Question How to find maximum Ram capacity for my laptop?

[Neptun586]

Hello everyone,

I am new here. I have a Lenovo ThinkPad Intel-i5 with 8gb Ram (2x4gb ddr3 Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz, Windows 8.1, 64-bit). The laptop is always slowing down because of 3 application I use a lot: Dropbox, GoogleDrive and above all Firefox. Ram usage is at 98% all the time, when all three apps run and VM takes everything and I have to wait way to long..... So I would like to upgrade at least to 16gb. I have a question: is it possible? I found also 1600/1866/2133MHz. Can I pick the best one? How can I know what my laptop support?
Thank you in advance!!!

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You will need to post the exact model of your ThinkPad as on some models the RAM is soldered in place and there's no empty slots to upgrade. whilst other Thinkpads have soldered RAM plus an empty RAM slot.

8 GB RAM should be plenty for most apps though, so I suspect it's the VM which is using the lions share of it.

But also, on a laptop, much of that 8GB could be eaten up by uneccessary OEM startup "bloatware" which loads into memory every time Windows starts. So that might be worth investigating to see if at least some of those startup itms can be disabled to leave more memory free.

 

[geofelt]

Go to a ram web site like kingston or corsair.
Access their ram upgrade app.
Enter the make/model of your laptop.
You will get a list of supported upgrades.

 

[Neptun586]

You will need to post the exact model of your ThinkPad as on some models the RAM is soldered in place and there's no empty slots to upgrade. whilst other Thinkpads have soldered RAM plus an empty RAM slot.

8 GB RAM should be plenty for most apps though, so I suspect it's the VM which is using the lions share of it.

But also, on a laptop, much of that 8GB could be eaten up by uneccessary OEM startup "bloatware" which loads into memory every time Windows starts. So that might be worth investigating to see if at least some of those startup itms can be disabled to leave more memory free.

I know there are two slots. I put the 8gb, the laptop came with one bank of 4gb. I have now 2x4gb ram. I would like to buy 2x8gb and replace all the ram.
I have my laptop since 2015. I tried to turn off every unnecessary thing from the beginning. It was fine until the last months. So I do not know what kind of OEM are still there...Any suggestions?
VM is for sure a problem: pagefile.sys takes the hd at 100% when the ram is not enough - and it happens now very often. Firefox uses now alone almost 1,7gb ram when working (and I do not have extensions). It seems lot of the problem depends from Firefox and internet connection (when I turn it off, the laptop becomes usable again after some minutes)...
Every other thing seems to work just fine...

thank you for your help!!

 

[geofelt]

You will likely have no problem replacing your 2 x 4gb ram with a 2 x 8gb kit
CPU-Z will tell you the speed of your current ram and that speed in new ram should be ok.
To confirm, check kingston, crucial, corsair, g.skip upgrade apps for the ram brand of your choice.

I might add, if you have not yet converted the laptop HDD to a ssd, that will be one of the most satisfying upgrades you can make.
Everything will be quicker.
My method of choice is to use a samsung ssd and their ssd migration app.

 

[Neptun586]

You will likely have no problem replacing your 2 x 4gb ram with a 2 x 8gb kit
CPU-Z will tell you the speed of your current ram and that speed in new ram should be ok.
To confirm, check kingston, crucial, corsair, g.skip upgrade apps for the ram brand of your choice.

I might add, if you have not yet converted the laptop HDD to a ssd, that will be one of the most satisfying upgrades you can make.
Everything will be quicker.
My method of choice is to use a samsung ssd and their ssd migration app.

Thank you! Will it make a difference if i take a 1866 or a 2133MHz Ram?
I thought about buying a SSD. Thanks. But should it solve the monstrous amount of Ram used by my Apps?

 

[geofelt]

Ram speed is unlikely to make much of a difference for app performance.
For integrated graphics, faster ram is better.
Faster ram is accompanied by higher latencies, negating most of the speed benefits.
What is the make/model of your laptop?
Your motherboard and processor will determine the maximum ram speed you can use.
That is why I suggested you check a ram vendor like corsair to see what ram upgrades are supported.

As to a ssd, if you are so short of ram that you are encountering hard page faults, then a ssd will resolve those faults some 40x faster than the hard drive.
But, the only real solution for ram shortage is more ram.

 

[Neptun586]

Ram speed is unlikely to make much of a difference for app performance.
For integrated graphics, faster ram is better.
Faster ram is accompanied by higher latencies, negating most of the speed benefits.
What is the make/model of your laptop?
Your motherboard and processor will determine the maximum ram speed you can use.
That is why I suggested you check a ram vendor like corsair to see what ram upgrades are supported.

As to a ssd, if you are so short of ram that you are encountering hard page faults, then a ssd will resolve those faults some 40x faster than the hard drive.
But, the only real solution for ram shortage is more ram.

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad E540 , i5-4210M. It came with just 4gb ram and I put the 8gb from the beginning myself. I found out I can use max 16gb Ram. Thanks.
Does it make sense if I buy a ssd? I mean, will my laptop last much longer or not? I do not want to spend to much money if I am going to have to buy a new laptop soon... I can give you all the specs from CPU-Z if you need them in order to answer. Thank you very much for your help

 

[geofelt]

I entered your laptop on the crucial site.
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Lenovo/thinkpad-edge-e540

It shows this 2 x 8gb ddr3 1866 kit as compatible
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/thinkpad-edge-e540/CT7771831

You can find it for $70 on newegg
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-16gb-204-pin-ddr3-so-dimm/p/0RM-0006-00DR1

How much space is actually used on your HDD?
If it is under 200gb you could get by with a 250gb ssd replacement for $59.
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-250gb/p/N82E16820147676
A 500gb ssd is not that much more at $80
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-500gb/p/N82E16820147674

I think a ssd replacement will be the best laptop performance bump you can ever make.
I have done this on every laptop I own to good effect.

Use the samsung ssd migration tool to move your D drive to the ssd.
Here is a link to download the app and manual.

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

You will also need a way to copy to the new ssd.
Assuming that your laptop does not have a second 2.5" slot, use a usb to sata adapter cable like this:
https://www.newegg.com/startech-usb...re=usb_to_sata_adapter-_-12-400-542-_-Product

If I had only $80 to spend on an upgrade, the ssd would come first.
Of course, both ssd and ram is better

 

[Neptun586]

I entered your laptop on the crucial site.
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Lenovo/thinkpad-edge-e540

It shows this 2 x 8gb ddr3 1866 kit as compatible
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/thinkpad-edge-e540/CT7771831

You can find it for $70 on newegg
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-16gb-204-pin-ddr3-so-dimm/p/0RM-0006-00DR1

How much space is actually used on your HDD?
If it is under 200gb you could get by with a 250gb ssd replacement for $59.
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-250gb/p/N82E16820147676
A 500gb ssd is not that much more at $80
https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-500gb/p/N82E16820147674

I think a ssd replacement will be the best laptop performance bump you can ever make.
I have done this on every laptop I own to good effect.

Use the samsung ssd migration tool to move your D drive to the ssd.
Here is a link to download the app and manual.

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

You will also need a way to copy to the new ssd.
Assuming that your laptop does not have a second 2.5" slot, use a usb to sata adapter cable like this:
https://www.newegg.com/startech-usb3s2sat3cb-usb-to-sata/p/N82E16812400542?Description=usb to sata adapter&cm_re=usb_to_sata_adapter--12-400-542--Product

If I had only $80 to spend on an upgrade, the ssd would come first.
Of course, both ssd and ram is better

Hey, thank you very much!!

 

[onespeedbiker]

Just thought I'd add Thinkpads/ Lenovo have a devoted website. http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki While the site hot on Linux, the Thinkpad models link, http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:Models gives specs on most Thinkpads and (non-Thinkpad) Lenovo laptops. http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:E540