Lenovo W520 Owner's Thread

i'll be interested to see the difference on this machine with the pcvantage benchmark. hopefully ocz will give me a refund.

 

Intrestingly enough, I found out that my Aluratek USB 3.0 docking outperforms the same brand's eSATA docking on W520 eSATA port (docking uses external power).

It's somewhere in the range of 125 - 130 MB/s vs. 150 - 155 MB/s. I tested it with Hitachi 3TB Deskstar 7200 rpm 3.5".

Very weird.

- ngm

 

Your wish has been granted:
Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Review | StorageReview.com

 

OK, wow, I just had the weirdest experience with a technical difficulty. So I bought StarCraft II on Tuesday, installed it on my W520 yesterday (was using my desktop), and for some weird reason, it won't run at 60 FPS no matter what I do. With the Demo I was able to get 60 FPS on 1600x900 Ultra. And for some reason or another, it seems that the GPU isn't being pushed to its max potential as my temperature on my CPU is sitting at around 75C max, instead of the usual 85C max when gaming. Any suggestions?

 

I believe SC II has an issue where some people with 4gb of memory on Win 7 are seeing performance issues. It seems that upgrading to 8gb fixed this for most people.

 

Does anyone have experience with either of these two cases for the W520?
If so, would you recommend either?

ThinkPad Deluxe Expander Case
Black Notebook Case for ThinkPad T/W/SL 510
Part number:l 43R2478

ThinkPad Executive Leather Case
Part number: 43R2480

I haven't bought a new ThinkPad case in about 10 years and looking for something nice for the W520. I don't travel anywhere near as much as I used to, so the case doesn't have to be a flight warrior, just something nice for occasional transport.

*** One key question - how well does the power supply fit in with the W520?

Recommendations for other options welcome as well.

Thanks all ...

 

Actually, it's not just SCII, it seems that my W520's gaming capabilities just went down the crapshute across the board.

 

I downloaded and ran ATTO Disk Benchmark on the Accomdata eSATA enclosure.
I have a Seagate Momentus 500GB in the enclosure (not an SSD as in your tests), so I am not sure how useful this is to you.
It only does 80MB/sec read and write. (The Momentus does up to 110MB/sec in these tests here)

 

I upgraded to 16gb of ram, and it only helped marginally... but not even in a direct manner.

FPS still drops to <5fps whenever i play anything more than short 2v2 matches. Anything more than that and it slows right down and nothing can be done to fix it.

No load on the CPU or GPU. Temperatures are within norm. Ram is barely being touched. It doesn't make any sense!... unless theres an incompatibility with the Quadro gfx series.

 

Do you use a dock? If so, how's the gaming performance undocked. For me, being undocked makes a world of difference.

 

Yeah, I find it strange too when my desktop with a GeForce 9500 GT can do 1080p on medium settings in 3vs3 just fine.

Nope, I don't. I find it weird though, all my games started running really choppedly (I'm inventing new words) when I tried today. Temperature is well below what I usually see. They all ran fine before when I tried.

Edit:
What the... after applying a couple of tweaks to the system (ones that I normally do) using Windows 7 Manager, the games run fine. Seems that telling Windows explicitly that your system has 4MB (or more) of LLC (Last Level Cache) and 1GB+ of RAM helps a lot. ._.

 

Has anyone used the Windows 7 backup image program to create a backup image (C: ) to the Intel 310 SSD 80gb? I know that the partion size on the HDD must be smaller (not just the data) than 80GB. My plan is to shrink the C: partition down (OS+apps currently < 60gb) to 75 gb and then create the image on a local USB attached disk, create the recovery disc and then boot into the recovery disc and restore the image to the SDD. This seems a lot simplier than reinstalling the entire OS from the factory restore disc and reinstalling all of the applications.

Thoughts on this? Thanks

 

I've done it using Acronis True Image Home 2010.

 

You guys ought to really start considering side stepping enclosures. Hint: eSATAp cables.

 

Will Acronis maintain the alignment for the SSD? Also, can I just copy the "system partition" and the OS partition w/o copying the other partitions on the HDD. I read somewhere on the Acronis site that you needed to restore all the partitions to maintain alignment.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

Does anyone have a link for a good website for ram upgrade?

 

What do you mean by that?

If you want to buy RAM, try Newegg if you are in the states, I heard it is like the best e-tailer for computer parts. If you are in Canada, try visiting a Canada Computers location.

If you mean the procedure, look up the W520 HMM.

 

hopefully i'll test mine monday night or tuesday.i used acronis to clone my ssd to a hitachi hd. if there's a problem other than the ssd it should show up by monday hopefully. man things seem slow with the hd!

 

It did for me. I am using 2010, not 2011. Free trial for 2011 is at Complete hard disk recovery solution, backup, drive copy, clone and image computer software. The direct link is http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/link/?ATIH2011_trial_en-US.exe

 

i'm using 2011 and it works great. i just cloned my vertex 3 ssd back to a hitachi hd. i loaded several images on the v3 when i had problems with the fw and once when a bluetooth driver upgrade killed the system. it's money well spent.

 

It will maintain alignment. It will not correct alignment. So if you start aligned it will end aligned....at least with Win 7.

I think not with XP but that is just hearsay from the Acronis forum.

 

Testing with Delock enclosure is done using eSATAp cable.

 

Sooo... Starcraft 2 tidbits..

For all but my last game, smooth as butter... nothing changed at all :|

Last game, I played a 1v1 and cranked the gfx to Extreme. 40fps.
As the game progressed, dropped to 30-35, 20-25 during big battle of carriers/etc.

Looked at GPU-Z log. Majority of that game including near beginning, GPU Load was @ 100%!!! (which I found interesting as it didn't cause the slowdown) Memory Controller Load maxed 71/72%. Memory Used started at ~500-550 once game started and maxed out around 800mb. Temp didn't go over 85'c.

 

I've never had any SCII slow downs, all my settings are maxed. I have the 2000M. I also use tpfancontrol to crank my fans. Temps stay pretty reasonable between 70-80C with tpfancontrol. I have 16 gigs of RAM.

 

Which location does the ram come in from the factory? i have 2x2g

 

the default install with 4gb 1dimm is under the keyboard in slot0. for a default config with 2x2gb, its slot0 and slot1 (which is located under the laptop).

 

@mdaize: According to Keith Combs gaming was much better when he disabled Optimus in the bios and used only discrete.

Does anyone know if I can use this crucial 4gb 1 dimm card with the lenovo one:
4GB, 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 upgrades for Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Laptop/Notebook, CT1934343 from Crucial.com

It says "Guaranteed compatible with the w520" but I'm not sure if that means the preinstalled RAM will work with this one or if you would need to use one or the other brand.

 

Yes, that will work, but yet again any RAM that's 204-pin and DDR3 will work, too. You can shave a few dollars off by shopping on Newegg or similar stores, though the difference between the $38 you linked and the $35 on Newegg is minimal.

 

Awesome, that means I can save $160 from upgrading to 8gb from lenovo hahah

Do any of you know any good deals I can get on the w520? I figure if anyone knows it would be people here.

I found the barnes and noble gold account thing and got it down to $1,629.45 for the following config (without windows 7):

but can't apply any coupons there
Is this the best price I can get?
Should I wait till labor day? my friend says they sometimes have discounts up to 30% that stack

 

You could probably call Lenovo and haggle with a rep. Treat a laptop purchase like you would buying a car; say whatever you need to say to save cash.

When I ordered mine, I saved 23.2% ($500-ish) by using the B+N discount and haggling (which added slightly above 10% off on top of the B+N discount). Total for my system came to $1664 and change + $120.27 for 2yr Ontise/TPP (all before taxes).

 

I created the Factory Recovery image on a 16B USB drive, but the drive does not boot. The utility says the process is complete and all the files seem to be there.

I've modified the service_done.ini file and tried multiple times, with the same result.

Can anyone who has done this tell me if I have to run something else to make the drive bootable or offer any suggestions/tricks?

I'd really like to not have to make a DVD set, but I want to be able to do a fresh install when my Intel 310 shows up.

TIA.

 

what did you do to haggle? forgive me if that's a stupid question

I just don't want to call and say, "So... any chance you can take off a few hundred dollars?"

@jfh3 did you try Unetbootin? http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
EDIT: nvm, that's only for linux it looks like
EDIT2: try this? http://www.askvg.com/a-bootable-usb...e-to-install-windows-vista-server-2008-and-7/

 

Just making sure, did you select the USB drive when booting?

 

Yes, selected the USB. Also moved drive to top of boot list and used the yellow USB port on the back, rather than the 3.0 ports.

 

I'll try the Windows utility, but if it doesn't otherwise leave the contents alone it may not help as I don't have an ISO image of the boot CD.

 

If you don't mind redownloading drivers you could grab the windows ISO from thepiratebay or another torrent site, if you are using the real CD key it shouldn't matter

 

Before calling, I was recommended a Lenovo rep to talk to by another NBR member who had a great experience with said person. When I called, I explained to him what laptop I wanted and why I wanted it (I'm a rising engineering student going to college) and I told him that after the B+N discount, the W520 was still *slightly* out of my budget (the initial price I got online was $1656.56 with B+N, though this had the 6205 instead of the 6300 and warranty; I told him that I was aiming for $1400 before taxes, so I sort of low-balled there). I also had additional items in my shopping cart on Lenovo's website (a dock and a monitor) just to use against the rep to bargain with (sales reps love the thought of getting another commission). Spoke to him for ~40 minutes that day and at the end I was offered an additional 10% off if I bought the docking station at retail price. I said I'd think about it and hung up.

Because that was on a Friday, I had to wait until Monday to call back. By then I wanted to switch out the docking station with something else, and after another ~50 minutes, I was able to buy the W520 in my sig, plus a 2 year Onsite + TPP warranty (it was on sale), plus a security lock for just shy of $1800, including the $133 in taxes I had to pay. I think that was a great deal, since the retail price of the stuff I ordered was $2167 before taxes, so that ~$500 I saved could go to other nice goodies (like the 320 series SSD and the 16GB of RAM that just arrived at my door this week ).

Here's where I found some awesome haggling advice, which helped me a lot when I ordered.

 

Thanks for the advice!
Maybe I can wait until labor day, when they supposedly have 30% discounts and then haggle for next day shipping
I'm also a rising engineering student! Guess engineers have the same laptop preferences, hehe. Do you use linux? Part of the reason why I wanted this laptop was the bios switch that lets you turn off optimus.

 

Note that any of the shipping options you can buy only apply to the "last mile" of shipping (from the major UpS hub in Louisville, KY to your shipping address). No matter what shipping option you buy, you still have to wait a few days for the laptop to be put on a boat from China, then shipped to Alaska, then Louisville. I think you should just leave it at standard shipping, and save the extra money for something else, like a wireless card upgrade (either the Intel 6205 or 6300). If you get really pressed for time, call your Lenovo rep and stress to him/her that you need the laptop SOON (a likely story could be that you'll need to leave your home for a few days to attend an out-of-town meeting. Get creative!).

I use to dabble around in Ubuntu (see my sig), but I never really cared for that OS. I made my last laptop dual boot Win7HP/Ubuntu 10.10, giving Linux a 30GB partition, and I never really used it. A lot of the tools I use (Visual Studio, Cisco Packet Tracer, Dev-C++, Office) are Windows-only, and to be honest I like Windows 7 more than any other OS on the market currently, followed by Vista/XP, Ubuntu, and the rest. I also do a bit of gaming, so there's that. I might install it again in a VM just to play with it, though.

I bought the W520 for three reasons: 1) I'm thinking about majoring in Computer Engineering (or I might switch over to Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, who knows?), so I'll like to be able to run powerful software without having to use a campus computer lab; 2) I like to game, so I wanted a powerful graphics card, but I didn't want a flamboyant Alienware or the like, PLUS I wanted a tough laptop, so I needed a business laptop; 3) because I'm a trust fund baby and this was a gift to myself just because I wanted it

 

My standard shipping had the laptop leaving Lexington at 3:36 AM on a Tuesday and arriving at my house in San Diego at 11 AM the same day.

I wouldn't pay extra as this is what regular shipping will do for you.

 

I used standard shipping as well. I was told my laptop would arrive on June 16th, but I got it a day earlier, so in total it took nine days from ordering the laptop over the phone to me signing for the package at my doorstep.

 

Hi fellow W520 owners,

Does anyone actually purchase your 'babe' without the integrated mobile broadband and later enable it on your own?

I saw the sim slot right within the battery bay but it wouldn't recognize the sim card when I inserted one.

Any proven advice would be appreciated.

 

Re: T520 Mobile broadband - Lenovo Community

Re: WWAN card for the new 420/520 Thinkpads - Lenovo Community

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Did you make your USB bootable? See the instructions in Step one:
Create bootable Windows PE 3.0 USB drive - 4sysops

 

Well, I purchased mine with 4GB, single DIMM and then ordered 3 Corsair 4GB 1333 DIMMS from Newegg. They work great with the stock DIMM. I forget what brand was in the W520 when I got it. I did notice the system was sluggish with only 4GB, but it picked right up with the 16GB. So far, I haven't had any compatibility issues.

 

Thanks to those that offered suggestions. The problem was that there was no active partition on the USB drive.

If you are going to create the recovery disk image on a USB (16GB or more needed), do the following from a command prompt with admin rights before you run the procedure to create the disks:


diskpart
list disk
select disk <driveID>
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format quick fs=ntfs
assign
exit

Replace <driveID> with the drive number of your USB drive as returned from the list command.

 

Thank you. Good to know!
I have already done the factory recovery image onto the USB stick.
Can it be made bootable after the fact as well?
(I only can make one factory recovery image)

 

Not that I was able to figure out. I tried using BOOTSEC, but had no luck, so just wiped the USB with the above and reran the creation program.

To run the factory recovery creation program again, edit service_done.ini and change the 1 to 0. File is hidden on Q: drive, directory factoryRevovery (from memory; will check in the morning and update)

 

Try:

Control Panel -> Administrative tools -> Create and format hard disk partitions

Then right click on relevant partition and 'mark partition as active'

 

I think I may have figured out the cause of the slowdown. It seems for some reason the GFX card can end up in a state that locks out the highest clock step, nothing seems to be able to reset this other than a restart. I know it isn't temp based as my temps never seem to surpass 80C which is much lower than what the throttle would be at.

Also, for those that care. The 2000m quite happily overclocks to 675/1350/1100. It can sorta go up to 700/1400/1150 but will crash occasionally (though not very often).