Successor of W520 in sight?

Hi,
I am looking for a nice business notebook with gaming capabilities and was wondering when the Predecessor of the W520 might come out.

I think the 2000m is a bit outdated and I can wait up to 3 months if it has to be.

Thank you very much.

 

I think you mean "successor" and have edited the thread title accordingly. "Predecessor" means the one that came before.

The latest rumours suggest that the Intel Ivy Bridge platform won't be mainstream before mid-year. However, there is a high level of compatibility with the Sandy Bridge platform so a refresh could be as quick and simple as changing the system board. However, many notebook manufacturers might not be able to resist the urge to make bigger changes.

John

 

You can expect the GPU to be updated along with the CPU, as has been the case in the past. But, generally, the W-series is refreshed a short while after the new Intel platform is released, in contrast to the T-series that is updated right when the new CPUs are out.

 

I wonder if Lenovo will move back to a discrete GPU. Although the Optimus battery savings has been pretty good with Sandy Bridge, the W520 appears to take a back seat to the W510 in terms of reliability. At least that is my view after using both.

 

If it's nvidia, it will be optimus again, because that's how nvidia will 'prescribe' it.

But: Kepler GPUs are supposedly not the power usage disaster any more that Fermi was. So one might be able to run in discrete mode all the time and still get decent battery life and thermal properties.

Besides, nvidia have said with the development of Kepler they have focused on the mobile market, and claim they have deals with almost every OEM.

 

Yep. Also, the W520 sold well and was popular partially because it had a battery life advantage over competing workstations (as did the W500), so I don't think Lenovo will opt to get rid of Optimus.

 

Nvidia is Lenovo's partner in many ways, and most likely it will continue to field their line of GPU for the foreseeable future, but AMD's new CEO is Lenovo's former President, so this could also sway the dynamic of the relationship in many ways.

 

Well, honestly, we've seen the Thinkpads swing both ways. In recent years, the T60 and Tx00 generations went ATi/AMD, while the T61, Tx10, and Tx20 went Nvidia. Both Nvidia and AMD have switchable graphics solutions (although neither are perfect), and both have their pros and cons. I guess we'll see!

 

Of course they could just use Intel 4000 across the entire ThinkPad line and add a Thunderbolt video dock option for W530 and other select models.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind a solution like that. Based on preliminary HD 4000 benchmarks, it's not going to make too much sense putting in a weak bottom-tier GPU, particularly in the 14" T-series.

 

Yes. With 8GB (or more) of faster DDR3-1600 RAM, the on-die HD 4000 can share as much memory as it needs. Plus, the lower TDP of the CPU/IGP will definitely help the laptop run cool and quiet while conserving battery.

Throw in an IPS screen and I will be one of the first to place an order.

 

I have already warned my wife that I plan to make a ThinkPad burger in the near future (my x220 is my first ThinkPad and now I'm hooked), and the w530 would make for an excellent bun.

 

That's only if the new iGPU from Intel will support the high quality 10-bit panels. Alternatively, a cheaper medium quality 8-bit IPS panel would be a nice option.

 

I just want the Envy 15 IPS screen on the T530 or the W series. They are supposed to do a refresh during May. I supposed as soon as Ivy Bridge start shipping, we see more news about the refresh.

 

The HP EliteBooks with nVidia Quadros have Optimus disabled.

 

I think that was mainly because the Intel integrated GPU doesn't support 10-bit IPS displays?

 

Sooner or later someone is going to take Intel to court over the GPU being baked into the silicon. I predict it will happen in the Ivy Bridge era. I'm really surprised NVIDIA and AMD have been so cordial thus far.

 

Intel can kill AMD very easily, just lower the price on some of its CPU line and AMD will bleed red on its revenue.

Right Nvidia has a very cordial relationship with Intel... Nvidia will focus on med to high GPU and Intel will move into the lower and med sector with its integrated GPU, which is getting exponentially more powerful.

Intel supports a lot of the cashback program that laptop manufacturers, and Ultrabook development is mostly funded by Intel. This is why all the companies release Ultrabooks, even those design that are seem to be half baked. If these companies used all their own money for the development, i wouldn't think they would just release machines at that price point that isn't really much different to the competitor.

 

Intel keeps moving up the stack in terms of GPU power. The Intel HD 4000 will be good enough for 80-90% of notebook users. Think NDIVIA will sit on the sidelines and watch their share disappear? I don't think so.

 

AMD is doing the same thing with all its "APUs." Litigation's not going to solve anything here; it's not like Nvidia holds a patent on the idea of combining CPU and GPU cores on a single die. Instead, Nvidia will have to carve out a niche of its own, such as with its Tegra processors.

 

Intel and Nvidia Settle Licensing Lawsuit With $1.5 Billion Payout to Nvidia - Nukezilla

Intel did pay Nvidia 1.5 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 10 years profit for the Nvidia.

Nvidia won't sit in the sideline, but the agreement with Intel will see much benefits for it financially, more than the money it will make by producing these low end parts.

Intel want 80%+ of the low end GPU market within 3 years.

For Nvidia this works out quite conveniently, it can focus more R&D on making more money from enterprise and high end graphics card, which pays a lot for their cards. Nvidia can lower the profit margin on these performance parts in order to gain market share and at the same time not have to worry about profit loss.

Nvidia, Intel, AMD... the three musketeers... ARM the mortal enemy they want to destroy.