Hello all,

I have 3years old Lenovo IdealPad 320-15IKB (80XL037AIN), now I would like to go for storage & memory upgrade.

 

Current configuration:

OS - Win10 Home SL 64 Bit

CPU -  Intel Core i7 7500U @ 2.70GHz 

Motherboard - LNVNB161216 (U3E1)

Storage - 931GB Seagate ST1000LM035-1RK172 (SATA )

Optical Drives -  HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GUE0N
RAM - 8.00GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1064MHz (15-15-15-35)

DeviceLocator         Manufacturer   PartNumber                      Speed

ChannelA-DIMM0  Samsung           M471A5244CB0-CRC    2133   (Soldered)

ChannelB-DIMM0  SK Hynix           HMA851S6AFR6N-UH  2133 
 

for more.

need suggestion for queries below;

I noticed 4 GB Samsung RAM is soldered, can I replace 4 GB SK Hynix with 16 GB? If yes, please suggest one.
Does this model has PCIe slot? can we use PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD ?

If I install new SATA 2.5" SSD in HDD slot and replace the Optical drive with existing 1 TB Seagate HDD using Caddy.. does HDD performance reduce?

Does it support SSD Crucial BX500 Vs Kingstone Q400/A400? RAM Crucial 16 GB 2400 MHz SODIMM?

Awaiting early response! Thanks in Advance!!

Hi rsk007,

Welcome to the Community Forums.

Specification (page 27) for the model shows maximum supported capacity 16 GB DDR4-2133 MHz.

Those without soldered 4Gb on-board would allow the single slot for support of 16GB.

Those with 4GB soldered ram + 8 GB for total of 12GB is the OEM offering.

There are fellow members that manage successful 20GB total (4GB soldered + 16GB slotted) as discussed here (read through pages 3-4).

OEM recommended 16 GB here in parts lookup (filter Commodity list to memory).

Users are not limited to brands so you can check similar specifications to those OEM part and they should work fine.

We cannot guarantee other ram since it is from a third party but again as long as the specs are the same then we expect then to work.

You can check your machine for the m.2 availability as shown on this discussion or get us a screenshot of your board if needed.

There are variants of the IP320 that has while other don't.

Those that DIY upgrade with a caddy would have replace the HDD to a SSD SATA and slave the original drive to the caddy since it is expected to be slower (SATA II controllers) on the ODD port.

I hope this helps ansewr your query.

Regards

Hey spidey101,Thanks my friend for quick response.Still I’m confused on M.2 slot. That mean slot available for NVMe or not?

Hi rsk007,

Do you have the snapshot of your board?

I don't have an image of your motherboard (PN 5B20N86580) so I cannot check it.

Try to review the discussion here.

This would give you the idea where to locate it.

General specification on the manual (page 27) shows that there is only SATA storage connection and no NVMe m.2 for added storage.

Regards

Bro spidey101, have a look into this. Let me now if u notice M.2 slot for PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD!

Just confirming again, Can I replace the 4 GB Hynix RAM with 16 GB 2400 MHz RAM? ( in previous reply you stated that there couple of ppl done that (20GB) but OEM vendor recommendation for 16GB total only. However, I notice below so re-verifying)
https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/datasheet/ideapad_320_15IKB&Touch_17IKB_datasheet_EN.pdf
 

Other way Lenovo cheated me? Before buying they manual showed PCIe card and now no PCIe card?

Lenovo chat supports confirmed that (PCIe slot):

Lenovo customer support: Welcome to Lenovo Technical Support. My name is *******. I will be delighted to assist you. 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Hello Lenovo customer support: Hello, Good Evening.Thank you for contacting 

Lenovo Technical Support. How may I assist you today? 

SANTHOSH RANGA: I would like upgrade SSD & RAM on my laptop.. need your assistance 

Lenovo customer support: Ok please 

SANTHOSH RANGA: RAM shows 2133 speed in Lenovo portal, can I install 16gb 2400MHZ ? 

SANTHOSH RANGA: is there PCIe M.2 SSD on this laptop? 

Lenovo customer support: let me check then i will tell you . 

SANTHOSH RANGA: do you have my laptop model? 

Lenovo customer support: yes 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Lenovo ideapad 320-15IKB 80XL037AIN 

SANTHOSH RANGA: just for reference 

Lenovo customer support: ok fine Communication with the Oracle Service Cloud Chat service has been lost. Please wait while attempts are made to restore the connection. Disconnection in 240 seconds. Connection resumed. 

SANTHOSH RANGA: There File attachment upload has started. The file F3F74753-8865-4EF7-9351-78BCB664A5A4.png (1452.6KB) was received. 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Hello, there??? 

Lenovo customer support: yes 

Lenovo customer support: wait please 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Ok 

Lenovo customer support: Yes up to 256 GB M.2 slot is there 

Lenovo customer support: You can upgrade it till 256 GB 

SANTHOSH RANGA: How about 2400mhz 16gb ram 

SANTHOSH RANGA: I think one slot is soldered 

SANTHOSH RANGA: can I use 16gb on one slot? 

Lenovo customer support: no ram up to only 12 GB you can extend 

Lenovo customer support: Because already 4 GB is sodered 

Lenovo customer support: soldered * 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Okay.. max 16gb r 20gb ram? 

Lenovo customer support: so so only another 8 GB you can upgrade . 

Lenovo customer support: Max 12 GB 

SANTHOSH RANGA: No Im asking max support ram by laptop 

SANTHOSH RANGA: 16gb r 20gb 

SANTHOSH RANGA: There is no 12gb ram, either i shoud go with 4+8gb (12gb) r 4+16gb (20gb) 

SANTHOSH RANGA: so checking with u before buying 

Lenovo customer support: yes 4 + 8 GB 

SANTHOSH RANGA: Ok..thanks I appreciate for response. 

SANTHOSH RANGA: My queries are answered you close chat.. thanks again

Hi rsk007,

Greetings.

The m.2 slots are machine soldered so it can be a big challenge aside from BIOS recognition.

I don't also think an M.2 PCIe on an adapter via Optical drive port would be a good option.

Its connection is still SATA so it will surely bottle down the expected speed of PCIe SSD.

In general, M.2 SSD is offered on select models as shown in different variants as shown in the compared machine type model I have provided in the above reply.

I am sure that there are no bad intent on the customer service team perhaps just lost in communication about the MTM during chat.

You may contact them back and share our discussion here in the Community forums.

I hope this helps answer your query from your initial concern.

Regards