Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

Actually, I believe that is the same exact cable I have...

 

I'm already having these installed and running when gaming... So this is not the problem. If we have the same machine, you should have same issue. Do you have CS Source? Or any source game...

 

I really wish I could help you out but at the moment the I do not have CS Source or any source game. For me CS is 1.6 because my friends used to play it but I have not even installed it on this laptop. The only solution you could do right now is to completely remove graphics drivers and reinstall them and apply any new updates and patches to the game. Update BOTH nvidia as well as intel HD drivers. You could also ask around on the steam forums if someone else has these problems.

 

Ok thanks anyway, by the way i still didn't figure out how to get back the instant wifi reconnect after sleep.. So if anyone knows..!

 

I purchased a W520 last year around this time.

Have been very happy with it so far. I am at that point now where I am looking for more.

What is the first upgrade I should do?

I have...
- 8GB of ram
-160 GB SSD it came with (thinking about upgrading here)
- i7 2760
-windows 7 pro

I have never cloned hard drives before is it hard?

Thanks

 

Personally, I'd upgrade to an SSD as that'll give you the most obvious performance upgrade (both objectively and subjectively). Though id go for something in the 256GB range or higher since small-capacity versions of a SSD model take a performance bit when compared to a higher-capacity version o lf said SSD model.

RAM is pretty cheap and (assuming you have 4GB in right now) you can just add a 4GB aftermarket stick to it to vet to 8GB if needed. Tue CPU upgrade, unless you have specific performance requirements, won't do much for you aside from voiding any warranty you still have. And, assuming that you're on Windows 7 Home, there's not much reason to upgrade to Pro since they're the same thing, plus language packs and business-oriented network options (connect to an AD-controlled domain, for example).

 

For more of what exactly? You already have Intel SSD (judging by size), 8GB of RAM is plenty for most users today, the CPU (rather pointless, difficult and expensive to replace, but possible) is one of the fastest available Sandy Bridge quad-core, GPU you can't replace.

Of course can replace the SSD (or add another one into mSATA, or instead of the DVD), or add more RAM, but the practical benefit for most applications, not in synthetic benchmarks, will be very small if any.

You may also wait for a few months, and upgrade to W540 which is likely to be available by Christmas. Or, if you want something MUCH faster than your existing W520, not just 10-20-30% faster, you're looking at a real, non-mobile, workstation

 

What I listed I have is what is already in my computer.

I already have 8 GB of ram from the factory along with 160 GB SSD but it is sata I i think? Along with the rest of the things listed.

Should I put a newer model SSD in if so what?

 

The SSD is the one the computer came with from the factory. I believe it is an older model maybe sata I. WOuld it be worth upgrading to satat II or III?

 

Increase in general performance. Quickness and boot times mostly.

 

Nothing upgraded in your W520 will give noticeable, more than ~5-10%, performance improvements. Further, if you're not a gamer, no laptop on the market is significantly, 30%+, faster than your current setup. Replacing SSD with newer/larger model will be noticeable only if you spend a significant part of your day copying tens and hundreds of gigabytes from one SSD to another. Otherwise - you just won't notice.

If you want to upgrade for the sake of upgrade and faster boot times, I'd suggest upgrading Windows 7 to Windows 8. With complete reinstall w/o cloning, BIOS upgrade, proper UEFI setup (so it's not wasting 5-10 seconds on cold boots in "Lenovo" screen) etc.

What's pretty much guaranteed however, is that you'll spend more time doing the complete reinstall with the following troubleshooting, than any amount of time saved during boots during W520 lifetime (at best, 500 times x 20 seconds ~ 3 hours saved). But, it will at least feel like a different, faster booting, machine

 

It'll be SATA II or *maybe* SATA III, not SATA I.

Anyway, if those are the parts you already have in your computer (dual-core i7, 8GB, SSD), then I say that you should save up your money for a new laptop if those aren't maybe you happy. Or buy a bigger and faster SSD, but SATA II SSD --> SATA III SSD is much less noticeable than going from (any) HDD --> (any) SSD.

 

Dunno if i talked about this already but i bought a Sandisk Ultra Plus and it appeared incompatible with the W520 : Freeze + Blue screen and hundred erros in CHKDSK at reboot... The test didn't show bad sector so i don't think it was defective..? Sent back anyway, keeping the M4!

 

I've been running two Samsung 840 Pros in mine for months, no troubles at all. Fast, fast......

 

I'm using a Samsung 840 + original HDD in UltraBay, works perfectly, fast and big!

 

It could just be a bad drive. It happens from time to time.

 

As said, the test reported no bad sector. I don't know why people reply about Samsung SSD when i talk about Sandisk's..? Anybody having this SSD running on the W520 without issue, say hello!

 

Will the genuine Lenovo powerpack Model 42T5292 (FRU P/N 45N0068) work with the W520?

 

If yours is quadcore, with the original power supply being 170W, it won't work too well. AFAIR, out of the box 90W can charge the battery when the machine is off and that's it.

It is possible to convince the laptop that the 90W power supply is 170W, and it won't overload unless both CPU and GPU are 100% loaded, but some tinkering is required. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=94554&start=90

 

Despite having 12GB of RAM and not having it used more than 70% before putting the unit to sleep, i still often end up having trouble while waking it : Bluescreen, freeze, log screen buttons missing (just wallpaper) with sounds showing the device's apps are running... Any advice for that?

Otherwise, and sorry it has probably been said, it's not possible to use displayport output while using integrated graphics (no optimus, no quadro)? When i'm in discrete graphics mode, connected to some FHD TV, and using "duplicated screen" mode, if i play a video, it'll be fine on the TV, however on the computer it'll be.. hmm.. dunno in english, streak? Why is thaT?

 

Hmm... got two BSODs in the past couple of weeks. Downloaded BlueScreenView to check the dump files, and this is what that program is telling me:



I'm sort of lost as to what's going on and what to do, since I haven't had a BSOD in *forever*... Any advice?

 

No idea but might be your SSD, getting crazy. I had this with a Crucial M4, which after half a year of being super stable went crazy one week. I changed to a Samsung 840 and now problems ever since.

Or RAM.

 

Well, I tested the Intel 330 with a full diagnostic scan through Intel's SSD Toolbox and nothing came up, so I'll try out the RAM when I can.

 

My Crucial M4 tested OK in all possible test, but still it was stuck in some TRIM / garbage collection and made random freezes. If you have an external hard drive you can also try:
1. Backup SSD -> image file
2. Secure Erase by Parted Magic live USB (5 sec for SSD)
3. Restore HDD -> image file

This fixes all SSD problems.

 

zsero, no idea for me?

 

ddong, I have no experience with Sandisk SSD-s, but you can always try to clone to HDD and use the machine from HDD for a few days, to see if the problems are happening with HDD as well.

For your other problems, it feels to me that your Windows install is a bit messed up, and I would recommend a new, fresh, clean Windows 7 SP1 install from a Microsoft ISO file and with only the necessary Lenovo drivers installed. If you backup and restore your Windows 7 activation, you can use these ISO-s legally:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/7126-The-Official-Windows-7-Repository

 

I already came back to an older stable image. No weird issues now. What about display port? Doesn't depends on windows.

 

DisplayPort is as far as I know hard wired to the nVidia chip, so that obviously needs to turn on the dedicated graphics for output. Maybe have a try with BIOS set to Integrated only mode.

 

No problem for that, was just wondering. But what about that "if i play a video, it'll be fine on the TV, however on the computer it'll be.. hmm.. dunno in english, streak?"

Otherwise i've just downloaded a color profile found on Lenovo forum. It totally change color. Feel like extremely yellowish, while originally extremely blueish. What do you, people reading this, use?

 

For everyone in general and ddong in particular, the best solution for color profiles I found was by this guy who calibrated the display and made 2 color profiles, one for general use and one where display calibration and color accuracy was important. I have personally been using them and the general one is perfect, and the second one can be adjusted to personal preferences.

It can be found here:

Re: W520 LED backlight and LCD quality - Lenovo Community

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Secondly, I remember making these couple of posts a while ago and I have pinned down the problem but the solution still totally eludes me.

The above mentioned situation ONLY happens when the W520 is booted up in a cool room (either winter or in an air conditioned room with temps around 25 degrees celsius), whereas it boots perfectly fine in a warm room.

For the time being I simply block the air vents on the side with my hand in when the exhaust air becomes sufficiently hot, the laptop stops BSOD'ing and boots into windows.

This problem is really annoying. Is there any way to solve this, or what is this problem even called properly?

 

Yeah that's this color profiles i got! I remember the temperature was about 18C° in the room last winter, i guess the W520 was about the same too while turned off, but i never ever had BSOD or any other big trouble while booting.

On another topic, i use Throttle stop when doing heavy tasks, and i'm seeking for an app that would automatically launch it when i launch one of the actual tasks, and close it when task is done (closed). I would just provide a list of exe.

 

Is it easy to upgrade the CPU on this machine. I currently have the 2760QM but want to go higher

 

Yes, changing CPUs is an easy 10-minute .. 1 hour thing depending on your experience with opening laptops. There are no special screws at all, just lifting the keyboard up is a bit tricky first. But the 2760QM is almost the fastest one from Sandy Bridge CPUs, and you cannot put Ivy Bridge in it!

 

When playing games, there's somekind of veil (similar to a shadow), generally on the ground, that disappear as your move forward... Apparently this is a gift from nvidia... Is there a way to make it disappear? I also noticed that textures changes when you get closer to items (rocks or else..) in many different games.. I'm not sure this is game setting, as i couldn't find..

 

I connect the W520 to some LCD screen; Sometimes the image sometimes doesn't come at all, sometimes it does but cuts often. Apparently it depends the cable. I had weird issue with this one, like after trying to connect 2-3 times the PC will freeze then shutdown. Anyone experienced that? I'm worried it wouldn't be the cable... It won't do that in other situations.

 

I, and probably the other guy, mentioned Samsung SSDs for the same reason you mentioned your M4. We were trying to let you know that it probably was your Sandisk SSD that was faulty since other branded SSDs work fine in the w520. Our Samsungs and your Crucial. Next time you ask for help and I know the answer perhaps I will pass on posting because of your rude remarks.

 

Rude remark? Scary...

 

With the help from a local computer repair shop, I finally got the thorn out of my side...literally...
The stripped screw that was limiting my upgrade path was finally removed.
So I was going to add two sticks of 8GB SODIMMs, a 64GB mSATA SSD, and a Intel 7260 AC WiFI adapter.
Sadly, the mPCIE slot on the W520 apparently employs a whitelist, so the store say they can't get the 7260 to work.
So I am sticking with the 6205 that came with the unit.
With two sticks of 8GB RAM, I got a total of 24GB RAM, but unfortunately it was driving my ViDock/eGPU setup crazy.
Apparently the dynamic TOLUD still has a limit, I had to remove my old sticks of 4GB SODIMMs and bring system memory down to 16GB to get the ViDock behaving.
So now only the 64GB mSATA SSD upgrade remains as my pagefile disk...

The good news is that W540 was just announced, and the ports look very interesting for eGPU purposes...
W540 Announced Today - Lenovo Community
ThinkPad W540 | Mobile Workstation | | Lenovo (US)
Thunderbolt + ExpressCard, need I say more?

 

Disappointed to hear that W520 + diy egpu won't allow more than 16 gigs of ram. Maybe a BIOS update might change that?

And with TB + Expresscard, the w540 will probably be the most versatile egpu candidate. Hope someone gets it and checks it out when it gets out.

 

Hey guys!

I have a deal of $650 for a W520, 2760, FHD, 16GB. Is this deal good? I am not sure if I should wait for the w540 or go ahead and take this deal.

 

that's a decent price on a w520 at this time. Unless you are doing some crazy computational or graphics work you will not reach the limits of the w520 at this time. I've run 10 virtual machines on it and it still works fine

 

Yeah. I'd even say that unless you want the new keyboard, or the new looks, or the "improved" trackpad, or the new screen, there is very little reason to wait for W540.

It's likely to be slightly, few %, and even that in synthetic benchmarks, faster, but if you find W520 performance really inadequate, you need a different computer altogether.

 

Thanks jedisurfer1 and power7. I am using the t420 now and the screen is very bad, but other than that I like everything about the laptop. What do you guys think about the screen of the w520? Is this significantly better than the t420? I want a better screen but I am not sure if it worth to spend more than 2k (which is what I expect for w540) for it.

Thanks!

 

If you like the features of the T420 but with a nicer screen then you can't go wrong with the W520, the 14" screen on the T420 are a known weak point of the system. I think you should see a noticeable improvement with the W520's 95% Gamut FHD screen in comparison, plus the specs should be more than enough to handle most demanding applications today. I yet to find any applications that struggle to run on my Dual Core T420 so I doubt you have problems with the W520, especially those equipped with the Quad Core processor.

 

Thanks PatchySan. That helps a lot.

 

guys - has anybody seen this issue? My cdrom drive continue keeps popping out. Even if i press the button to push it back in, it comes out itself in about 8-10s

 

mine was doing it and i found out that the bezel wasn't on good. once i fixed the bezel it's been fine. occasionally the bezel will pop out a little on the corner and it will happen again. open the drive and then remove it from the machine and you will probably see why it is popping out.

 

That was solved with a firmware update...

 

Anybody ever found any solution to manage the smoke issue in (all) games (FPS drop to half or less)?

 

Yes, set settings lower so half the usual framerate is still playable.

That issue is not W520 related though; it's present on all platforms. In Battlefield 2 I used it to my advantage; I used a massive amount of smoke grenades, just to drop the enemy's framerate in half. I, of course, had it set in such a way that the lower framerate still wouldn't drop below 50.