Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

So, you kept the original and added 2 more? Did you experience issues..such as freezing? I thought it is best to keep the same brand of memory. Which brand did you get?

 

My order says SYS.4270CT but it has the i7-2720QM which I thought is a quad-core. Did I misunderstand something?

 

I wouldn't trust newegg over lenovo on this.

 

Ditto. I just ordered a W520 with i7-2820QM and the order identifies it as 4270CT. I sure hope there are 4 slots because I am about to order 4 sticks of 1600MHz memory.

 

The W520 I ordered has the same, and is still identified as a 4270CT, not sure whats up with that!

 

Might want to double check with a sales rep. I just asked the sales rep that has been helping me and he said the SYS.4270CT only has 2 DIMMS. waiting for reply on why and if I can get the 4 DIMM slots version.

Also if anyone is interested I feel I got a pretty sweet deal (see specs below) and the rep said he'd extend the same deal (PM me for their info):

THINKPAD W520 - 1 YR
SBB ICI7-2720QM
VBB GENUWIN7PROFES.64
SBB GW7P64 E
SBB 15.6FHD (1900 X 1080) LED
SBB NVQ2000M GR
VBB 4GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM (single DIMM)
SBB KEYBOARDUS ENGLISH
VBB FINGERPRINT READER
SBB 720P HD CAM INT MICR
SBB I RAID-NOT EN
SBB 320GB HDD7200RPM
SBB DVD RC8XMXDLLRULTEHATA
VBB ECS+4IN1CR+SCR
SBB 9CELLLI-ION BATTERY
SBB CPNAMLC+ 170W AC AD
SBB BLUETOOTH 3.0
SBB IN.CENT.ULTIMATE-N 6300
SBB INT WRLSSWDAREANTWRK UPGR
SBB LANG PCK US E
SBB SMART CARD READER
+ 1YR TPP (Whoops insurance)

All for around $1,586 + tax, free shipping.

 

I'd like to know whats going on here too. I wonder if they are giving the lower board to people that don't order more then 8 gigs of memory :-/

Edit: Looking at the tabook, the quad core option on the 4270CT still says 4 dimm slots, 16 GB max. Weird though, looking at intels site they say the processor can only handle 8GB max http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=50067

 

That's the email response I just got. If I want the 4 DIMM model then I need to order 8 Gigs

 

That is strange, if thats true thats quite annoying! I had several quotes from Lenovo, one with 8GB, and it was still marked as a 4720CT. Something isn't adding up here...

 

Waiting to get a call back from the REP to discuss live rather than over email. Frustrating too as my plastic is ready to be run to purcahse it.

 

Ok let us know when you hear back! I'm still looking at the tabook, and it says the 4270CT still has 4 slots, but only if you get the quad. Also, the 4720CT doesnt offer a quad proc, maybe we are really getting the 4726. Either way, the 2 DIMM vs 4 DIMM, according to the tabook, seem to be tied to the dual vs quad procs, and not the 520 model...

 

I just left a voicemail with my rep too. This is certainly worrying because I wanted the 4 DIMM version.

 

Talked to the REP and he said he can't select the 4 DIMM version without selecting the 8 gig 4 DIMM set-up. He said he will try to play with the system settings to see if it's possible. Hopefully he can and will get back to me tomorrow. :confused2:

 

If this is the case then many people are in for a pleasant surprise. It still does not make sense to me, the tabook says otherwise

Edit: If anyone already received a W520 with a 4720CT as part of the order, and you feel brave enough, validation that there are only 2 DIMMS would be nice

 

I opened mine up just a moment ago because I ordered mine with a similar configuration (i7-2720QM, 2000M, 1x4GB DIMM, etc.) and can safely say there are 4 slots. Two beneath the keyboard (the original DIMM was installed here) and two more in a compartment on the bottom.

 

Good stuff! Do you still have your original order quote? Does it say "4270CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM"?

 

I think all the W520s bought on the US website are 4270CTO systems.

Simply means Customized to Order. If you have the 2?20QM I7 you will have 4 sticks. 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. The top is populated first at the factory.

Perry

 

That's what I think as well. Yes, it does indeed say "SYS.4270CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM."

 

Phew, I feel better now

 

If anyone has received their W520 yet, what do you think about the speakers and audio system?

I leaned heavily toward this laptop, but I was turned off by the 1.0 watt speakers. The Dell XPS 15 has some similar specs, but it has 4.0 watt speakers and a 12.0 watt subwoofer.

 

Thanks everyone for clearing up the slot confusion.

 

And here's just a little evidence that there are indeed 4 slots on this model. Pictures aren't that great but I figured I'd post them anyway since I went through the (little) trouble to take it apart.

 

Even better, thanks! Are those two on top stacked?

Edit: +1 Rep for the trouble

 

Guys i'm thinking on upgrading to a w520 from my current R61. I have 3 questions:

1. Is the speaker on the w520 as bad as my r61? I don't expect an awesome experience by any means but the one on my r61 is so bad sometimes i have to put my head down to the labtop to be able to even hear it.

2. Is the 1600x900 screen on the w520 descent. Thats the same resolution that my R61 and colors are pretty washed out on the screen.

3. Is there any chance of getting a w520 with the sata bug if i'm ordering direct from lenovo?

thanks,
Ncage

 

Does anyone know if the W520 has two internal bays for hardrives? If i order with just one, I take it the other is either empty, or are they talking about mSATA when they say the laptop can support two drives?

 

Yes, the two on top are indeed stacked.

And it was no trouble at all! I was concerned about what everyone was saying (especially as I JUST ordered 4 new pieces from Newegg) so I opened it up to confirm. I thought it looked kinda cool so I snapped a couple pics with my phone.

 

I think this question may have been asked before, but does anyone have an opinion of the 2720m vs the quad-core versions? I don't really need the power, but could use it, so my biggest concern is battery life.

 

My W520 came yesterday. I confirmed the RAM used is from Gskill. I have bought another piece of 4GB and 80GB msata SSD from Newegg. On top of that, bought a UJ-240 Bluray writer from ebay
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model F3-10600CL9S-4GBSQ

I am happy to say i am very satisfied with the W520 except for the bloody brick. Don't understand with today's technology, why Lenovo can't make it smaller. They deserve to be mock at

 

They is only 1 bay for standard 2.5" HDD. You have the option to put in a 40 or 80GB msata SSD from Intel in the WWAN slot (need to remove keyboard to access). If this is still not ebough, you can replace the optical drive and replace it with a ultrabay HDD

 

Hey guys I've been looking at ordering a W520 for a while now but I have one question. I'm going to be using it for school but has anyone tried playing any games on it? How does the 1000M handle something like, say, Starcraft 2?

Also is it worth it to upgrade to the Intel 6300 wireless card over the Thinkpad one? Thanks.

 

Regarding the 1000M, a friend of mine has a W510 with a 880M in it. He plays Starcraft 2 at 1600x??? on medium - high graphics with no problem. The 1000M seems nicer then the 880M.

The T520 was benchmarked according to an earlier post on this forum. The T520 has a Quadro NVS 4200M, I believe the 1000M is nicer as well. Here is the quote:

 

You, sir, are a hero. Thanks for all the trouble you went to... awesome!

 

I can tell you about wifi card that intel 6300 upgrade is worth your money.

 

That's what I'm planning on doing. Use the 80GB msata as the boot drive then a 500GB 5400 rpm (maybe) for storage in main bay. Going for 5400 for battery conservation. Also selling my desktop since it won't get much use with the w520 around.

That memory from Gskill isn't expensive either. Nice find.

 

I think so too. I use W700 with 1920x1200, and should say that menus are looking tiny. So, now my res is around 1600x900. I'm also thinking - should I upgrade to FHD? I have external monitor as well.

 

Notebookcheck did some form of testing of the 2000m and rank it as the bottom of their "Class 1." The position is still not final as their are still some questions but they did do some benchmarking on the GPU found here: NVIDIA Quadro 2000M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

The 1000m is ranked farther down and scores 8213 on 3DMark06.

 

Based purely on paper-specs, the Ultimate-N 6300 is really targeted at people who have a 3x3 MIMO wireless router like the Cisco Linksys E4200 so they can take advantage of 450Mbps wireless-N. The 6200 can do 300Mbps.

Plenty of discussion on this topic and pictures of the cards here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/net...ino-advanced-n-6200-vs-ultimate-n-6300-a.html

Wifi: advanced-n 6230 vs ultimate-n 6300 - Page 2 - XOTICPC Forums

XOTICPC Forums - View Single Post - G73 Pre-Order Wait List

 

It is better not to clone, but to reinstall OS on SSD. I did cloning and speed was noticable slower on SSD, than if I just do fresh install of OS. Just my 2 cents.

 

It is not always Crucial memory itself I beleive. When I bought my x200t it came with one Mushkin module. I ordered another one from Crucial and they sent me another original Mushkin module. They attached their Crucial sticker on a side. But on another side I saw sticker from Mushkin.

 

The problem with cloning is making sure the SSD is aligned. Intel SSDs don't suffer from misalignment as much but on some drives the performance hit is huge.

 

Unless you are on a very high speed corporate or educational network, you aren't likely to push either card to their theoretical limits. I realize some countries around the globe have insanely fast broadband, but in the states you are lucky to have a fiber connection and speeds above 25MB.

I have both the 6200 and 6300 in my thinkpads and I can't tell the difference on a day-to-day basis.

 

It has nothing to do with the brand. I never had issues with any RAM and I mix them all the time. When I buy I just make sure it is same speed, same buffered or unbuffered, and same CL.

 

Good observations. In my specific application, I do backups over a gigabit wired network so every bit of speed counts. For the systems that can't be tethered to a wire the little bit of extra speed from the 6300 is useful.

 

Do you know hol longer battery will work with 5400RPM instead of 7200?

 

Yes, it is huge. My not aligned SSD was twice slower then my 160GB HDD. No kidding. But aligned cloned SSD is slower than aligned fresh installed OS SSD as I noticed. I played with both options. When you install OS, SSD alignes automatically and looks like this aligning is better then cloned from HDD. At least that is what I've noticed.

Also, to do fresh install on Lenovo is quick and painless

 

Probably not much but in conserving battery life there is no silver bullet. It's more like a silver buck shot, so every little bit counts. Plus its not the OS drive, just storage, so speed is not the primary requirement.

 

HwinFO32 shows that the W520 has a 6 Gb/s interface in its main drive bay and a 3 Gb/s interface in the ultrabay caddy.

I think most of us have figured that out but it is nice to get confirmation.

Perry

 

I'm looking at ordering this combination here:


Intel Core i7-2720QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3,1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)12
15.6" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED backlight Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
NVIDIA Quadro 2000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable5
9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery60
Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n10
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable65
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty7


Planning to order another 12GB of ram and the Intel 310 80gb SSD as well (for boot obviously). Anyway, everything looks good - except...

The CDN price is $1909 and the USD price is $1556 - This is just off the Lenovo website! (yes, I'm in Canada) The difference in these costs more than pays for the extra 12GB of ram and the Intel 310 80GB drive!

I guess a phone call is in order?

 

Yes, always make a phone call when ordering laptops. They'll almost always do something over the website price. If not, then find another rep.

 

can someone post W520 CPU/GPU temp and CPU fan speed from HwinFO32.