lot unless you are running something heavy like rendering (just incase its a software issue, something hogging resources).

Check the manual, but these are normally installed in matched pairs. You could try the 1 x 8GB stick first, matching the spec (speed/timings etc)of the 3GB stick in the laptop already, and if it doesnt work just continue with the single 8GB until you can match it up with another 8GB stick down the line (if you need the extra).

Have a look on adverts, and see what 2 x 3GB sticks are going for, and you might be able to replace both sticks by what you make back by selling the 3GB ones. This would also not restrict you in the spec of the ram you are buying (to match the 3GB), just to what your laptop supports (check the manual)

dwaned

Hi Lu Tze,

yes I'm using lightroom and PS CC and it almost stalls the laptop when both are open (common for editing). I was thinking of just trying 8GB first and see how it goes.
So trial and error should be ok? Buy 1 x 8GB and use it with a 3GB?

bonzodog2

You could also try using ReadyBoost with a fast SD card or USB stick if you have the ports/slot. And not reading and writing to the same disk, i.e. render to a different disk than the source material

dwaned

bonzodog2 wrote: »

You could also try using ReadyBoost with a fast SD card or USB stick if you have the ports/slot. And not reading and writing to the same disk, i.e. render to a different disk than the source material

Thanks bonzodog2, I tried readyboost before with no real success but I have much quicker cards now so I'll give it a try and let you know how I get.

Lu Tze

dwaned wrote: »

Hi Lu Tze,

yes I'm using lightroom and PS CC and it almost stalls the laptop when both are open (common for editing). I was thinking of just trying 8GB first and see how it goes.
So trial and error should be ok? Buy 1 x 8GB and use it with a 3GB?

Yeah, try and find out the specification of the 3GB stick first and get same 8GB stick.

Though, if you are running tose kind of rsource have you considered getting a desktop? You may just be creating a bottleneck elsewhere by getting the ram, the bottleneck may switch to the cpu or the hard drive as mentioned above by bonzodog

dwaned

Thanks Lu, have been running ready boost on a Lexar professional card. Started out great but soon started lagging almost as bad as without. So I think I'll try what you say and match a 8GB piece to the 3 installed and see how it goes. I need the Laptop when I'm on the road, I have a pc that runs the software pretty well but rarely use it for image processing.

Will report back once I get it sorted.
Thanks for taking the time to reply lads.

TerrorFirmer

Are you sure it's 2 x 3GB and not a 4 + 2? I've never seen a 3GB DDR3 so-dimm before...

dwaned

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Are you sure it's 2 x 3GB and not a 4 + 2? I've never seen a 3GB DDR3 so-dimm before...

I was sure!! thought I read it somewhere but can't find it now or anything to say what the configuration is. I've ordered a 8GB piece so I'll see when I'm fitting it.

dwaned

Just an update on this, My 8GB Ram arrived today. Opened up laptop and found (as TerrorFirmer said) a 2gb and 4gb piece inside. Replaced the 2gb with the new 8gb. Success!! Now reading 12gb of Ram!!
A noticeable difference in the performance, mainly when I have 2 editing software's open I can still use the pc! Gonna try Hardline now, see how that's handling

Thanks for all your input !