Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Configuration Help

Hello everyone,
Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Configuration Help
I need some help with my Lenovo ThinkPad-W700 Model: 2757
1) Is this a good configuration, is there something add or remove.
2) Does the Intel Turbo Memory hard drive cache Intel Turbo Memory 2GB truly work


3) What’s up with RAID 0, and RAID 1? I know RAID 0 is for Performance and RAID 1
Creates an exact copy (mirror) or a set of data on two or more disks.

RAID or NO RAID that is the question?

I have two HP’s I am returning my new dv7t to buy the best Notebook that I have seen to date
For my needs.


http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...5634AE8AB0F26CCAC867854&tab=2#tab-container-4

I use Disk 0 for my OS: C drive and Disk 1 DATA and program Files like AutoCAD … Programming

I need Speed and Reliability can someone help me with this please.

I have read the ThinkPad SuperGuide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=333677

In the Vista Clean Install, Insert Windows Vista Install disc. Is this a new product disk
Or is this the recovery disk I make.

My Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Configuration

Processor1 Intel Core 2 Extreme processor X9100 (3.06GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)

Operating system12
Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate 64


Operating system language Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate US English


Display type 17" WUXGA 400NIT TFT

System Graphics NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated)

Total memory 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard US English

Pointing Device Ultranav + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer

Camera 1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera

Primary Hard Drive Non-RAID HDD, 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm

Second Hard Drive Non-RAID HDD, 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm

Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache Intel Turbo Memory 2GB

Optical device5
ThinkPad Blu-ray Recordable Ultrabay Enhanced (Serial ATA)

System expansion slots Smart Card + Express Card(34mm)

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters 10
Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350 (AGN)

Battery 9 cell Li-Ion Battery


In advance thank you
For your help

 

Intel Turbo Memory is basically a permanently mounted flash drive for ReadyBoost/ReadyDrive. You should get pretty much the same thing, for a much lower price, by just leaving a hi-speed CF or SD card in the included card readers. It may help a little bit in terms of application load times, but I doubt it will do much more than that (especially w/ 4GB of RAM).

RAID 0 is striping. This means half of EACH file is on drive A and half is on drive B (as long as the file size is above the stripe size). This gives you very good SEQUENTIAL R/W performance (important for ultra high bitrate video (e.g. hooking up a 1080P camera and pushing lossless data to the w700 in real time) but not critical for much else). RAID 0 also has the benefit of letting you use all of your drive space, but it seriously undermines your reliability. If ONE drive fails, the whole array fails, and YOU LOSE ALL OF YOUR DATA. To be fair, I have run RAID 0 as a scratch drive on my desktop for years and have never had a problem, but it is not without risks.

RAID 1 is mirroring. This means each file (sector really) is FULLY ON DRIVE A AND B. This means if one drive fails you lose nothing, and should be able to pop in a replacement drive and repair the array. RAID 1 should give you a solid boost to sequential READS (can read from both drives simultaneously), but may actually reduce performance for writes due to overhead. The main downside of RAID 1 is that you sacrifice half of your space (2 320GB drives = 320GB total space), and are limited to the smallest drive (1 320GB drive and 1 80 GB drive = 80 GB total space).

I most likely would not bother with RAID on a laptop (it really only gets useful when you have RAID 5, but this requires 3+ identical discs). I think you would be best served by using an SSD for the operating system and your applications (tremendous performance and decent space), and using a large hard drive (e.g. an aftermarket 7200RPM Seagate 7200.3) for your data storage (random access is largely irrelevant, but a lot of inexpensive space can be quite useful).

I would probably configure it with the SSD from Lenovo and leave the second slot empty. Aftermarket hard drives are cheaper, and you can get a 320GB 7200RPM drive, or a 500 GB 5400RPM drive for ≈$100. For a clean install you will need an ACTUAL VISTA INSTALL DISC (Lenovo doesn't normally supply these), as the recovery discs will just get you back to the factory preload (not a bad thing in my opinion as the bloat is minimal and the Thinkvantage software useful). However, you can use the license of Vista you buy with the W700 on any disc (but you need a 64-bit one if you want Vista 64 [needed for all 4GB of RAM]).

Do you need Blu-Ray and smart card??? Blu-Ray blanks are currently very expensive (although this will come down in the future) so they aren't ideal for running off a data backup. I would probably stick with a DVD±RW to save ≈$500, but if you want to watch high definition movies on your W700 (it does have a greater than 1080P screen) the Blu-Ray drive does make sense.

Smart cards tend to be used for authentication purposes in corporate environments. If you don't use one of these, you would probably be better served by a second Express Card or PCMCIA slot for adding any peripheral you want at a later date.

Other than that, it looks like a really good and powerful config. You may also want to consider the just announced W700ds if you have a use for it (although you will probably have to wait an extra month, pay a few hundred $$ more, and carry around an extra 2 lbs. of weight; so you may be better served by the standard W700 and a good external display at your desk).

 

Are you going to use the N wireless card with a N network? If not you may just want to go with the standard ThinkPad Wireless G card. The Intel N cards have exhibited some strange and inconsitent performance in the new Think Pads. This can often be fixed just by disabling all the wireless card's power saving and romaing features, but it is a hastle. Edit: Didn't see you wanted WiMax. Stay with the 5350 in that case.

Be careful with the SSD options. Lenovo may or may not be using the Samsung SSD drive with SLC anymore. I agree though you may enjoy the benefits of the SSD

I wouldn't buy the Extreme Intel CPU's. I'd either grab on of the lower spec T9000 series or go all out with one of the Quads

 

I have had good luck with the Intel 5100 on my x200 Tablet (consistent connection, good range, great speeds [as long as you configure it for 40MHz channel width]). The 5300 and 5350 should work as well or better (they only differ in number of antennas and WiMax capability). However, I have heard that the ThinkPad B/G card is less energy efficient than the Intel cards (although battery life is not a strong suit of the W700 in any case).

Based on the pricing for an SSD on the w700, I think it still uses the Samsung SLC drive. However, some of the newer MLC drives (Intel 80 GB x25-M, and G-Skill [and compatible rebadged units] at 64/128GB) are very good performers. They are marginally worse than the old Samsung for random writes, but perform as well if not better for random reads. Plus any SSD (with the exception of the really cheap OCZ core style ones with JMicron controllers) will outperform a 7200 RPM HDD.

You have a good point about the processor. The question comes down to the applications you intend to run. If your apps are poorly threaded and very dependent upon clock speed you may be best served by the Extreme edition. However, if your apps are well threaded (or you run lots of things at once) you will do best with the quad (50-70% faster than the Extreme despite the lower clock speed).

 

fyi, the lenovo 64GB 1.8" samsung SLC SSD uses a JMicron controller.   don't tell anyone but i've opened mine up.

 

Hi Jonlumpkin,

That’s what I was thinking as far as the RAID 5, would be the best of both worlds. This is the first Notebook, that I seen a RAID offered.

Lenovo only offers 65GB Sold State Drives, Serial ATA as a Primary Hard Drive.
I have never used Sold State Drives before, you can mix SSD & 7200RPM

I love how the ThinkPad is setup; so that you can just slide out the hard drives instead of tacking the whole Notebook apart to get to them. With that seed when you burn an image of your hard drives using sector by sector method can you install your new hard drives then reimage them with your old image.

I was thinking of Blu-Ray moves, But the $500.00 Could be used for
something else.

Speaking of $500 Bucks. I thought the W700 could take 8GB of RAM, But only 4GB are offered or am I off the wall with that.

I should use Compact Flash + Express Card instead

 

Unfortunately for you erik, I opened up two of my lenovo 64GB 1.8" samsung SLC SSD, and both of them uses Samsung controller. The two model that I have is MCC0E64G8MPP-0VA and MCC0E64G8MPP-0VAL2.
I also opened up my Samsung 128GB samsung MLC SSD and it also uses Samsung controller.
I vaguely remembered that you bought your SSD from a guy in Malaysia. Are you sure he didn't swap out the internal with some other cheap China-made flash chip?

 

Some other notebooks (usually "gaming rigs" from Alienware et. al.) do offer RAID (usually RAID 0 for performance), but it is rare (and I wouldn't advise using RAID 0 for a system drive due to the risk).

The easy to swap dual hard drives is definitely a nice feature. There are actually some posts on the Lenovo blog Inside the Box of using the w700 as the " worlds most expensive hard drive duplicator" because one of the guys used it to clone his T61's hard drive to an SSD.

I wouldn't worry about the 64GB capacity. This is more than enough for the operating system and your applications. You can then have a large hard drive (320 or 500GB) for your data files. Also it was just the JMicron contoller on some of the really cheap MLC drives that was bad (and even then only for simultaneous writes). Overall, I think they make decent controllers (including one of the RAID controllers on my desktop motherboard).

I am pretty sure that the w700 supports 8GB of RAM, but it is going to cost more than $500. An 8GB 204 pin DDR3 kit from Crucial will run you $1180. Unless you intend to run multiple VMs simultaneously, this is probably far more than you need (and a waste of money at todays prices).

Compact Flash and ExpressCard would probably be your best bet. You can then pull your card from your camera (most DSLRs use CF [although some of the newer ones use SDHC]). You can also use this for a mid speed data storage drive that is permanently in the computer. This is perfect for music, pictures, personal videos, and other files that are relatively large but have little to no performance demand.

 

Lenovo offers Three Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters.

1) ThinkPad 11b/g wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter
2) Intel WIFI Link (5100, 5300, etc.) (AGN)
3) Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350 (AGN)
I was thinking if I was working somewhere with no wireless or
connotation, I could use my cell phones connotation. I have not decided on

Intel WIFI Link (5100, 5300, etc.) (AGN) OR Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350 (AGN)

I will Need some help on this one.

That’s what I am going for, Intel Core 2 Extreme processor X9100 (3.06GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)

If the Intel, Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2)
Was 3.06GHz but the hefty price at $1,000.00

 

I believe that Lenovo is using MLC Samsung SSD on all laptops now, unless somebody has different information.

 

I think the Wi-Fi 5100 is plenty good for most people in most situations. The 5300 offers more antennas, but I have not seen any real world benefit on this. I even have a thread to see if anyone can come up with a real world benefit of the 5300 over the 5100 (all I have seen is a theoretical max of 450 mbps vs. 300 [but in practice breaking 110 mbps on any N connection is unlikely]).

The 5350 is the same as the 5300 but includes WiMax. This is a metropolitan area network that promises higher speeds (and lower subscription costs) than traditional 3G WWAN options (e.g. what you would get by tethering your phone). This technology is still in its early stages, is only available in Baltimore, and its sucess is far from guaranteed. Even if you don't get it now, you can always use a USB or ExpressCard adapter to add it later.

I think the SSD offered by Lenovo is fine. However, if you want to make sure you get the model you want, the only option is to buy it yourself. For this you should do the following:

1. Configure the w700 with the cheapest drive available (probably 80GB 5400RPM)
2. Buy either the Intel x-25M (fastest MLC drive) or one of the rebadged Samsung SLC drives (OCZ or G-Skill).
3. Buy either a 320GB 7200 RPM drive, or a 500GB 5400 RPM drive depending on speed/space requirements for your data.
4. Do a clean install with a retail Vista disc (using the activation key that came with your W700 [use the clean install guide]) on the SSD. Install your applications to the SSD as well. Alternatively, you can just clone the shipping drive to the SSD to save yourself the trouble of a clean install (locating a retail 64 bit disc is not the easiest thing).
5. Format the HDD as a single large data partition (or reserve a small partition for a secondary OS if you want)
6. Use a large CF and/or SDHC [use the format that your camera does not use] card for data that requires space but not speed.

This should give you a great storage system for a decent price.

 

the drive i currently have came directly from lenovo factory sealed and is a MCC0E64G8MPP-0VAL2 with firmware PS105L16.   the drive i bought from malaysia was an MCC0E64G8MPP-0VA with PS105L15 and has since been sold.

my samsung benchmarks at 86 MB/sec read and 123 MB/sec write using ATTO, which is exactly how the SLC samsung drives should test.

so, i stand by my statement that not all of the "fast" samsung SLC drives have samsung controllers and not all JMicron controllers suck.

 

Which is a better Processor setup:

Intel Core 2 Extreme processor X9100 (3.06GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2) or Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2)

1) Intel Core 2 Extreme processor X9100 That runs @3.06GHz with 6MBL2
2) Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 Tat runs @2.53GHz with 12MBL2

And why is that one a better setup.

 

For poorly threaded applications you will get better performance out of the Extreme due to brute force clock speed. Many older applications only know how to max out a single thread (the Duo has 2, and the Quad has 4), so the fastest single thread is most important.

However, a lot of newer applications (especially media encoders) are properly threaded. Any application that can fully utilize 4 cores will be much (50-70% faster) on the QX9300 despite the lower per core frequency.

Therefore, the better processor comes down to the applications you run. Some apps are buffered by drive speed, others by GPU, other by a single thread, others by multiple threads, and a great many are only slowed down by a lack of user input (most office applications for example never max out the processor for more than a couple of seconds). Only knowing what applications you run will determine what processor will serve you best.

 

Excellent thread, that helped, you are right, I will get the
Intel WIFI Link (5100, 5300, etc.) (AGN)
and I can always use a USB or ExpressCard adapter to add it later.

I have to read more on the SSD to completely understand the differences between SLC and MLC

I have a NEW Vista Ultimate 32- and 64-bit set

 

You should check StorageReview.com and BenchmarkReviews to get a more thorough understanding of the various SSD technologies and the individual model that will suit you best (most of my knowledge on the subject comes from reading on sites like those).

If you have a "NEW" Vista Ultimate 32/64 bit set, then you probably don't need to order Vista Ultimate from Lenovo (unless you need a second license). A clean install will require you to download all the drivers and ThinkVantage software anyway. Just pick the cheapest OS you can get, this will be Vista Home basic unless you have access to one of the bizarre configuration pages (usually University or corporate affiliated) that let you choose PC-DOS as your operating system. This will save you an extra $100-$200 that you can put towards better hardware (e.g. a top quality SSD or a Quad core processor).

 

What brand of SSD is the best brand, and who has the best controller.
Dos SSD disk support Intel’s Turbo Memory 2GB

 

SSDs have no use for Turbo Memory (it would just slow them down).

I would either get the Intel x25M (80GB) as it is the fastest MLC drive. Or you can get the 64GB Samsung SLC drive (the one that originally shipped with the x300) or a rebadged Samsung from OCZ/G-Skill. I provided links for all 3 drives in the post above.

As a general rule, SLC drives are faster for writes (especially random writes), and MLC drives are faster for reads (especialy sequential reads). However, either the Intel MLC, or the Samsung SLC will serve you very well.

 

I have read Intel x25M And the other site that you pointed me to Intel Solid State Hard Disk Drives
Well I am starting to see the light with SSD; Some times old habits die hard when it comes to Hard Drives.

And some times less is indeed more, keep sending me more information on SSD’s.



After doing some further research I have decided to go with.

• Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300

• Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)

And order the Intel x25M SSD Disk Drive, and the 320GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive.

Know for my Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Order. Will include all of the specks of my original post,
with the changes listed above including the 64 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA from Lenovo
to start with and leaving the seconded slot empty.

Thank You: jonlumpkin

You are the best, I need my new System just to keep up with you.


jonlumpkin can you elaborate a little more on this:

Do you mean to be used like Turbo Memory?

 

If you are going to order the Intel x25M and 320GB hard drive yourself, YOU SHOULD NOT CONFIGURE AN SSD WITH LENOVO. This would waste ≈$500. Instead you should just configure the cheapest drive you can (probably 80 or 160GB @5400RPM).

The CF and SDHC card are optional storage options. You should NOT configure them for Readyboost (this would be counter-productive with an SSD). Instead use them for bulk removeable storage. If you have photos, music files, or compressed video files that you want to take with you, put them on the CF or SD card to save space on your SSD and high speed hard drive. These types of files have little to no need for the speed of your internal drives and will happily live on a non volatile flash card. This also has the advantage of keeping your drive controller free (allowing faster system drive speeds); this can be useful if you play pack music or video while also doing disk intensive work.

Basically, you should use these as internal USB sticks. You can leave them in the computer all the time without risk of them breaking off. Then if you want to transfer those files to another computer you can just take the card out and pop it in the other computer (most new laptops have SDHC readers). I suggested you use a different format than your camera to keep that reader free (assuming you edit photos on your W700 frequently).

I hope this clears up any confusion.

 

DO you experience any abnormalities at all, like stuttering, or lock-up? If not, then I guess you're right that the JMicron controllers is indeed not as bad as people think, but merely the poor implementation of different amateur SSD brands.

 

A lot of what I was going to add has been clarified but lets see if I can add anything.

1. As stated by others the Thinkpad wirelesss g cards (I think they are made by Airthos or however you spell their name) use a little ore power than the Intel cards. I suspect this is soeven with all power saving stuff disabled in Intel's drivers. I went with the N card for the sake for some form of future proofing and I've considered draft N routers (sadly the Black Friday sales were just a little to expensive...)

2. Buy your own SSD so you know what you are getting. Here's another Samsung rebadged SLC SSD. Cheaper still... Dodgy though as I dont see a warrenty listed. Hmmmm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211330#spec Or you could save some money and buy one of the 32GB versions. I don't think they are slower or have any performance issues. You said you were going to use whatever drive you bought stock in the ultrabay so it seems OS space isn't an issue.

3. I'm sorta gonna have to question my previous position on the CPUs and say a $1000 is steep for the quads. As much as I so would like one. Who am i kidding, my uses would never take advantage of them. If you think your programs are multithreaded by 2 or more threads, you'll love it.

4. Someone linked to a comparison between the W700, HP Elitebook 8730, and Dell Precision 6500 (or whatever their big kahuna workstaion laptop is). The W700 supported 8 GB of ram... it just cost far more than anyone would be willing to pay for it right now

5. I wouldn't go a BluRay burner if also going for a big hard drive in the ultrabay. That's your massive storage thing right there. You didn't mention large amounts of HD video authoring in your needs so I agree its just too expensive right now.

 

I have to do this myself right, or will Lenovo do this for me? I never had this kind of options with my Notebooks before. This is a new and exciting time in my Notebook computing world.

How do you word something like this to Lenovo? Put (160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm price included in order) in bay 0 and configure bay 1 for me so that I can add my new 320GB 7200RPM drive later.

This is what I wanted to hear I am loving this. The SDHC seems to be the way to go.

There seems to be a problem with the Intel WIFI Link (5100, 5300, etc.) (AGN). In the W500 series, will this be a problem for me or is this a model problem. I read this on the Lenovo forums.

Or is the ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III a better selection for me.

I don’t what any problems with my Wireless connotations.

 

Just get the cheapest drive Lenovo will give you in Bay 0 and leave drive 1 empty. You are going to have to install both drives yourself but it is not difficult. You just need to remove 1 or 2 screws to open the drive bay pull out each drive caddy (make sure Lenovo gives you an empty caddy in drive 1 [or try and get the SSD caddy (less rubber padding because vibration is not a problem for SSDs) yourself]) place the new drives in the caddys (4 screws each) and slide them back in. I have attached pictures of how you remove the drive and the two caddy options.

I have had no problem with the Intel 5100. The 5300 is the same card, it just has extra antennas and supports more simultaneous spatial streams (better theoretical speed, but I haven't seen any real world benefit). Additionally, the 11 B/G adapter is less power efficient, so I would just get the Intel 5100/5300 and not worry about any problems.

 

Outstanding just what I was hoping for. Do you think they will give me the SSD caddy, or charge me a fee? That would be fine. On the other hand, are they going to try talking me into buying a SSD from them.

Thank you for the pictures they help

Replacing the hard drives will not void the warranty right.
If so that’s the price we have to pay for perfection! So be it.

Ok then I will not worry about the Wireless connotation

 

Replacing the hard drive will NOT void the warranty (however, if you have any hard drive trouble you need to deal with the drive manufacturer rather than Lenovo).

I'm not sure if they will provide the caddy for free (it probably won't be there by default so I doubt it). Your best bet will be to order that part separately (I don't know the FRU number off hand, but it shouldn't be too hard for you to fine), I doubt it costs more than $10.

If they try and push you to get the SSD from them just be firm that you want the Intel X25M (they may be willing to put it in for you at a decent price but I doubt it as it's not part of the standard options), if they can't give you that drive just stick with the cheapest option and get the Drive/Caddy yourself.

 

nope, no issues at all.   if it did then this drive would have been replaced under warranty by now.

this is exactly why i take most of what i read on the internet with salt.

 

Sounds good to me, I will look for the part number on Lenovo’s website.

I returned my new HP dv7t Notebook and know
I am weighting on hp to credit my card back

I have ban reading Vista Clean Install Guide and about the Orev's ABR Utility

 

Are there any Lenovo ThinkPad W700 coupon codes that work?
Out there, a little price brake would be nice.

 

You could check out sites like this one Looks like they have 15 to 20% off that expires tomorrow. There are many sites out there like this one. Just google for more.

 

Thank You I used this one USP48HOURSALE .

Now I am trying to order the 1.8-inch - 2.5-inch storage converter for the Intel X25-M SSD
But Lenovo Parts department say they need the serial Number of the Notebook.
However I don’t have the Notebook yet.

Can someone tell how to order this part Please?

Or am I going to have to order Lenovo’s SSD just to get the parts?

 

Are you sure you need a 1.8 to 2.5" storage converter? I think any x25-M will include such a converter if it needs one (the vast majority of notebooks use 2.5" drives). All you need is a mount for a 2.5" drive (either the standard HDD mount, or the reduced weight [no rubber rails] SSD mount).

 

Well I ordered Lenovo’s SSD 64GB just to get the parts?

My ThinkPad W700, Ship date is 1/22/09 that would be nice, we’ll see.

I went out and purchased, a Linksys Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
WRT610N I am working on the settings for this router, have you worked with this router?

 

Man that is a nice machine, but must have been expensive. Congrats, I think you will love it! Can I ask what you are using it for? Do you actually need something this powerful or did you just get it as a toy for yourself?(just curious, not meant sarcastically).

 

For AutoCAD and SolidWorks and for that matter all engineering work. You need all power you can get your hands on. Read about Mobile WorkStation tour and this baby has it and then some. Play the videos on the right side of the page. and of course I will have some fun to!!

Don’t you wish it was yours?

I do. That’s right it is

Not that I need to explain my reasons why but this ThinkPad is an engineer’s, and Computer Programmers, etc... Dreams come true. Oh that would be me. Oahu Oahu

 

Very cool. I do wish it was mine, but it is more than I am willing to spend on a laptop. Plus my needs are really small these days. Enjoy your new machine. Thinkpads are great machines. I know that I love my T61p.

 

Thank you,

I think my new W700 will be an outstanding workhorse, which will make working with it fun for me. I do like to have some fun!! lol

I just hope I don’t have to do too much to it right out of the box. But I know I will

I know I have a lot of help in this forum, so this will fun I hope

 

Update

My new W700 and Mini dock arrive today, UPS said sometime today between 9am & 7pm

Question should I create the recovery discs previous to Updating Vista, and
Lenovo's systems as well as Intel drivers, and before going online?

Speaking of going online should I use Lenove's wireless setup or Intel's wireless Pro setup?

I have the new LINKSYS WRT610N Now with that being said, there will be a clash between Intel and Linksys wireless Systems.

What will be the best solution, and how should I set this up correctly?

Thank You

 

Congratulations, be sure to post pictures (with other items for scale) and first impressions when it arrives. Some benchmarks would be nice too, as those seem quite rare for that machine.

I would make the recovery image as your very first order of business. It doesn't really matter when you make it, but better sooner than later.

I like Lenovo's Access Connections utility as it is very effective for managing a wide variety of network configurations. However, if you don't want to use that, you should just use the built in Windows tool instead of the Intel one.

Because the WRT-610N is dual band, you should be able to connect at 802.11N speeds without hassle (it may report as only 150 in task manager, but trust me it is 300mbps). However, if it only reports 65mbps, you must enable 40MHz channel width in the wireless card properties (find it in device manager). I have a D-Link myself, but the same general rules should apply.

1. Use WPA2-AES personal for encryption (anything else will degrade performance)
2. Use a strong passkey (ideally a 63 character alphanumeric key [this site can generate one]).
3. Run the 802.11N network on the 5Ghz band
4. If you have any B/G clients run them on the 2.4GHz band
5. Set up a guest SSID (second signal) for devices/computers that only need Internet and not full local network access. Use either WEP with an easy to remember key, or no encryption at all on this SSID.
6. Password protect the Router and change the username (admin and ____ is not a good combo)

Once you are online, just run the Windows and Lenovo auto update utilities. I would recommend AGAINST installing any drivers using Windows update (use the Lenovo ones instead).

I forget your status with your SSD. If you need to install your Intel x25-M and use that as your OS drive you should do that before updating. Just make your recovery DVDs, swap drives, and test the recovery image on your new SSD (or do a direct drive clone w/ Self-Image as this may be far faster). Then proceed to install the updates, your second hard drive, and your applications.

Enjoy!!

 

Oooh my god my W700 is dazzling Fast Fast!!, Wooo hay hay here we go

And my vista rating is 5.9 across the board.
I have to go online and update next.

When I bout up there is something about Intel press ctrl + P that flashes across the screen whats up with that?

I will post some pictures sometime today, of my W700 and my HP dv8000 with 17” screens they are so different from one another like two different worlds you will see when I post the pictures.

What programs should I use for benchmarking?

Need some help with the track point, How to use it the right way and how to speed it up?

 

That Intel thing is normal (I get it too). I think it relates to some kind of IT management option (the vPro on your Centrino label), don't worry about it.

There are a wide variety of benchmarking programs (usually w/ a free edition) that are popular for different tools. I would check out a few.

wPrime - Checks out CPU math (multi-threaded) by calculating Pi to a large number of digits. You should run the 1024M test as well (the 32M test will probably finish in under 5 seconds on your machine).
ATTO Disk Bench - Checks out sequential reads/writes of various sizes of files (good for testing performance of your SSD vs. HDD for sequential writes).
HD Tune - Also for hard drives, includes a random access benchmark (should be 12-19 ms for the HDD and <1ms for the SSD) and burst speeds.
CineBench - Test single threaded CPU, multi-threaded CPU, and OpenGL (your QuadroFX card in a properly accelerated application).
Passmark Performance Test 64-bit - general performance, runs a suite
PCMark Vantage - similar to above, runs a swite
3DMark Vantage - gaming oriented, primarily tests GPU (yours may look weak here as the QuadroFX is tuned for workstation graphics [Cinebench, Solidworks, CAD, et. al] rather than games).

The free version of all of these is fine for benchmarking purposes.

 

Hi jonlumpkin

I completed the clean install, everything went just fine but I am not able to use my wireless.

Will I did make one mistake I left everything in the SWTOOLS folder. When I should have deleted everything and started with my own naming convection, it’s OK to name the folders whatever you like right, the DRIVERS will still work right?

The naming convection that Lenovo uses what a mess.

I did give the folders meaning full names when I downloaded then to my USB Drive so I do have everything I need for the next clean install I Just want to figure out what is up with my wireless first so I do not go through this mess again.

Do you think you can help.

 

Did you try reinstalling the wifi driver?

 

Just an update:

Everything is working perfectly; I love it when a good plan comes together!!

After doing another clean install, and using my own naming convention that I can understand everything is perfect. I will do it again when I get my new SSD; I did get Lenovo’s SSD to start with. Can you defrag an SSD or should I say should you defrag a SSD?

My wireless is working just fine after all, I have ban so could up in my W700 that I forgot that my wireless is setup to only let you on if I enter your Mack address in the list so I locked myself out. Oops all is good I have to install Access Connections I hope it works. I would love to use it to setup profiles for different networks that I am involved in; this would make my networking life effortless.

Do you have any advice on Access Connections?

I am including some pictures just as tees more to come, and I have to run some bench marks.

View attachment 30095

 

Glad to hear you got everything working.

According to Matt Kohut at Lenovo, you should defrag an SSD (both SLC and MLC). This is because, an overwrite takes much longer on a flash based media than a clean write, and you want contiguous free space for maximum performance.

What kind of advice would you like on Access Connections? I usually set up a different profile for each network, ocassionally including MAC addresses for the preferred router. You can also specify printers and proxy settings. Also try changing the homepage, last I checked this had a problem on Vista x64 (works on other platforms though).

 

That’s just it.

Is there a problem with Vista x64 and Access Connections, or am I just reading something in to nothing.

I like the idea of setting up profiles for my wireless Connections, no fuse no muse sounds good to me. Do you think Access Connections will work on my System?

 

It will work fine, just don't have it change your homepage. When I did this (last tried about 2 months ago), I got a DEP error (mandatory for 64 bit applications), and Access Connections crashed.

It works fine for DNS settings, printers, firewall, etc.; just not homepage on Vista x64.

 

I take it that you mean set your homepage ones and keep that as your default homepage right

 

Basically yes. Set your homepage in Firefox, IE, etc. Do not, try and change it using Access Connections (e.g. one hompage for work, one for home, one for modem, etc.). Just leave this box unchecked.