I had a bit of a hard time finding a US supplier for the ram sticks. Crucial's helper application stuck with the Lenovo documentation and would only recommend up to 8GB, but this is the EXACT kit that I used:
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1333 MT/s (PC3-10600) CL9 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory Modules CT2CP102464BF1339
[UPDATE 12/28/2017]
Someone pointed out in the comments that this particular model is no longer available (not surprising given the age of this post). Amazon recommends another kit, CT2KIT102464BF160B, which has the same specs as the memory currently recommended by Crucial for the z570. I can't say from personal experience how well this memory would perform in practice, but it seems like a safe substitute:
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L 1600 MT/S (PC3-12800) Unbuffered SODIMM 204-Pin Memory - CT2KIT102464BF160B
[END UPDATE]
This Lenovo forum had several users also state that they could use 16GB, and was a key factor in my decision to make the leap.
Here is a screenshot of System Monitor (I'm running Fedora on this machine). I have 6GB allocated to a Win7 VirtualBox VM, which is why the usage is so high.
Thanks for your post
ReplyDeleteI am also planning to do the same upgrade for my z570, did you encounter any problem since your upgrade (blue screen, battery...) ?
I've never had any issues with the memory upgrade. I like to run virtual machines on there with VirtualBox, makes it nice to have so much cause I don't have to think twice about allocating 6gb to a virtual machine...
DeleteIs your computer still working with the 16gb upgrade with no problems?
ReplyDeleteI have not run into any problems with the computer related to the memory. Granted, when I fire up Virtual Box with Windows 8.1 guest and start Visual Studio and SQL Server Management Studio and 50 tabs on Chrome, it bogs down, but that isn't a memory problem lol... that is a "asking way too much of my machine" problem. The Win7 guest does better. I like the formatted cut and paste from Visual Studio (all my pretty code snippets), so lately I've been in that machine quite a bit. The Win8.1 VM I only use when features (like websockets or windows phone) are only supported on 8+... I did eventually take Fedora off and installed Ubuntu 14.04 because I was tired of fighting with the OS and Ubuntu just does some things easier. Again, nothing to do with the memory.
DeleteThanks for the post. I haven't opened my laptop yet to check, but are both slots accessible from the access flap? And if not cound I simply buy one 8GB Ram and leave the other one in place?
ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I cracked mine open, but I know I looked up a how to video on how to do it before starting. This is probably the one I used : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDlQAWjtw90 ... As far as sizing goes, mine came with 4gb and 2gb sticks, so you SHOULD be able to just pull the 2gb stick, swap it with an 8gb stick, and still double the memory to 12gb. I didn't try it so YMMV, but theoretically I believe that should work just fine...
DeleteThank you for the informative post.I have Z570 Core-i3 processor. I have never cracked open my laptop. i don't even know if there is a extra memory slot. if yes, i am planning to install a 8gb into the second port along with 4GB. Will the 4gb and 8gb have compatibility issues?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a hardware guru, so I can't say for certain if the 4gb and 8gb sticks will work together. This is the exact 4gb stick I pulled out of mine (Ramaxel 100280148):
Deletehttp://www.impactcomputers.com/100280148.html
The speed is identical, and the Crucial memory I suggest works in 1.35 and 1.5 volts. The Ramaxel memory runs at 1.5v according to what I could find, so again THEORETICALLY they should play nice. Personally I went the conservative route and replaced both (well ok, really I just wanted to max it out lol)... Here is an interesting conversation on mixing ram sticks:
http://superuser.com/questions/696433/can-i-have-two-different-capacity-ram-sticks
Hi all - I did the same upgrade and generally it runs fine. I did find some instances where my computer did crash after the upgrade. When copied large directories from my local drive to another drive caused the computer to crash. I tried the same with the old memory SIMMS in place (6GB) and it worked fine - so I suspect the computer sometimes chokes (blue screen) when dealing with more memory than on the spec sheet. Has anyone else seen the same?
ReplyDeleteI've never had mine crash on me and I'm going on well over 18 months post upgrade. I upgraded my hard drive this past summer to a 2TB drive, and I used dd to copy the entire contents of the old drive onto the new one using an external hard drive enclosure, and that went without a hitch (well that's not exactly true, it was a pain... but the memory gave me no trouble and the computer didn't crash lol). I would think if the problem were a general one, it would apply to all machines and thus I'd be having similar problems, but really... two machines isn't much a sample size. So take this with a grain of salt.
DeleteThanks for the response Troy. Now I am finding that about once or twice a day I am getting the Blue Screen of Death. I also upgraded to Windows 10 - so I cant be sure whether its the memory upgrade or the OS upgrade that is doing this.
ReplyDeleteI have found that when I use 8 gig (instead of 2 X 16 GB just one 8GB at a time) I still get crashes (BSOF). Its true for which ever of the two memory chips I use - also when I run windows memory diagnostics, a message is displayed indicating that it found a Hardware problem but still runs through the memory and seems not to find specific problem in the memory (also for either of the two 8gb sticks). When I use the original memory sticks that came with the computer (a 4GB and a 2 GB) no hardware issues are found and the computer doesnt crash. I am wondering if anyone using 16GB in their z570 is having similar issues and whether when you run memory diagnostics from the administrative tools it reports any problems. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteAbie
If anyone is checking this thread. Just as an FYI regarding my post above and the solution. I was using Crucial sticks (Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3-1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) 204-Pin SODIMM Notebook Memory CT2KIT102464BF160B / CT2CP102464BF160B)
Deleteand those seemed to be the problem. I returned them and got Samsung sticks
(Samsung 8GB (PC3L-12800) DDR3L 1.35V 1600 204-Pin SoDimm Laptop Memory Module M471b1g73bh0-yk0)
Things are good now
Abie
Glad you were able to get it running! I wonder if there was some subtle difference between the sticks you got from Crucial and those I used (I noticed they were different model numbers)... Maybe just bad luck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
DeleteHey Troy, Thank you so much for writing this up and to all of the fantastic responses! I was really hoping to find a thread on this exact subject. I found this deal on newegg for this pair of chips: (ADATA Premier Series 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory Model AD3S1333W8G9-2) Thing is; it appears that they're rated at 1.5V as opposed to the 1.35/1.5V that your chip Specs seem to have. Do you happen by chance to know if these are still compatible? Thank you again and I'll be sure to stop by often! It's really cool to see that this is a relevant topic for these ideapads. Take care!
ReplyDeleteUnless I'm sorely mistaken, the original chips are 1.5v, so 1.5v replacements should work. But YMMV, I'm hardly an expert lol, I just know I had good luck with the Crucial chips I put in mine (abie above had less luck than me, did better with some Samsung chips)... So I guess the question you gotta ask yourself is... do you feel lucky. Well do ya, punk? =P
DeleteHello, Troy. Do you have intel i5 core on your ideapad?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteI have done it,,, Thanks TROY,, followed you step by step, got the same thing shipped to INDIA from USA,,, and Bingo,, works like a charm. Thank you so much,, god bless you buddy
ReplyDeleteAwesome, glad to hear it =)
DeleteHey, thank u for the amazing post
ReplyDeleteI just want to ask if i can use a single 8GB 1600 or 1333 chip and leave the other slot free
Will that do me any problems?
Thanks in advanced.
It shouldn't be an issue to use just one chip as long as it's otherwise compatible. Glad my post was useful to you, thanks for the feedback!
DeleteHey, mine has 1gb stick in both slots with i5 second generation z570. Can I go for an upgrade to 16gb (8gb*2).
ReplyDeleteThe general experience seems to be that you should be able to do so. Most folks seem to have good luck with the Crucial chips, though abie had to use Samsung chips instead. Even going to 8gb, which is endorsed by Lenovo, would be a huge improvement over 2gb.
DeleteThose 8gbx2 RAMs are no longer available. Amazon recommends the following: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-Unbuffered-SODIMM-204-Pin/dp/B007B5S52C/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts about this chipset?
The current recommendations by Crucial (who still will only go up to 8g because that's what Lenovo says), is CT3305323, which has specs {DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V}, which is exactly the same underlying specs as the chips you pointed to, so if I were doing this again today I'd feel pretty comfortable trying those out. I'll update the post to reflect the change in availability.
DeleteHi all... I have bought two 4 gb ram sticks of 1600 mhz frequency for my Lenovo z570 i5. Will that cause any problem since it is mentioned in the spec that 1333 mhz is supported ?
ReplyDeleteIt should be fine. It'll run at 1333 mhz, but should be stable.
DeleteThanks for the clarification Troy. I have a Windows 7 (32 bit) installed in my system. Will it be able to utilize 8 GB RAM or do I need to install Windows 7 (64 bit) ?
DeleteTo use more than 4gb of ram you'll have to upgrade to a 64bit OS
Delete