ⓘ Best buy

A rather peculiar laptop warranty story is making the rounds on Reddit. A Lenovo Legion 5 owner claims that a gaming laptop purchased with 64 GB of RAM was returned from repair with only half of that memory installed. According to Reddit user GRINZ_DOCTOR, the laptop in question was purchased online via Best Buy last December. The laptop ran an Intel Core i9-14900HX, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, 64 GB of DDR5 memory and a 2 TB SSD. The owner says the machine subsequently worked without issue for eight months.

Things apparently went sideways when the Legion was sent in for warranty repairs. The owner claims the laptop was returned with one of its 32 GB RAM modules removed, accompanied by an explanation that the computer could only accept 32 GB of memory. Best Buy's documentation suggests the removed module has been returned with the machine.

Lenovo's PSREF page for the what looks like now-discontinued Legion 5 15IRX10 lists "up to 32GB DDR5-4800" or "up to 32GB DDR5-5600" under maximum memory. The laptop nevertheless has two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots and supports dual-channel operation. There is also a rather important footnote: Lenovo says that its maximum-memory figure is based on testing with its "current Lenovo memory offerings". In other words, the 32 GB figure does not necessarily establish a hard architectural limit. One user in the replies says the Core i9-14900HX can easily work with up to 192 GB of memory.

Despite being purchased through Best Buy's website, the 64 GB configuration appears to have been a product sold by third-party vendor PC Heaven. The listing's description explicitly states that the seller opens new computers and installs upgraded components before sale, with warranty service for those modifications handled by PC Heaven rather than the manufacturer. That explains how a laptop Lenovo only officially offers with up to 32 GB of RAM ended up with twice that amount. 

If a repair technician worked from Lenovo's official specifications, they would have found a maximum listed memory configuration of 32 GB. The additional memory installed by a third-party seller could consequently have appeared to be an unsupported aftermarket modification. Interestingly, the laptop was originally sent in because of repeated blue screens. Geek Squad's repair notes state that the machine passed its tests after one 32 GB module was removed. This raises the possibility that the memory configuration, an individual SO-DIMM or even one of the laptop's memory channels was responsible for the instability.

Therefore, removing one module and returning it to the customer would be consistent with restoring the machine to a configuration documented by Lenovo. Of course, one can’t rule out the possibility of the repair provider (Geek Squad) not wanting to replace the bad 32 GB memory stick, which, at the time of writing, is selling for north of $400.

Compatibility issues notwithstanding, this makes the situation particularly unsatisfactory for the buyer. The owner says they specifically filtered Best Buy's listings for laptops with 64 GB of RAM and purchased the Legion on that basis. From their perspective, they bought a 64 GB laptop through Best Buy's storefront, used it in that configuration for eight months and subsequently received a 32 GB laptop after warranty service. For now, there is no indication that Best Buy, Lenovo or PC Heaven has publicly commented on the incident.