Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Thanks for these information. I wanted to reinstall the system, as it got buggy with time, but seems it didn't go well...

How do you install the Optimus sh*t? First i installed Nvidia drivers since i was in discrete mode, but to complete,

I installed optimus package from lenovo (since genuine intel driver won't install). Now i can't install nvidia drivers anymore, fail always..

 

I would recommend choosing the Clean Install option when installing the nVidia drivers. Never had a problem.

 

I did another fresh install and undertakes the optimus package from Lenovo which is surprisingly up to date.. Or even more!

Swyped from Tapatalk (with mistakes surely)!

 

I guess i talked too fast Again it's doing : When booting, before pass/fingerprint login screen appear, it waits about 10seconds, black screen with mouse, DOING NOTHING... What the hell? Hope someone can tell me how to stop that from happening. This is doing it every single time i reinstall...

 

about to buy a used w520. Any other known problem areas I should look closely for? Thanks

 

I got it: problem comes from win updates: there are about 70 major and one if then (i guess just one) is making this. But which..

Swyped from Tapatalk (with mistakes surely)!

 

Hmm where's that option already.. The one that makes your wlan quickly reconnect when waking from sleep.. I can't find it!

 

I have read this thread for the 18 months I've had a W520.
Regrettably, it got dropped, serious damage. So I need to replace (quickly.)

I can get used/refurbished W520 (configured big with SSD) or I can get a new W530 (also big with SSD), which would be considerably more.

I have been very happy with the W520.

So the question: would you recommend buying a used machine (from either of the big sites), or would you upgrade to the W530?

THanks

Bob

 

How comfortable are you with a chiclet keyboard?

I bought a Sager, despite the chiclet keyboard, because of the better graphics capabilities. I hate the Sager's chiclet keyboard compared to the W520 (which I gave to my son, who is now a senior in college), but I can live with the keyboard compromise in exchange for the higher graphics power. I don't know if I could live with the W530's keyboard, because the other differences between the two models are so minimal. JMHO.

 

Thanks for responding. If it's the same as the x220t, then I'm OK. But i'm more interested in the "other differences are so minimal." Sounds like it wouldn't be worth it.

Bob

 

Thie following thread covers the differences better than I can.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/663911-w530-vs-w520-7.html

 

Nobody for me?

 

What is the issue?

 

As said on former page.. I can't find that option...

Swyped from Tapatalk (with mistakes surely)!

 

Well, if you find it let us know. I am not familiar with that option.

 

I can only recall that's some "reunion mode" like doesn't cut the internet connection when computer sleep for only xx minutes...

However it seems that even after 24hours of sleep, i still get almost instant connection when waking the device...

 

Lenovospeak for it is "Instant Resume" and it's configurable in Power Manager (basic mode) -> Choose what closing the lid does. AFAIR it postpones the actual sleeping after closing the lid, so you can move elsewhere w/o disconnecting from various network services.

 

I don't think this is it : It's not turned on and i still have instant connect..!

 

so what exactly is the problem you want to solve? Instant Internet? Is that what you want to disable?

 

I confirm its not that option, sheet I turn it on, still good wait +10sec before Wi-Fi is reconnected..

 

That's a pretty long time. Is this Windows 7 or Windows 8? Which WIFI adapter is in your W520? I am too lazy to go look through the thread.

 

I have the Intel 6300 card. As said inn my old, 2011, install, steer waking deduce, Wi-Fi connect instantly. On my new, Chan, 2013 install, it takes skit 10 sec.

 

Still didn't find it... Am i the only one that ever got that?!

 

Do i really have to stick with my old rotten windows while the fresh one is waiting for me..?

 

I've notified this issue too the so called "technical support" as usual they directly tasked about parts replacement but asked me to update drivers first.

I did then called back saying issue is still there. Then it start to get weird. They ask me to take screenshot sui they can see I really updated the driver..?

As well as other many things but related to the issue AT ALL. And when I ask WHY they just keep repeating this is normal. They refuse to give explanation. Ignore mails. What can I do?

 

Have you completely removed the WIFI drivers then reinstalled them?

 

Just wondering how feasible it is to upgrade a 2820QM to a 2960XM on the W520?

 

Not sure, will try. In your case, after waking the unit, Wi-Fi re-connect instantly?

 

I have the same CPU as you with a Q2000m. As for the higher powered processor, whatever performance enhancement that might potentially result from such a powerful processor will be mitigated by the heat issues of this laptop. I am using a Coolermaster notepal X3 to keep things barely under control. I researched extensively and tested it myself and it does manage to drop the temps about 4 to 5 degrees on full blast while the laptop is being stressed to its limits.

I also recall you scoring very high on the diy egpu charts as well as doing some very useful comparisons of different solutions. I just wanted to know how the experience has been going for you as I intend to do my own egpu setup in a while, one of the motivating factors being better performance and the desire not to punish the cpu with temps around the 90 mark for hours. I was thinking of the 660ti or the 670 and was hoping if you could let me know how well you can handle demanding games on external LCD at 1080p.

Would appreciate any information or tips.

 

Still didn't fix that Wi-Fi thing.. And the "support" is literally non existant, don't buy that fake warranty extension!

Anyways, i use ThrottleStop when gaming, can i somehow make the windows launch it as soon as a game (3D app?) get started?

 

Sorry man. The W520 seems to riddled with issues for some people.

 

I have two Thermaltake Massive23 STs...one for my W520 and one for my Onkyo AVR...I am not sure how effective they are, but they appear to do the job.
Perhaps upgrading the CPU might not be a very effective upgrade after all, I might just as well wait for the W540.

As of how the GTX 670 is doing so far, please read my work-in-progress, I was doing benchmarking till 3AM this morning.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuuGP9YVjlQ9dG1EZEFaR0dvMGYxenNEVWdzejhGaWc&usp=sharing
'Cause this weekend I should be able to answer whether the GTX Titan is a viable eGPU/ViDock solution.

 

OK, GTX Titan will fit in the ViDock 4 Plus enclosure, and it will be recognized by Windows, but it will not work for whatever reason.
Device Manager only reports Error 43. I assume this is because the ViDock cannot supply adequate power.
I tried to verify this with my backup eGPU kit, but it appears my Seasonic X 1050W PSU is not functional.
So I am back to my GTX 670 4GB for now.

 

Titan. Wow. Even getting near enough to touch the mythical Titan remains a fantasy.

Anyways, thank you so much for those incredibly detailed benchmarks and scores. Very helpful. +rep

And yeah, if you really want to utilize maximum CPU power especially from the XM chips, you'll need a 17 inch laptop for adequate heat dissipation. The clevo 170EM and 370EM are not bad, but for best build quality and overclock potential for upto 4.6 ghz stable range, Alienware M18x R1 and R2 is where you need to be. But at 18.4 inch screen size you are already in portable desktop territory. The Dell M6600 is also a good option, but is a workstation rather than a gaming machine (thus no unlocked BIOS for tweaking, overclocking)

 

anyone looking to buy a new W520, posted a deal on this thread

 

Hello everyone,

been browsing this thread for the last couple of weeks, and finally decided to upgrade my W520.

My original configuration was a 2630QM w/ Quadro 1000M graphics and a HD+ Display - which i mainly use for video editing (Avid MC 6.5) - encoding a heap of video files for
different purposes and light gaming.

I went ahead and ordered a 2920XM OEM (250€ eBay) - a new 55W thermal unit from Lenovo (60€) a 1080p screen (eBay 60€)
and a new system board with the 2000M Quadro from Taobao China (~250€ shipped - new and sealed, with no serial number).
I also ordered some Kingston 1866MHz DDR3 locally, since the price was pretty attractive (16GB for around 100€ - I'll have to use the 1.36 BIOS to see some benefit)

The system board was very cheap compared to the official Lenovo prices, here in Finland they would have quoted around 1400€ for a new one.

Don't know how good of a bang-for-buck all this was - but i hope the process of upgrading the W520 will satisfy my inner hardware-geekness

Once i have everything setup in the next few weeks, i'll post a follow-up on how everything went.

 

It's great that your hardware-geekness has the money and the time to support it.

On the other hand, unless you have strong aversion to the new keyboard, ordering a new W530 with Ivy Bridge XM CPU, 2000M GPU, AUO FHD screen, etc. (with RAM and SSD installed by yourself) would be another approach -- but certainly less "fun."

Welcome to the forum.

 

Can't say that didn't cross my mind!

Too bad the W530s are in crazy prices up here in the North - so this approach was certainly a bit cheaper.

Thanks for the welcome! - I will do some pre-upgrade synthetic benchmarks, so i'll have a point of comparions after all the upgrades.

Stay tuned!

 

Isn't the SD Card reader supposed to be USB 3.0? I get 35mb/s from the last samsung cards that goes up to 70mb/s..? Is that an option on the Thinkpads?

 

double post... delete!

 

Nice upgrades. I was not aware that lenovo had different heatsinks (thermal unit as you referred to them) for the 55W processors. Any link on ebay on where/how to get them or link to lenovo site would be helpful as well. Might get that for my 2820QM as the standard heatsink is kind of useless.

And welcome to the forum! Looking forward to your benchmarks.

 

ddong, the SD card reader is USB 2.0, like in 99.9% of the laptops.
for your wireless problem, I'm almost sure that if you do a _clean_ reinstall of Windows 7, with the latest drivers from Intel or Lenovo (but no useless stuff, like ThinkVantage utilities), you'll end up with a perfectly working system.

 

is this a decent 2nd hd ultrabay adapter. They all look the same and it's the cheapest. Course I don't want to get a cheap one and have it be flaky, but they all look exactly the same.

12 7mm 2nd SATA HDD SSD Caddy for IBM Lenovo ThinkPad T420 T520 W520 W510 T510 | eBay

 

It should work fine. I use a few of those, but I paid a couple of dollars more.

(Yeah, I suspect those are from the same sources that supply the caddy adapters to Lenovo. If you want nice fit-and-finish and a bit lighter in weight, you can spend $50 for one at newmodeus.com. Same passive functions -- with a blue activity light, if that's important to you.)

 

nm found answer

 

I recommend the "nimitz" one. Lot of users here, no problems at all.

 

can I buy the 135w w510 power adapter an use it on my w520? Will the 135w fit in the w520 considering one of the connectors has the stupid teeth on it? I'll have it on integrated graphics.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome - I hope to get all up and running next week. Currently i am way too busy (gah!). Stay tuned.

The thermal unit (or heatsink) i ordered is called: FRU04W1574 IBM FAN 55W. - Also found it on eBay.
IBM Lenovo ThinkPad W520 CPU Cooling Fan with Heatsink FRU 04W1574 | eBay

I am not 100% what the difference between this one and the current one i have is - since i haven't disassembled the Thinkpad yet. I will do some comparisons.

 

I hear some resonance when typing on the keyboard... I'm wondering which part could cause that?

 

Off to a bad start. Replaced the system board and getting a 1-3-3-1 beep error.
Tried each DIMM individually, and also with no DIMMs at all. Won't post.
Guess this cheap system board is a lemon. Doh!