Redditor sends a gaming laptop with 64GB RAM for repair, comes back with 32GB RAM

A Redditor's warranty repair turned into a headache after his Lenovo Legion 5 gaming laptop came back with only 32GB of RAM installed, half of the 64GB he shipped it with.

Reddit user GRINZ_DOCTOR says he bought the laptop through Best Buy's website last December, configured with a Core i9-14900HX, an RTX 5070 Laptop GPU, 64GB of DDR5 memory, and a 2TB SSD. The laptop reportedly ran fine for eight months before it started throwing repeated blue screens and had to be sent in for warranty service.

When it came back, one of the two 32GB DDR5 modules was gone. Best Buy's paperwork apparently claimed the laptop could only support 32GB of memory. It does match Lenovo's own spec sheet for the Legion 5 15IRX10, which lists a maximum of 32GB DDR5, despite the laptop having two SO-DIMM slots and clearly running fine with double that for months.

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Best Buy's documentation indicates the removed module was actually sent back along with the laptop, not kept. So this isn't quite the "retailer pocketed your RAM" story it looks like at first glance.

The bigger question is why the memory had to come out at all. The laptop wasn't factory-configured with 64GB by Lenovo, apparently. It was sold through a third-party listing on Best Buy's site by PC Heaven, a seller that reportedly opens new machines and installs upgraded parts before selling them. That would explain the gap between what Lenovo officially lists as supported and what actually shipped in the box.

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It's possible whoever handled the repair simply worked off Lenovo's spec sheet and assumed the extra module was an unsupported addition. Interestingly, the laptop's original complaint was blue screens, and Best Buy's notes reportedly say the machine passed testing once the second module came out. That opens up another possibility: one of the two sticks, or a bad memory channel, may have actually been behind the crashes, and pulling it could have been the real fix.

Still, DDR5 pricing has gotten so brutal lately that cost is hard to rule out entirely. Crucial and SK Hynix have both leaned on cheaper resolutions rather than direct replacements for RAM and SSD warranty claims recently, so a retailer avoiding a costly module swap wouldn't be out of character for this market.

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Frequently Asked Questions

TweakBot answers common questions about this news using TweakTown's own coverage from this page and related content from our archive. All answers are generated from TweakTown content and not outside sources. Tap a question to reveal the answer, or type your own below related to this content.

Question #1

Why did Best Buy remove one 32GB RAM module during the warranty repair of the Legion 5 laptop?

Best Buy removed the extra 32GB module possibly because their paperwork and Lenovo's spec sheet list a 32GB maximum, so technicians may have treated the second stick as an unsupported aftermarket addition. The article also notes removing the module coincided with the laptop passing tests, so the extra stick or a faulty memory channel may have been causing the blue screens and its removal may have been the actual fix. The piece also raises cost as a possible factor given recent DRAM price pressures, though no firm explanation has been provided.

Answered

Question #2

Was the Legion 5 model in the article officially limited to 32GB DDR5 according to Lenovo’s spec sheet?

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Question #3

Could the removed RAM module have caused the blue screens the Redditor experienced?

Yes. The primary article reports Best Buy's notes saying the laptop passed testing once the second module was removed, and it explicitly states that one of the two sticks or a bad memory channel may have been behind the blue screens. Therefore the removed module could have been the cause of the crashes.

Answered

Question #4

Did Best Buy return the removed 32GB RAM module with the laptop or keep it?

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For now, Best Buy, Lenovo, and PC Heaven haven't publicly commented. The Redditor is apparently still trying to get a straight explanation and, ideally, to get his laptop back to 64GB of RAM somehow.