Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny RAM & SSD Upgrade Guide: Dual NVMe & 64GB DDR5

The ThinkStation P3 Tiny (Machine Type 30H0 / 30H1) utilizes an intelligent two-sided motherboard layout inside a rigid steel 1-liter chassis (179 x 182.9 x 37 mm). To access the upgrade bays:

1. Disconnect Power & Peripherals: Unplug the 170W slim-tip power adapter and allow the system 2 minutes to discharge residual motherboard capacitors.
2. Remove Rear Thumbscrew: Loosen the single knurled thumbscrew located in the top-right corner of the rear I/O bracket. The screw is captive and will remain attached to the cover.
3. Slide Top Cover: Slide the top metal housing forward toward the front bezel by approximately 15 mm, then lift it clear to expose the CPU blower fan and discrete NVIDIA T400 GPU riser.
4. Access Bottom Compartment: Turn the chassis over to access the bottom stamped-steel access door. Gently press the release tab and slide the bottom hatch back. This reveals the two DDR5 SO-DIMM sockets and the secondary M.2 2280 NVMe SSD bay.

The motherboard uses standard 262-pin DDR5 SO-DIMM laptop-format memory modules running at 1.1V. Factory configurations typically ship with a single 16GB module in Slot 1, leaving Slot 2 unpopulated in single-channel mode:

To install: Align the keyed notch on the SO-DIMM gold contacts with the socket ridge. Insert the stick at a 30-degree angle, then gently press down until the metal retaining spring clips snap into place on both sides.

The P3 Tiny provides two dedicated M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe slots capable of sequential transfer speeds up to 7,000 MB/s:

• Primary Slot (Boot Drive): Situated beneath the discrete graphics card riser on the top side of the motherboard, occupied by the factory 512GB SSD.
• Secondary Slot (Storage Expansion): Located directly adjacent to the SO-DIMM memory sockets on the bottom compartment. This slot is completely open and requires no GPU disassembly to access.
  Recommended: Single-sided high-speed drives such as the Crucial T500 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (Crucial) or the Samsung 990 PRO 2TB (Amazon) mount perfectly flat under Lenovo's thermal bracket without clearance issues.
• Thermal Pad Preparation: Remove the single Phillips #1 screw securing the factory aluminum heatsink bracket. Before seating your secondary NVMe SSD, peel the blue protective plastic film from the pre-applied thermal silicone pad on the bracket.
• Installation: Insert your M.2 2280 SSD into the M-key connector at a 20-degree angle, press down, and reinstall the aluminum heatsink bracket using the retaining screw. The heatsink draws controller heat directly into the steel chassis pan.
• Display Output Note: If connecting standard DisplayPort monitors to the NVIDIA T400 discrete GPU, a dedicated Cable Matters Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Cable (Amazon) provides reliable 4K video signaling without dongle wobble.

Once reassembled, boot the workstation and complete validation:

1. Power on the system and repeatedly press F1 at the Lenovo splash logo to enter the ThinkStation UEFI BIOS.
2. Navigate to Main > System Summary to verify that total installed memory reflects 32,768 MB or 65,536 MB operating at 4800 MT/s.
3. Under Devices > Storage Setup, verify that both NVMe Port 0 and Port 1 report the detected drive models.
4. Press F10 to save and boot into Windows 11 Pro. Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc), initialize the new secondary disk as GPT (GUID Partition Table), and format as NTFS to assign your new project storage drive letter.