Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Check your Intel driver settings. It does that to save power or something.

 

Surprisingly, as I've experienced with NVidia mobile cards, turning up the frequency doesn't seem to increase heat. Quite the opposite with an ATI card.

It helps smooth out gameplay a fair bit. I don't think just overclocking it will kill the GPU; we're not pumping through extra voltage here.

 

Well I tried what you said and didn't seem to be working! I open up the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel and went in to Power tab. I turn on the Automatic Display Brightness and My Power Plans is Balance.

 

That's the one thing you want to turn off, that causes the symptom I'm pretty sure.

 

Well, Automatic Display Brightness was off and I turned it on. Both cases I see the screen lags on the transition.

 

turn off the "display power saving technology" option.

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series...-on-battery-mode-on-ThinkPad-X220/ta-p/547971

 

I was in the market for a X220, but after thinking hard about it, I will just keep my X200 and am interested in a W520 for the house.

I'm looking for a high resolution display and top end specs for future proofing and blazing speed. 4 RAM sots would also be nice for future upgradeability.

What's the best possible configuration/place to buy for around $1300? eBay seems to have a lot of configs, some with 3-yr onsite warranties.

Where is the optimal place for purchasing a high-end affordable configuration? Thanks.

 

The W520 doesn't allow overclocking which sucks big time. Why put an extreme CPU when you cannot overclock. Unlike the W510 which allowed for overclocking..

 

Then, why didn't you try more? You can go up to 3Ghz, but i'm afraid then it might indeed badly affect the GPU I tried your setting (OC by Nvidia Inspector) and it seems to give about ~+5FPS depending the game.

 

It starts to artifact at a certain point, and games will crash. It's not just about temperature.

I didn't use the NVidia tools because they install a few background processes that I'd rather not have.

You may want to see if you can push your card further.

 

Hi all,


Seriously considering purchasing this laptop, as I will be using it for video production work and the 4 ram slots and awesome cooling are important features for me. At some point, I also plan on doing a DIY eGPU soln. and attach an external card. Would be VERY grateful if someone could provide an answer to the question in the quote.

I am looking to get this: NEW Lenovo ThinkPad W520 i7-2630QM 8GB 1080p FHD 320GB Camera | eBay

as the price is really good. Not really fond of the processor (2630qm) but at this price its just insane (with full HD 1920 by 1080 screen).

Or should I go with one from lenovo site which is for around $1300 (100 bucks more than ebay one) but with faster 2760QM, lesser ram and 1600 by 900 screen.

Am i correct in assuming that teh 1600 by 900 screen would be easier on the eyes for reading etc but the full HD one will be better quality wise (color reproduction etc?)

Thanks in advance!

 

I tried Skyrim on my W520 it ran excellent on Ultra settings at 1600x900 resolution. This was on a quadro 1000m also.

 

I say go with the higher res screen. You can always upgrade the CPU yourself later, potentially with the new Ivy Bridge depending how things turn out.

 

Hmmm yeah but you turned off AA, isn't it? And you surely noticed lags in the first "inside" place (on the way to escape)?

I don't think i'll push much more right now Nvidia is not an official tool AFAIK...

 

Thanks for the super quick reply colonel o'neill. Could some light also be shed on the matter of whether the W520 expresscard pci-e is 1.0 or 2.0. This is extremely important when it comes to eGPU solutions. I think running AIDA 64 is the quickest way to check it out. Or perhaps someone could check some specsheet or something.

Also, in the ebay link I posted, does the buyer seem legit? Or should i just buy from the lenovo website itself. How much of a risk am I exposing myself to?

And sorry to be asking so much questions, but since the card will only be 1000m, I plan on decreasing resolution while playing games. Will I suffer image degradation due to not running on native res as well?

Thanks again.

 

nope 4X actually.Hey quick question actually, how is your performance with ac plugged in/battery. For some reason even on high performance, on battery the game runs like crap.

 

Maybe if you update to last bios (1.33) it'll be better? I use AC only for now, i have Quadro 2000M and run ultra too but no AA, if i turn it on like you, then i get -10FPS, that's not small!

I'm having big trouble. As said, i did boot on discrete mode yesterday for some games that refused to launch otherwise. Now back in optimus mode, my GTA IV always launch with the HD3000 even though i delete all cfg files... Reinstall driver didn't change anything...

 

Yeah no, you can't run a discrete GPU and the CPU at full speed without your battery exploding.

 

There's really something weird between booting & switching optimus/discrete...

 

Just have to say, loving this laptop. Plays MW3 at 1920x1080 with AA and all of the settings at extra. That said, this is AFTER I updated my drivers. Before I did that, my laptop was chugging at 1280x800 with no AA and settings on normal. Didn't think a driver update would make such a huge difference.

 

Which drivers did you update?

 

I'm going to guess the graphics driver. It sounds like it was defaulting to integrated graphics before, and now it's running on the discrete card.

MW3 isn't too demanding, resource-wise.

 

Yeah, like Skyrim... Skyrim ultra with AA (Quadro 2000M/1600*900): ~25-30FPS outside / Without AA : ~35-40FPS outside.

Play GTA IV is another story! It will push it to the max :W I still have to understand why EFLC run much slower while it's same graphics...

Is anyone using Sony Vegas Pro 10.0 here? What's the settings to use it best? While encoding, processor is only @~25%... Can't be more?

PS: Could someone tell me how to delete ALL the nvidia drivers? I want to clean. I have at least 5 drivers in device manager and can't delete...

 

The W520 will be my first Thinkpad, and I was wondering if the outer casing is easy to dent. I use a plastic snap on shell with my Macbook Pro, because I know from experience that the aluminum dents pretty easily. Didn't find any similar cases available for Thinkpads. Is the casing material dent resistant?

 

Yes, it resist well to anything i think

 

I'm not that rough on my laptops. In fact I pamper them, but I sure don't want a dent in my new W520 .

 

Thinkpad & Macbook are totally opposite unit...

 

It won't dent, but the paint will wear off at corners and edges.

 

Rub off? All of my Thinkpads have just gotten a little shiny on the corners. Is that what you mean?

 

Mine has gotten shiny around the corners as well. There's a brown-ish undercoat(?) revealed as well.

 

Yeah that. My T400 seems to have had a different propagation and it was noticeable that the paint was rubbing off; there was a distinct surface height difference between the shiny part and the painted part. With the W520, it seems to be progressing differently. Then again, I've been stashing it differently.

 

I could finally delete all drivers and do a clean install (Nvidia). When i said it's weird booting discrete/optimus, it cause when you install a drivers while on optimus session, when you'll boot discrete, it won't see the update..! Same for discrete>optimus. I always reinstalled Power Manager, when i now open it, it use the Quadro (i see it in the optimus activity icon) and it's always @200%, even if i turn use lowest power settings... Weird!

 

That won't bother me at all. Adds character. Dents, on the other hand, are pretty ugly. One of my old Macbook Pros had a couple unsightly ones.

 

Honestly don't know what was going on. It played MW2 at the same settings just fine (and MW3 is similar for resources, as well as other recent games), so I don't think it was defaulting to the integrated.

 

Seeing as MW3 is new, the older NVidia drivers may not have recognized it's process.

 

For those who play it, whats the best compromise settings for Skyrim between AF, MSAA and FXAA?

 

FYI, loading screens upon entering a building and lag are known issues in Skyrim, not just on the PC version, but also on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. See the link below for more details.

Five Disappointing Things About The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 

This was not what i talked about. After dragon attack and you get inside (not with the blond slave but the other guy), in the first "room" where you fight for the first time, that's the place, there and going down stairs right after it, this specific places were EXTREMELY laggy. I recall i changed settings and tried many but it was still dropping about 15FPS even though there was nothing at all showing up!

By the way, my system is really becoming unstable, i of course dunno why and will surely sadly have to restore it. My new SSD is coming, so that'll be it... Still i'd like to understand, how does bluetooth work for you all? Did you install the Lenovo package? It seems quite big but i don't see any special apps and in device manager there's still the microsoft basic BT..?

Weird things that i have now : MAJ+ECHAP shortcut in google chrome maybe worked once and for all, never again, i'd really like to get that one... I changed version of course. Dolby theater using Nvidia Quadro (not opened, just the daemon runnig..!) and many more...

 

Can someone please explain the "Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters" and the "Integrated mobile broadband" options?

Are these two options mutually exclusive? For example, if you want the "Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC8355 – Gobi 3000 (TM))", do you also HAVE to choose the "Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250" option? Or are they completely independent?

Something about the number of antenna wires available for each seems to imply that the the Gobi 3000 and the WiMAX 6250 are interrelated, but I really don't understand the specifics.

 

Maybe some of the issues you are experiencing are similar to other PC players? Check out some of these tips...

Gaming Reality: Skyrim Fixes for Bugs, Crashes, Sound Issues, Freezes, Errors, Lag, Low FPS, and Textures

 

Thanks i'll check, what about the non games issue? Actually more annoying e, especially BT! Couldnt connect my keyboard...

 

Sorry, can't help you there. I'm still working out the configuration for my order. Still using my T500 at present.

 

I believe the max number of antenna is three. The Intel 6300 can use all three. If however you want to use a WWAN card like the MC8355, you have to give up one. Therefore it is suggesting the next best option.

As for the differences in the Intel wireless options, Intel has a table on their site that lists all of the features, speeds and standards, etc.

For those of you that are gamers, could you start another thread? It might make sense considering it's the fall gaming season. Thanks for the consideration.

 

Ok i got my new M4 SSD, spend a long time installing all program and what do i get? After replacing Lenovo's by last Nvidia driver (doing it cleanly), my graphic mark in the assessment tool dropped from 6.4 to 5.1 while on the hard installed on same computer i have (and it's normal) 6.9... Also when starting the computer i notice that the sidebar in the optimus activity tray icon... Last thing, some program does not work properly. I've really been doing all the install cleanly... I don't know, i guess i'm cursed!

 

Thanks. So here's the source of my confusion. If the notebook only has three antenna wires, then the "Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC8355 – Gobi 3000 (TM))" option and the "Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)" option should be mutually exclusive, i.e., you can only enable one or the other. Unless there are different sets of antenna wires, the Gobi needs one of the wires, and the Centrino Ultimate needs all three, so you can't enable both at the same time.

The online configuration page at the Lenovo website is allowing both options to be chosen. That's what has me scratching my head.

 

Nope. There's five antennae in total, three for the wireless card for operating at 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz, and two for the WWAN module operating in the 3G band.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Colonel. If I choose the "Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC8355 – Gobi 3000 (TM))" option, then what are the implications for wireless card choice? Is there any particular advantage to having the 6250 versus the 6300, or vice versa?

 

The 6250 gets you WiMax and the 6300 gets you better coverage and higher throughput (ideally).

 

Five? Holy cow. I guess I thought it was three only because of the 6300.

 

I currently have a Netgear N600 wireless dual band gigabit router (WNDR3800), and my ISP (WideOpenWest) tops out at 16 Mbps download / 1 Mbps upload, so I don't think the 6300 will benefit me much.

I don't really know much about WiMax. Can you help me understand what the potential benefit might be for choosing the 6250 instead of the 6300?