For new owners adding memory

I am a dweeb when it comes to computers, so I thought I would share my experience buying a Thinkpad with one stick of 4GB memory and adding more.

First, I bought a W520 quad core so I have 4 slots for 204 DIMM to use. I ordered mine with one slot filled with a 4GB DIMM. It came in the slot 0 in the top of the machine under the keyboard.

I ordered Crucial 204 DIMM matching memory from their website using their memory finder.

Order 3 more sticks to have a total of 16 GB.

When I got the machine I opened the maintenance manual and found the bottom memory slot door. 2 small phillips head screws and a fingernail and it was open and had both slots open. Ground yourself to avoid static electricity and insert the sticks one at a time. Now if you haven't done this before they will only go in one way and you can tell what that is from the bottom connectors. Also you will insert the stick at a 30 deg angle to the horizontal. So the non connector end is about a inch or so higher maybe a bit less than the connector end. They will slide in with a bit of firm sideways and down pressure. Once they are seated you simply rotate the non connector end downwards and they will seat inside their retainers. You will see the appropriate notches in the stick and you will see the little shiny metal retainer. EZ.

Now being a dweeb, I wasn't anxious to pull the keyboard as that is where the 3rd and 4th sticks on the W520 quad core goes, so operated it with 12 GB for a week or so. It started up right away and showed the 12 GB (11.9 GB usable) in the system icon.

Today, I pulled my maintenance manual and got to adding the final stick.

You first pull the battery and again turn the laptop upside down and loosen the 2 screws holding in the bottom DIMM cover. You need to do this since one of the two screws on the bottom that secure the keyboard is under this cover. the other is just beside the lower DIMM cover. Those 2 screws are removed and you turn the laptop back right side up. Nothing else is holding the keyboard now. It is a bit (1/4 inch) of a slide fit. Push lightly towards the LCD screen by pushing on the very small bezel that houses the on/off switch and the Thinkvantage blue button. No real pressure is needed. That will slide the keyboard up a 1/4 in and the bottom will come loose from the bezel. A fingernail under the lower part of the keyboard will lift it right off. It is attached by a cable to the motherboard but that does not need to be removed to get to the upper DIMM slots. In my case the top slot was already populated and I removed that DIMM to better get to the lower slot and added my last of 4 sticks and replaced the as shipped stick next. Reinsert the keyboard under the top bezel and pull towards you with several keys and it will recenter itself under the bezel. Turn it upside down and redo the bottom keyboard screws and than replace the lower DIMM cover and turn on your computer.

Now you have 16 GB (less if you only can house 8GB).

Incredibly easy. Even a dweeb can do it.

I would post the changing out of a HDD for an SSD but that is so EZ I would be insulting you.

Perry

 

I would just like to add that if you can add the 4th RAM to your W520, you can also add an mSATA drive. When you remove the keyboard, the place for the mSATA is staring right at you. (n.b. The Hardware Maintenance Manual has very good, detailed instructions on how to do both.)

 

That's not really my experience with my W520. I had a very hard time sliding the keyboard towards the LCD, there was something holding it on the left side, it just wouldn't slide. It took me like 15 minutes to finally go for brute force, after checking and double checking everything. In the end, it worked, but it wasn't very easy at all, and this comes from somebody who regularly cleans the notebooks by almost completely taking them apart.

There is some misinformation going around, some folks talk about 3 screws fixing the keyboard, they are wrong, there are only two, so don't get fooled into looking for a third one, you won't be able to find it.