[SOLVED] Upgrading RAM on my new Lenovo Legion T5

[Koivu11]

Hello everyone,

Last month I bought a Lenovo Legion T5. I'm looking to optimize my machine and I have some gift cards so I was thinking I may as well sort out the RAM for a permanent solution.

I have been looking into the best solutions online, but as an amateur I'm certainly not sure which direction I should go in.

Let me start by stating the information regarding the two 8GB RAM sticks in my machine, which sadly give me little information that I can understand:

Samsung T0T200003744095C99 2037
8GB 1Rx16 PC4 - 3200AA - UC0 - 11
Made in Vietnam M378A1G44AB0 - CWE

Am I looking at a 8GB CL 16 3200mhz RAM sticks that are SR?

My motherboard is a Vermeer AMD B550 with 4 DDR4 DIMM slots Dual Channel Architecture, should I perhaps buy 4 identical 8GB CL (??) that are 3600mhz or even 4000mhz? Are these supported and I can simply put them in and I'm done or is 3200mhz my maximum? In case they are easily upgradable I could sell the two, good as new RAM sticks that are currently in the machine, not a problem. Does it make more sense to try and find two identical RAM sticks to the ones that are in there now? Are they good enough or will they slow me down? I've not had much luck finding identical ones so far. I assume four 8GB SR RAM sticks its a better option that two 16GB DR RAM sticks? I sincerely doubt I will ever upgrade beyond 32GB.

The rest of the info regarding my machine:

Lenovo Legion T5 26AMR5
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Matisse
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Windows 10

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[Newtonius]

Since you have a ryzen based laptop, try also installing ryzen master, that'll give you much more information about your system, including the RAM. It looks like you're rocking single rank 3200Mhz, possibly at CL16 but you can confirm that in ryzen master.

As for what you should upgrade, I wouldn't get a 3600 or 4000MHz kit, mostly because you're rocking mid tier components and those RAM speeds are for high tier components. The performance gain isn't even that much for most games anyway even if you could make it work out. 3200MHz is the sweet spot in price-performance. Just get 2 more 8GB of the same RAM kit and you should be fine.

I also can't find the RAM model you listed online, so I' a little worried it might be cheap RAM, does it have a heat spreader on it or is it a bare RAM stick?

 

[geofelt]

I believe you have the desktop.
Go to a site like crucial or kingston and access their ram upgrade app.Enter the make/model of your pc and you will get a list of supported ram upgrades.
Be careful, ryzen is picky about ram and mixing ram does not always work.
If you get supported kingston or crucial upgrades you will have recourse if you have problems.
When done,
Run memtest86 or memtest86+
They boot from a usb stick and do not use windows.
You can download them here:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

If you can run a full pass with NO errors, your ram should be ok.

Running several more passes will sometimes uncover an issue, but it takes more time.
Probably not worth it unless you really suspect a ram issue.

 

[Koivu11]

Thanks for the replies.

Indeed, it's a desktop. Yes, they are completely bare RAM sticks, they certainly look to be on the cheap side.

I assume Ryzen Master also works for desktops?

What exactly is the CL? Could someone explain that?

It seems that my RAM is up to par, and I should try to find two more of them. Luckily here I can get two RAM sticks, test them and just return them for a full refund within two months. Does the brand make a difference or should I concentrate on the size, CL and speed being identical?

I will certainly try that memory tool. Does it boot straight from the USB stick prior to starting Windows or do I restart into the program from Windows?

 

[Koivu11]

An update after an extremely lengthy search going through every product number of Lenovo's listed RAM which is compatible with the Samsung sticks it came with.

I'm literally looking at the same price for the cheapest 'guaranteed' 2 x 8GB simple RAM sticks as getting
VIPER STEEL DDR4 32GB 3200MHz CL16 KIT
which comes with heat sinks. This looks to be a better solution by far, and I can sell off the two original RAM sticks.

Is there any reason to assume these particular Viper RAM sticks would be a problem with my particular computer? The specs seem to be similar.

 

[geofelt]

Memtest boots from a USB stick(or CD or gasp! floppy). It does not use windows.

Likely, your plan will work.
Since you will have the option to return the ram if you have problems, go ahead.

Since ram must be matched, you are smart to plan on selling the old.
Also, 2 x 16gb is probably better than 4 x 8gb.
Performance will be dual channel, regardless if 2 or 4 sticks.
And, it is easier for a motherboard to manage 2 sticks vs. 4.

CL is latency, simply, it is the number of cycles needed to access the ram when the ram speed takes over.
lower is better.
The patriot viper timings are 18-22-22-42

The reason the ram is cheapest is because of the slow timings.
The very best 3200 speed ram will have timings of 14-14-14-34
And. of course, they will be more expensive.
Here is an example:
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232218?quicklink=true

If you need more ram, that is the first priority.

A secondary issue is good performance.
Ryzen is tightly tied to ram for performance.
If you have an option to buy a better performing kit reasonably try to do so.
Timings of 16-18-18-38 are mainstream.
Here is an example:
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232299

 

[Koivu11]

Memtest boots from a USB stick(or CD or gasp! floppy). It does not use windows.

Likely, your plan will work.
Since you will have the option to return the ram if you have problems, go ahead.

Since ram must be matched, you are smart to plan on selling the old.
Also, 2 x 16gb is probably better than 4 x 8gb.
Performance will be dual channel, regardless if 2 or 4 sticks.
And, it is easier for a motherboard to manage 2 sticks vs. 4.

CL is latency, simply, it is the number of cycles needed to access the ram when the ram speed takes over.
lower is better.
The patriot viper timings are 18-22-22-42

The reason the ram is cheapest is because of the slow timings.
The very best 3200 speed ram will have timings of 14-14-14-34
And. of course, they will be more expensive.
Here is an example:
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232218?quicklink=true

If you need more ram, that is the first priority.

A secondary issue is good performance.
Ryzen is tightly tied to ram for performance.
If you have an option to buy a better performing kit reasonably try to do so.
Timings of 16-18-18-38 are mainstream.
Here is an example:
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232299

Excellent info, thank you very much! These particular Vipers seem to be 15-15-15-36, this is what it says in the item description on the site. If that's correct they seem to be a bit of a steal.

VIPER STEEL DDR4 32GB 3200MHz CL16 KIT - Gigantti verkkokauppa

The Viper Steel utilizes a custom designed high performance aluminum heat shield for a clean sleek steel-look inside any motherboa

www.gigantti.fi

This is the exact model. Unfortunately English doesn't seem to be a selectable language, but the info is under ''Tekniset tiedot''.