Kurt Shintaku's Blog

(This is not a recommendation.  It’s just what I did.  Caveat installer.)

I upgraded my Samsung Series 9 to 8GB of RAM.  It was pretty easy and took no more than 15 minutes with the right parts, and the knowledge that I was nuking my warranty since Samsung doesn’t support RAM upgrades on this laptop, despite the fact that the unit supports a max of 8GB but only comes with 4GB stock. 

PREPARATION:
Here’s what I used:

1. Electronics-grade Philips head screwdriver
2. A single 4GB PC3 8500 DDR3 SODIMM ($29)
3. A willingness to invalidate my warranty

The casing was relatively easy to pry off once you realize that there are no fewer than TEN SCREWS holding the back metal plate in place.  These 10 screws include:

1. 3 exposed screws near the front
2. 4 screws at the sides of the port trays, hidden by small rubber circles
3. 2 screws hidden under the larger rubber “feet” near the rear
4. 1 screw hidden under the tiny rubber foot in the middle rear

…the case comes off after a little prying with a flathead screwdriver. 

INSIDE THE CHASSIS
Inside, there’s a curious sight:

1. There are two slots for memory DIMMS.  The Series 9, instead of having two 2GB DIMMs – one in each slot – it has a single 4GB DIMM in slot 0.
2. There is an actual STICKER covering slot 1, providing instructions on how to install the second DIMM into the remaining slot.  (How nice of them.)

I removed and read the sticker, and it explicitly shows that one needs to disconnect the power from the motherboard before installing the new memory purchased into slot 1.  The power is a 9 wire cable that is just below the empty memory slot. 

(The sticker that was attached to the empty slot is shown above along with the 4GB DDR3 DIMM I purchased from http://www.edgetechcorp.com/ram/Samsung/Samsung-Series-9-Notebooks/NP900X3A-(NP900X3A%252dA01US)-Memory for $28.  They delivered in 2 days and explicitly state that this memory is guaranteed to work on the Samsung Series 9.)  The location of the power cable is circled in RED to the right.

Once I disconnected the power, I inserted the DIMM firmly at an angle then locked it into place by gently pushing it down against the motherboard, then reconnected the power.  

Once I reattached the cover and boot up, I found that the machine automatically detects the new memory and Windows finds 8GB of RAM available.