T440p first impressions

At least be happy they didn't toast your laptop by putting in stronger cards (like mine ). I wonder how hot the W540 will run with that K2100M.

 

It seems like nVidia is no longer producing these mobile NVS chips. Quadro and GeForce GPUs are now the only options.

 

Well that's crummy. They could have at least added an optional K1100M, for an extra fee of course.

 

Is it possible to change the GPU?

 

The main advantage for me is that I can have OpenGL graphics drivers from NVIDIA and not Intel. I work for a software company for a modeling package that uses OpenGL 3D graphics. We have had a lot more hassle with broken graphics drivers from Intel than NVIDIA in recent years.

The Intel graphics drivers have improved a lot, but I would still rather wait for someone else to bug test a new model of graphics chips for a laptop. At least with a desktop machine, you can fit a different graphics card. If you get a laptop with the wrong graphics hardware, you have the choice of living with it, or replacing the laptop.

 

Thanks Carbon for the Heatpipe comments. I placed my order for my T440p but it was canceled and Lenovo couldn't tell me the reason why. I'm wondering now if that was an omen to wait because I really would like the T540p if it shipped with a better FHD panel. The following is some additional information for those who are conflicted about whether to get the T440p or T540p. Read the following:

Concerning the W540 and T540p, and those of you who are going to be wanting a FHD (1920x1280) AHVA panel with 700:1 contrast, 16.2m display colors,antiglare, 72% color gamut or basically the same specs that the T440p and T440s are shipping with you will be disapointed to know that is not what you will get with the T540p or with the W540 also.

The T440s and T440p use the AUO B140HAN01.2 FHD panel or equivalent. The T540p uses the AUO B156HW01 ver. 3 or equivalent which is a TN panel with 262k display colors 400:1 contrast, antiglare, 60% color gamut. I confirmed through the Lenovo Parts FRU, Tech Support and looking up the panels. Of course Lenovo can change the Mfg's anytime or even up the specs but how will you know when they have sold out of the older spec panel?

The above is what kept me from buying the T540p and instead I purchased a T440P but the order was canceled and I am currently looking into the matter and have since been doing further research. I did discover some good information today! AU Optronics (AUO) makes a 15.6 inch AVHA panel with the same specs as used in the T440p and T440s called the B156HAN01.2 but Lenovo has not yet seen fit to implement the better spec panel but instead offers the same base price for the T540p and T440p because the panel in the 15.6 inch T540p has lower specs.

Panel model # specs for AUO can be interpreted as such: 156=15.6 inch, 140= 14 inch, HAN= AHVA panel technology, HW= TN panel with better viewing angles, HTN= worst TN panels.

There is hope if enough customers demand that the B156HAN01.2 15.6 inch FHD panel or equivalent be used in the T540p and W540p laptops. See the following Links and look at both the overview and spec tabs at the top.

1. AUO B156HW01 V3 Overview - Panelook.com

2. B140HAN01.2 Datasheet download - Panelook.com

3. AUO B156HAN01.2 Overview - Panelook.com

Lenovo's FHD panel choice for the T540p is currently the biggest reason to hold off purchase if you want a thinkpad mobile workstation. I hope everyone follows suit to complain about this issue

 

Could you please stop copying the same post over and over again and post it everywhere?

 

Well I finally gave up on the W540 and settled for the T440p. Not quite the same machine, but with EPP + Black Friday it ended up fairly cheap. I have the 4700mq processor, FHD screen and purchased a 256GB 840SSD and 16GB of ram off newegg. I will be using the ultrabay adapter for 256GB + 500GB.

I thought long and hard about getting an xps15/m3800 but in the end I can't imagine using a laptop without a trackpoint. Hopefully the new trackpoint can live up to the old one.

Plus the guys over at dell want 4000$ for the m3800 in Canada when its only 2000$ in the US. When they are trying to rip us off so badly I refuse to do business on principle.

 

I ordered the same machine after considering those Dell options, too. I'm currently trying to decide whether to use the M.2 slot for an SSD (for the OS + applications) or do what you're planning and use a full-size SSD plus the ultrabay for a second drive. There's only one M.2 option big enough right now (MyDigitalSSD) but it at only $100 works out a lot cheaper than getting a caddy and 120GB-250GB 2.5" SSD

 

ThinkPad 9.5mm SATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter IV | Lenovo | (US)

This is the one that found for it. You agree?

 

How bad is the GeForce 730m's performance? Will it be enough for light gaming? Street Fighter IV, Dark Souls, etc

 

I'm much more worried about this performance topic which looks like CPU-throttling of the 4700MQ. This would be really a show stopper for me. I'm not intending to buy a expensive quad core CPU if I can't not get full performance.

 

That's the one I bought, so if it doesn't fit I'm in trouble.

 

That review did raise some questions but since Lenovo also offers the 4800MQ and 4900MQ the machine must surely be able to handle the heat. Or maybe all the quads are throttled so it *can* handle the heat. @Wizardofoz ran Prime95 for 45 minutes and reported the CPU temp stable at about 80 degrees, although he did not run a Turbo test.

 

I've just done very limited testing thus far but I can give you the following details. I just ran PCMark Vantage with HWMonitor in the background and:

Total Score: 21,334
Max CPU temp: 81C
Max GPU temp: 68C

I also ran Mass Effect briefly to see how a game would run (I'll test a couple of more demanding games soon). I just ran through about 30min of it and I didn't seem to have any problems running it at 1920x1080p and High settings (I didn't see what the framerate was though). I should also mention that these were run on the 90W supply.

 

thanks, sorian4. which mass effect did u play?

 

What CPU are you using?

 

^^^ That was Mass Effect 1. I have the 4700MQ, 16GB Ram, and a 500GB Samsung EVO SSD. I also just ran 3DMark11 with HWMonitor in the background and got the following scores:

Performance Total Score: 1933
Performance Graphics Score: 1745
Max CPU Temp: 86C
Max GPU Temp: 74C

These scores fall right in line with the others for the 730M on notebookcheck so I actually don't think there was much of a performance hit from going with the 64bit GK208 (versus the 128bit GK107)... at lease in this benchmark. You can get an idea for how individual games should handle here:
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Also, these temps seem to be momentary spikes before the fan kicks in... the overall temps seem to settle ~5-10 degrees below these.

 

Some news about the T440p thermal design: Google Übersetzer (see the last post)

So the T440p does not throttle unless it reaches more than 95° C. It only happend for him when he tested both Prime95 and Furmark Burn-In test together, so not really a realistic usage case.

Also he posted some comparison pictures of the T440p with the T410s:

 

please delete

 

Pics are interesting. Looks like a lot of the subtle curves are gone, reminding me more of a Dell latitude.

 

We may actually have been jumping to conclusions about the effect of the narrower memory on the 730M. I found an analysis of the difference between the GK107 and GK208 on Hexus.net. To quote from the conclusion:

I believe the GT 640 uses the same die as the GT 730 so despite the lower memory bandwidth in the revised 64-bit memory bus GPUs, it looks like the revision is an improvement on the original card.

 

Good to know. But I always cringe when I see the retail price of the Nvidia cards and compare to what Lenovo charges for the upgrade

 

I ordered my T440p on 15th November. I get the same informations from Digital River. When I ordered mine, it was just 12 working days.
First, "OK no problem, on time". Then, 12th December... And after again, back to 6th December.
Do you get more informations since 26th ?
Thank you all for you feedbacks. Great post.

 

I checked it out for you. Last mail I got was 27th of November telling me the shipping date will be 6th of December. Haven't heard from them since (the 27th), but got 10 emails in total from them telling me the date changed. I guess they decided that would be the date to stick to. Or they are planning to ship 10 different laptops to my address. Fine by me, as long as I don't have to pay for them.

 

Ordered mine the 12 Nov and last I heard from Lenovo/Digital river is shipping the 6th fingers crossed it arrives the following week.

 

So once again Lenovo's shipping dates are all over the place. I was hoping it would be an average 10 days from ordering to shipping, but looks like that is not always the case.

 

At least they aren't charging you 230$ for a GT 750m

 

Mobile video cards are always more expensive than the desktop version. I couldn't find pricing on the mobile card alone. I think generally they're sold by the crate to OEMs at negotiated prices.

For my gaming machines I try not to spend less than $300 on a video card... So $130 for the GT 730m upgrade didn't sound unreasonable to me for roughly 3x the graphics performance over integrated.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

For those with the 730M, have you found a way to "force" dedicated graphics mode? With my old Thinkpads I had the option in BIOS to set Integrated/Dedicated or Auto. In my T540p I don't have that option and it looks like it defaults to Integrated and you can set a program by program override for it. Or set it for right-click to run the program with Integrated/Dedicated on a case by case basis. I don't see an option for "always dedicated" so maybe the whole optimus thing is just standard now.

 

My shipping estimate is now 12/12... Boo

On a positive note, I also ordered and received that ultralight backpack and that is really cool

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk

 

When did you place your order and what was your estimated ship date?

 

The only PC game I play is World of Warcraft, and have been doing so using the Intel HD 3000 graphics on my T420i; even if the 730M is a "crippled" graphics card, I will welcome it with open arms!

 

11/15...

I think the original shipping estimate was before the end of November (it may have been early December though)...

I keep checking the order status link they sent in the original email.. I haven't gotten any delay info emails though...

 

same here. orderd a customized t440p on nov 14th. first shipping date was nov 29th, then delayed to dec 9th, now its dec 6th for the last 7 days w/o further updates from digital river. Does anyone know where the customized devices are being assembled and shipped from?

 

I believe that their plant is in Hong Kong. The T430 that I ordered about a month ago shipped from HK. Accessories come from North Carolina, for US residents.

It's possible that the delays and reschedules for early orderers are due to them fixing things or adding drivers for issues reported by the early adopters. Tweaking manufacturing processes, getting a different vendor, adjusting the images that they put on hard drives, etc.

I've been delaying ordering because I want some of those bugs worked out before they build one for me.

 

hmmmh....that adds at least another week and a half for shipping to europe and delivery. hope it will arrive in time for xmas

 

Which one did you order? Those with 6 cells or 9 cells?

 

6 cell, 4800mq, fhd and the 7260 AC adapter

 

Do you know if a 9 cell could fit in the backpack?

 

Hey guys,

Since our order has been delayed so many times. Is it possible to ask Lenovo to price match the current discount price on website? Mine on the same configure is about $400 difference.

 

Ordered 12/1, projected ship date to the US is currently 12/18. Ordered 4700MQ/Nvidia/FHD/AC wireless.

Coming back to Thinkpads after a two laptop hiatus caused by being badly burnt on a T30 lemon that had the motherboard replaced yearly until the warranty ran out. On paper the T440P looks nearly ideal for me so it's mostly going to be a quality control question.

I realize there probably isn't the market to justify it for the T Series but it would be cool if the T440P had an option for a second SLI video card like the Y410p has or allow you configure it with only integrated graphics and then swap the optical drive out for a nice video card with it's own dedicated fan/heatsink.

 

You would have to take a screenshot of the price after you activated the coupon and send it to them. It may be easier to cancel/return order and reorder. MY T440s also ended up costing less but this was after it had shipped. So I reordered. $400 price difference is HUGE!

 

I doubt SLI gaming graphics are needed in a business laptop. Also you lose LOTS of battery life by doing this.

 

What would be really ideal is if the manufacturers could make this whole external graphics card via Thunderbolt or something a reality. I really don't game all that much these days but could see myself dropping $200 for a decent external card every few years. I'm a bit beyond the days of having an entire separate desktop built just so I can run a modern game. The industry kind of seems to be dropping the ball here.

I'm somewhat curious how the thermals on the T440p, both with and without a quad core, will interact with the 730M's GPU Boost feature.

 

Although the T440p is not designed to be more than a decent business laptop I do think Lenovo could do so much more with the ultrabay. In addition to the optical drive and hard drive caddy, we need an ultrabay battery and maybe they could do an ultrabay GPU. As it stands, with just a drive caddy available and the need to take the back off the machine to swap the ultrabay it's actually more of a non-ultra bay.

 

I wholeheartedly agree:hi2:

 

Something like this i assume:



They would have to also include 3 ports on the motherboard:
1. Sata 3.0 (for BDR/DVD/Caddy)
2. MPcie 8x (For SLI and Fan)
3. Standard voltage power (For 3Cell battery).



As it currently stands, the older thinkpads have 1 and 3, and the Y series have 1 and 2. However for maximum flexibility you would want 1 2 3.

Also, a swappable latch would be required:



Also i would rather Lenovo have Quadro K1100M SLI over it's GeForce (755M) equivalent, this is a business laptop afterall.

 

Solution for the lack of a hard disk activity light: DiskMon for Windows.

Install it as a user script to run at logon, with the switch /l to minimize to taskbar as a light indicator.

 

... I've wondered if having a disk activity light when using ssd's actualy introduces some latency into the system... with a physical light, the controller has to be setting some pins to high and turning that back off when the activity stops... for very low latency, I could see that as something I'd want to optimize away.. ... just a thought