Lenovo Thinkpad T420 gaming guide (Quadro NVS 4200M/GT 520M)

I received my T420 in the mail yesterday, and I have been testing various games on the machine to see how they run.

Note: The Quadro NVS 4200M is very similar to the GT 520M, so performance between the two cards should be the same. The Quadro card is clocked a little higher, however.

Specifications

Intel Core i3-2310M
6GB DDR3-1333 RAM
Nvidia Quadro NVS 4200M
320GB 7200RPM HDD
14-inch display, 1600x900 native resolution

No OS came with it, so I installed Windows 7 onto it.

Impressions

The laptop weighs less than five pounds, comes with a 90W adapter, and is quite portable. The keyboard is a joy to type on. However, holding my fingers in the WASD position is quite uncomfortable over extended periods of time, I find, because the laptop's chassis rises nearly one inch from the table. Furthermore, the keys are quite cramped together.

I would recommend getting a mouse and an external keyboard if you plan on gaming over extended periods of time. The Thinkpad keyboard, while excellent for typing, is not ergonomic or comfortable enough to game on.

Gaming Performance Figures (unscientific)

I've tested a few games so far. I didn't benchmark anything, I just played the game for a little bit and took note of the numbers that Fraps was tossing back at me. I will also post videos of these games in action.

1. Dragon Age: Origins

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, 1600x900
Framerate: 20-30FPS, depending on the scene.
Video: ‪Gaming on the Thinkpad T420 (Nvidia Quadro NVS 4200M) - Dragon Age: Origins‬‏ - YouTube

2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Settings: Lowest settings, no AA, no AF, 1366x768
Framerate: 30-40FPS most of the time, occasionally dips into 20s some of the time.

3. Portal 2

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, 16xAF, 1600x900
Framerate: 30-50FPS.

4. Crysis 2

Settings: Lowest settings, no AA, no AF, 848x480
Framerate: 30-45FPS.
Special notes: Anything higher than 848x480 lowers the framerate to the high-teens/low 20s. I deem this unplayable. You need to play at 848x480 for the game to remain playable.
Video: Gaming on the Thinkpad T420 (Nvidia NVS Quadro 4200M) - Crysis 2

5. Left 4 Dead

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, 16xAF, 1600x900
Framerate: 30-40FPS, dips into the low 20s when dozens of zombies are on screen.

6. Doom 3

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, 16xAF, 1600x900
Framerate: 60+ FPS, never falls below that.
Special notes: You need to edit the configuration files in order to get widescreen enabled.

7. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Settings: Lowest settings, no AA, no AF, 848x480
Framerate: 15-25FPS.

8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, 16xAF, 1600x900
Framerate: 20-40FPS, can dip down into the teens at times.

9. Bioshock

Settings: Highest settings, no AA, no AF, 1600x900
Framerate: 30FPS average.

10. Battlefield 3 Beta

Settings: Lowest settings, no AA, no AF, 1280x720
Framerate: 15-30FPS.

11. Battlefield 3 - Retail

Settings: Lowest settings, no AA, no AF, 1280x720
Framerate: 20-30FPS.

I will post more pictures and video as I get the time. Please, do not hesitate to suggest any games I should try.

 

Have you tried any MMO type games such as Rift or WoW? Cliche I know, but still wondering how these games might fare.

 

If you're unsatisfied with the NVS4200M's performance, then consider a $160 or $213 GTS450/GTX460 eGPU via the expresscard slot. Your NVS4200M can be disabled allow the eGPU to function in the Optimus configuration.

 

That's interesting, I can play Crysis 2 at 1366x768 just fine...

 

Are you running with the latest patch? The latest patch ups the in-game settings so that the framerate is cut. And there is no way to modify them.

 

Don't have those games, sorry. I think they'll run well enough, though.

 

Ah, that's why. I have not updated my game and it's probably good that I haven't haha.

 

Just gave The Witcher 2 a shot. Not very playable. 15-25 FPS at the lowest settings. Occasionally rises to 30 FPS inside a dungeon or cave.

 

Are you able to test this with say CoD MW2 or BO?

 

Maybe you can change the Quadro NVS 4200M GPU BIOS to a GT520 one. Because nvidias quadro series are OpenGL optimized (4 AutoCAD) and usually perform not that good as geforce gt cards.
But idk if the chips are the same.

 

I don't feel as if there are any performance discrepancies...

I have tried the original Modern Warfare. At 1600x900 and maximum settings, I get 20-40FPS - not enough for multiplayer, so you might want to lower the resolution a notch. Not sure about the later games.

 

I played WoW on my Samsung QX411 which has the GeForce GT 520M and it's quite playable. I haven't tried it on max settings though.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was asking because I'm grabbing a E6520 for work and it wouldn't be bad to have games such as WoW, Rift...perhaps SWTOR in the future for the road.

My specs are more or less the same as this, minus the fact that I will have the bottom end i5 Processor rather than the i3.

I'm not sure how much different there would be between the 520M and the NVS 4200 drivers as can be seen here: NVIDIA NVS 4200M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I suppose there is 10 percent differences on some games, but I'm not sure that warrants me to swap out the drivers, especially if there may be stability issues considering this IS a work laptop.

 

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think the Quadro cards are any worse at gaming than the regular GeForce ones. They use the same drivers, and as far as I can tell, there are no performance discrepancies.

Just tested out BioShock - at 1600x900 and at maximum settings, I get an average of 30 FPS.

 

Well, that is good to hear. I guess the other good AND bad news is that I only got a screen with 1368 by 720 or whatever it is. I'm not too worried about the screen resolution for business tasks to be honest though. Would have been nice, but I'm cheap when it comes to spending for work. I would have beefed up the video card if they offered anything else than the NVS 4200 though.

 

This thread is reassuring. I have a T520 with similar specs (same but i7); I tried running oblivion and the game spawned a window that did absolutely nothing, and I wasn't sure if there was some undiagnosed driver issue, or such. I suppose I'll just try other games.

 

Updated topic post with a Crysis 2 video.

 

Added a note for the performance I got from the Battlefield 3 beta. Unless you want to play at a superlow resolution, I advise playing it only on your dedicated gaming rig.

 

Battlefield 3 runs much better than the beta did. The new drivers and the optimized code has brought up framerates by as much as five to ten frames per second. And it's possible to competitive at 30FPS, too, so the NVS 4200M is quite capable with BF3.

 

XX55XX, do you think you can post a video of Battlefield 3 running?

 

Hi there,

First off, XX55XX, thank you very much for your gaming guide, one of the main things that got me ordering a T420 which, for the time being, I love very much (if I later have buyer remorse, I'm coming after you, though! )

I just wanted to add Skyrim to the list of games that run very well on the T420. I haven't recorded a video or even the FPS but I can assure everyone here that on my machine, it runs very smoothly at Medium details (1600 x 900, 4-sample AA).

I would recommand that anyone looking to play Skyrim on a T420 install the "4GB Skyrim" mod ( 4GB Skyrim at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community ). This allows the game to use up to 4GB of RAM; the vanilla .exe can only use up to 2GB. With this mod I even was able to crank the details up to Ultra, at which the game was still playable (although clearly not as smooth).

If people here really want me too I can try to shoot a video or measure the FPS rate... but rest assured that Skyrim on the T420 is a pleasant experience anyhow.

My config :
i5-2520M
4GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro NVS 4200M
320GB 7200RPM HDD
14-inch display, 1600x900 native resolution

 

I have the Dell Latitude E6520 with NVS4200 (GT520 drivers), an i7-2720qm which handles Physix, and 8GB ram.

I don't touch voltage, but I overclock my clocks to when I want to game:

Graphics: 1000mhz (of 1480)
Memory: 900mhz (of 960)
Processor: 2000mhz (of 2960)

My strong processor is a saving grace in a lot of games I think.

I have played MW3 at 1080p, but after one issue I turned it down to 900p (I don't notice a difference on my 15" screen). I have played Deux Ex at 1080p, Soldiers: Heroes of WW2 at 1080p, Bastion, and Halo 3 at 1080p.

No issues so far, probably will not try anything else for a while.

I am very very surprised at the real world performance, despite the 512mb of DDR3.

 

Thanks for posting this guide. I'm going to buy this laptop, same spec as yours. So they said the 4200m is for business, so is that mean I can convery video faster? Photoshop render photos faster?

 

Right now, my T420s is having problems with heat...I guess it is really not for gaming...

 

I know this is old, but I have this laptop and im wondering how you overclock it?