IBM Z50 Ram upgrade - what will work?

I would like to upgrade the RAM in my Z50. But it seems very hard to get the original upgrade. Will other 32MB SoDimms work as well or did IBM make the Z50 modules special?

Thanks for any advice.

Apparently they're proprietary modules specifically for the z50, and no other modules will work. C:Amie had a bunch of them a couple of years ago, but he's sold them all. I may be looking for one myself since I just picked up a z50 cheap on eBay.

Like the man said, I sold all of my chips, sorry.

After further research, though, it seems that this module is also compatible with some ThinkPad 380 models. Lenovo still has information on the z50 on its site, and I was able to locate a part number (20L0243) there for the 32 MB RAM upgrade for the z50 - which I then searched for on the Web. I found these pages:

http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/458-18558-275/Kingston-KTM-760ELD-32-EDO-RAM.html

http://www.memoryx.net/92g7342.html

Several part numbers are listed together on each of these pages, suggesting that the same part may have multiple part numbers. Does either one of these look like the ones you had, C:Amie?

Edited by CE Geek 2009-06-22 3:59 AM

See photo: http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wb4kdi/PC/Z50/

The lower one of the two is the Kingston KTM-760ELD-32 shown in the first link in my previous post. So it seems indeed that more than one module will work. On that theory, I just ordered a 32 MB module on eBay with one of the part numbers listed on the two pages I linked above. $4 with free shipping - pretty small risk to see if it works. I'll report back after I get it. (Shouldn't take long - the seller's here in Los Angeles.)

Okay, I'm feeling a bit stupid now. In the image on the page C:Amie linked above, the two RAM boards have different pin layouts on the edge. The one I got has a pin layout like the lower one (but a different part number from both - it has two of the other numbers from the MemoryX page I linked above: 92G7342 and 42H2769 - and it resembles the one shown on that page). The open slot in the z50, however, appears to accommodate the upper RAM board in the image on the page linked by C:Amie. So what's the lower one for?

The image is a comparison to show that it isn't standard EDO: "custom IBM 20L2043 ONLY"

Well, apparently some memory sellers don't know that, since several of them have lumped the 20L0243 in together with the others, as in my links above.

It looks like Kingston has a version of the right module, though: checking its site reveals that it has a replacement module for the 20L0243 that it catalogs as KTM-Z50/32. Can't seem to track that one down anywhere either (though the search did point me toward some familiar territory [see my avatar], since KTM is an Austrian dirt bike maker, and Honda has a minibike called the Z50 ).