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your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

W500/W510/W520 and W700/W701 Series

W520 QM67 STEEPING

B2
5
100%
B3
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 5

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jimmy0415
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your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#1 Post by jimmy0415 » Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:54 pm

on intel's website, QM67's stepping is B3, but some W520 is still use B2, what is yours?(can use AIDI 64 to check)Thanks
Last edited by jimmy0415 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#2 Post by davidhbrown » Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:09 pm

None of the above. When I click the mainboard tab, CPU-Z 1.57 is telling me:

Chipset: Intel Sandy Bridge Rev. 09
Southbridge: Intel QM67 Rev. 04

On the CPU tab, it's an Intel Core i7 2820QM, model 2A, Stepping 7, Revision D2

Are you worrying about the SATA issue? If so, here's Intel's updated info on what's affected.
Q: How do I determine if my system is affected?

A: Desktop systems using the Intel® H67 and P67 Express Chipsets and mobile systems using the Intel® HM67 and HM65 may be affected by this issue. Intel recommends that end users contact their place of purchase or system manufacturer for more information.
No mention of the QM67. In fact, if you look at the Identification Information / Markings table in the Specification Update PDF for the chipset, the only instance of a QM67 is: B3 SLJ4M BD82QM67 Intel® QM67 Chipset

I suppose I've got three years on my warranty to notice a slowdown in one of the ports and get Lenovo to send out a fixed board if this is indeed an issue.
W520 (2820QM, Q2000M, FHD, mSATA SSD, dock)
Previous: T61p (died 1m past warranty :-(), Dell 8600, iBook ("Dual USB"), Gateway Millennium, Macintosh G4 , PowerPC Mac clone, Mac Duo 210, iBook (clamshell), Quadra 630, Mac IIsi, C-128, C-64, Vic-20

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#3 Post by jimmy0415 » Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:19 pm

Hi, david
for B3 stepping, Rev is 05h
msata should use sata 2, not sata3, since there are only 2 sata 3, one for main disk, more for ultrabay. And someone's w520's stepping is B2. You can use AIDA 64 to check.

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#4 Post by Volker » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:41 am

Seems like I have an affected stepping B2 = rev 4:

Code: Select all

[user@localhost ~]$ lspci | grep SATA
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)
Apparently the internal hdd and ultrabay are on the unaffected SATA ports 0 and 1. Only a mSATA card or the eSATA port might die prematurely.

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#5 Post by davidhbrown » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:09 pm

jimmy0415 wrote:Hi, david
for B3 stepping, Rev is 05h[...] And someone's w520's stepping is B2. You can use AIDA 64 to check.
Hmm... didn't you say CPU-Z the first time around? When I google for AIDA 64, all I get are torrent feeds and keygens. No thanks.

I agree that for the affected chipsets, rev 4 = B2 stepping and rev 5 = B3 stepping. However, Intel's spec sheet does not show a B2 version of the QM67. And it's not like Lenovo was rushing out the door to ship these systems; the fixed silicon for the affected chipsets has been available for quite a few weeks now. Given how well known the problem is, why would Lenovo willingly be on the hook for mainboard replacements when they could just make us wait longer? What you're saying just isn't making sense.
Q: Is there a way I can tell an Intel® 6 Series Express Chipset B2 stepping from a B3 stepping?

A: The most accurate way to identify a B2 stepping from a B3 stepping is to read the S-Spec markings on the top of the Chipset, and either:
•Match up the S-Spec number to the stepping information published in the Intel® 6 Series Chipset Specification Update (PDF 85KB).
OR

•Enter the S-Spec number in the "Search for product specifications" on the products page.

Note: Tools/applications designed to report the Intel® 6 Series Chipset Stepping Revision may not properly report stepping information due to system specific BIOS configurations.
(Emphasis original from http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/ ... hipset.htm )

Anyone who thinks they have a B2 QM67 want to go so far as to remove the heatsink and read the S-Spec number?

For me, I'm going to see whether I can get someone from Intel to clarify the discrepancy between the rev 4 info we're seeing and that being associated with B2 chipsets. Since I'm booting from that mSATA controller, I'm definitely interested!
W520 (2820QM, Q2000M, FHD, mSATA SSD, dock)
Previous: T61p (died 1m past warranty :-(), Dell 8600, iBook ("Dual USB"), Gateway Millennium, Macintosh G4 , PowerPC Mac clone, Mac Duo 210, iBook (clamshell), Quadra 630, Mac IIsi, C-128, C-64, Vic-20

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#6 Post by davidhbrown » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:23 pm

Also found this:
Possible Lenovo models affected may include the latest generation of IdeaPad laptops and IdeaCentre desktop PCs, including:
IdeaPad laptop Y460P, Y560P
IdeaCentre desktop K330

Of these, we have shipped a limited number of units with the affected Intel chip worldwide. As of February 1, 2011, Lenovo has stopped shipping all products with the affected chipset.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#7 Post by MikeM » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:30 am

My W520 shows a revision 04 southbridge on my QM67. This bothers me too, seeing as I just read that the QM67 chipset is effected....

http://hw-lab.com/intel-sets-the-date-f ... start.html

Then I read this...

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-F ... 2252.shtml
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#8 Post by MikeM » Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:44 am

I called warranty support, but was asked to call sales since I had the machine less than 21 days, as if they'd just as soon I returned the machine. Warranty person knew nothing about any Sandy Bridge SATA issues at all. I did not really want to post about it in the Lenovo forum, but seeing that I work odd hours and it's a pain to call people during normal hours, I went ahead and brought it up on their support forums here:

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-Thi ... d-p/418617

Let's see what happens now, shall we?
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#9 Post by Volker » Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:10 am

Meaning yours is not affected? Can you copy & paste the output from your machine?

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#10 Post by MikeM » Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:28 am

Volker wrote:
Meaning yours is not affected? Can you copy & paste the output from your machine?
Oh yeah, mine is a B2 machine. I'm kind of ticked off too.

Here's the copy & paste that you requested:

Code: Select all

C:\Users\Michael>wmic idecontroller get deviceid
DeviceID
PCIIDE\IDECHANNEL\4&28D29191&0&1
PCIIDE\IDECHANNEL\4&28D29191&0&2
PCIIDE\IDECHANNEL\4&28D29191&0&3
PCIIDE\IDECHANNEL\4&28D29191&0&4
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C03&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_04\3&33FD14CA&0&FA


C:\Users\Michael>
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#11 Post by MikeM » Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:17 am

I no longer own a Lenovo W520. They have issued an RMA to me for the computer and the additional power supply that I had purchased and it'll be going out of here UPS on Saturday morning.

I went around with a very nice young man in their technical support department that was aware of the B2 stepping issues with some Intel chipsets but since nothing had died on my board and it was not on their list of computers that they were going to offer replacement motherboards for, there was nothing that he could do and essentially I was stuck with it. I had him transfer me to sales and waited on hold in their queue and got a nice lady that gave me RMA numbers and everything. They even picked up the shipping back to them. :D

So, I don't have to worry about the B2 stepping problem, but now I have an mSATA board that I probably won't use and I need to figure out what I'll do with 16 GB of ram and a nice WD 750 GB HDD that I paid overnight shipping for yesterday that will arrive today.

Owell. Maybe I'll wait and get another W520 after this gets figured out. Maybe I'll get a MBP. Maybe I'll build a combination desktop/MIG welder rig. We'll see.

Here is the list of computers with B2 stepping chipsets that Lenovo IS giving away new motherboards for : http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 76673.html
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#12 Post by davidhbrown » Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:12 am

Nice find, MikeM with the Intel PDF that contradicts all the more public Intel/Lenovo announcements.

I might consider letting them have my W520 back if my T61p hadn't just died. As it is, with the 3y onsite warranty, I'll give it a while and try to make them come out with a new board. Hopefully before the SATA controller fails.

What the heck is Lenovo thinking. sending out these machines with the known-bad chipset?

Edit: ...or even sending out something which looks and smells like a known-bad chipset.
W520 (2820QM, Q2000M, FHD, mSATA SSD, dock)
Previous: T61p (died 1m past warranty :-(), Dell 8600, iBook ("Dual USB"), Gateway Millennium, Macintosh G4 , PowerPC Mac clone, Mac Duo 210, iBook (clamshell), Quadra 630, Mac IIsi, C-128, C-64, Vic-20

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#13 Post by jdrou » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:41 pm

I'll definitely be waiting for more info on this issue before I buy.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#14 Post by MikeM » Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:29 am

Does ANYBODY here actually have a B3 stepping board in their W520, or do we ALL have B2 stepping boards?

I'm just curious, considering the comments made by the OP.

Thanks!
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#15 Post by own6volvos » Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:58 pm

Just wanted to chime in here and say that the W520 model we are reviewing is a REV_04 board as well (meaning B2).

The T520 we have in reports both REV_04 and REV_05

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C03&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_04\3&E89B380&0&FA
PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_E823&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_05\4&1335E39&0&00E4

EDIT:

Quoting from the Lenovo forums from today:
All,



Here is the update I got from engineering on this so far - I'm expecting a more detailed and technical explanation early next week.




"Lenovo has not shipped B2 Sandy Bridge silicon on production ThinkPad systems. The ID being referenced returns the Intel CRID -- Compatibility Revision ID -- of the chip, not the actual chipset revision. This is a feature implemented by Intel and Lenovo on recent ThinkPad notebooks which, in order to maintain image stability required by many Large Enterprise customers, hides a chip revision change from the Operating System, such as Microsoft Windows to keep it from re-installing device drivers when it detects a revision ID change. This is a web page which describes Intel Stable Image Platform Program -- http://www.intel.com/itcenter/topics/refresh/sipp.htm "





I've also done a bit of searching and found that this question and observation of B2 level being erroneously reported by various software on newer machines has come up for HP and Dell customers as well.



See Dani's explaination in the HP forum.



See similar comments from customers on Dell's community.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#16 Post by davidhbrown » Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:03 pm

So the idea there is that Lenovo programmed the BIOS to deliberately misrepresent the B3 chipset on a brand new machine that has never (per Lenovo) actually had a B2 chipset so that the system image for a previous (B2?) chipset -- which was (allegedly) never shipped -- can be used with new/only chipset without triggering a request to install a new driver?

I've got to be missing something. Maybe we'll find out next week. But I'll leave my weekly scheduled disk benchmark.

Hmm... the Intel Chipset Support driver is the same for the W500 and W510... even going back to the R/T60 models. I wonder if support for that level of long-term compatibility is part of what's going on here.

Wishful thinking? Unrelated?
W520 (2820QM, Q2000M, FHD, mSATA SSD, dock)
Previous: T61p (died 1m past warranty :-(), Dell 8600, iBook ("Dual USB"), Gateway Millennium, Macintosh G4 , PowerPC Mac clone, Mac Duo 210, iBook (clamshell), Quadra 630, Mac IIsi, C-128, C-64, Vic-20

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#17 Post by davidhbrown » Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:01 am

Noticed something interesting... not exactly sure what it means. Maybe nothing.

Supposedly, one of the ways to tell a B2 stepping is to find "REV_04" in the output of the following command:

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\system32>wmic idecontroller get deviceid
DeviceID
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C03&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_04\3&E89B380&0&FA
This seems to come from the Hardware ID of the Intel Mobile Express Chipset SATA AHCI Controller Properties as can also be viewed in the Device Manager.

I was poking around in the "Intel Boot Agent GE v1366" that you get to if you press Ctrl-S just after the POST screen and even before the BIOS setup. In its "Diagnostic Support Information" area, I see: PCI ID 8086/1502/17AA/21CE/05 Slot 00C8. This value seems to be correspond to the Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection Prroperties which has a Device Manager Hardware ID of PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&SUBSYS_21CE17AA&REV_04. Lining up the matching characters:

Code: Select all

PCI  ID 8086 /   1502 /      17AA/21CE /  05 Slot 00C8
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&SUBSYS_21CE17AA&REV_04
Ignoring formatting differences like the subsystem word order, the most interesting thing seems to be that where Windows sees "Rev_04", the Boot Agent is seeing "05".

Yes, that's Ethernet not the 3Gbps SATA ports of concern. No, I don't know for sure that the "/05" in the Intel diagnostics is indicating the "true" revision before it gets masked by some IT-friendly BIOS. But I think it does suggest that something like that is plausible and perhaps verifiable.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#18 Post by MikeM » Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:32 am

own6volvos wrote:Just wanted to chime in here and say that the W520 model we are reviewing is a REV_04 board as well (meaning B2).

The T520 we have in reports both REV_04 and REV_05

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C03&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_04\3&E89B380&0&FA
PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_E823&SUBSYS_21CF17AA&REV_05\4&1335E39&0&00E4
So, the same T520 reports itself as REV_04 and REV_05 or two different T520s report as one being REV_04 and the other being REV_05?

It would seem to me that since the T520 is much more widely deployed in large enterprise IT departments than a W520 would be that getting a T520 to spit out that it is a revision 5 would blow a giant hole in the "Intel CRID" story, would it not?

I'm assuming these are two different T520 machines. My next question would be do they both have the same BIOS revision?

Thanks for this bit of info. I'm finding this all too interesting, even though the W520 that I have is going bye-bye tomorrow.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#19 Post by MikeM » Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:43 am

davidhbrown wrote:So the idea there is that Lenovo programmed the BIOS to deliberately misrepresent the B3 chipset on a brand new machine that has never (per Lenovo) actually had a B2 chipset so that the system image for a previous (B2?) chipset -- which was (allegedly) never shipped -- can be used with new/only chipset without triggering a request to install a new driver?

I've got to be missing something. Maybe we'll find out next week. But I'll leave my weekly scheduled disk benchmark.

Hmm... the Intel Chipset Support driver is the same for the W500 and W510... even going back to the R/T60 models. I wonder if support for that level of long-term compatibility is part of what's going on here.

Wishful thinking? Unrelated?
You're not missing anything.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#20 Post by own6volvos » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:12 am

MikeM wrote:
So, the same T520 reports itself as REV_04 and REV_05 or two different T520s report as one being REV_04 and the other being REV_05?

It would seem to me that since the T520 is much more widely deployed in large enterprise IT departments than a W520 would be that getting a T520 to spit out that it is a revision 5 would blow a giant hole in the "Intel CRID" story, would it not?

I'm assuming these are two different T520 machines. My next question would be do they both have the same BIOS revision?

Thanks for this bit of info. I'm finding this all too interesting, even though the W520 that I have is going bye-bye tomorrow.
That is the result from polling a single T520. It spit out those two lines. I forgot if I had the mSATA plus another drive or just the single drive in it.

If you followed the other thread, Dell and HP are both doing the same thing in regards to how machines are reporting themselves through software. Unless its a massive conspiracy and companies as large as HP, Dell, and Lenovo are deliberately lying to customers to set themselves up for massive litigation, the simplest explanation really is compatibility for enterprise users.

I mean I could be wrong on this since it is entirely based on trust of what Mark is saying, but the other explanation just doesn't make sense given how large the fallout would be across the entire market on false claims.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#21 Post by MikeM » Sat Apr 23, 2011 3:22 am

own6volvos wrote:
That is the result from polling a single T520. It spit out those two lines. I forgot if I had the mSATA plus another drive or just the single drive in it.

If you followed the other thread, Dell and HP are both doing the same thing in regards to how machines are reporting themselves through software. Unless its a massive conspiracy and companies as large as HP, Dell, and Lenovo are deliberately lying to customers to set themselves up for massive litigation, the simplest explanation really is compatibility for enterprise users.

I mean I could be wrong on this since it is entirely based on trust of what Mark is saying, but the other explanation just doesn't make sense given how large the fallout would be across the entire market on false claims.
It's all pretty interesting. It's also interesting how oil prices are so low, yet gas prices are high. I'm sure nothing's up there, eh? :?

I'm waiting to see if anyone reports a B3 stepping W520. I see that the OP of this whole thing edited his original post so that it no longer eludes to W520 computers in the wild with B3 result strings when polling the hardware. I wonder if that was just something that someone made up.

I'm still of the mind to send my W520 back. I love it but I got a real bad taste in my mouth when I called Atlanta initially and the pat response was for me to return it since I had it for less than 21 days. They could have handed me off to an engineer or had one contact me. When I called again and was told that my machine needed to be dead or on the list of machines that Lenovo would replace or I was stuck with it pretty much had me staring at the fact that I only had 3 more days before my 21 days from invoice was upon me and here I had called twice and was brushed off twice. So I got the RMA while the getting was good. That gave me 14 more days since the RMA is good for that long. Mark's explanation is somewhat plausible and I can't say that I'm convinced or not convinced what he said is true. If W520 machines start showing up that return REV_05 when polled, we'll know what the truth is. Either that or someone peels open their W520 and reads what is silkscreened on the Series 6 chipset as far as stepping number code. I just like playing detective.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#22 Post by own6volvos » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:46 pm

How about this. I have a review unit W520 on hand that has no warranty to worry about. I can completely dismantle it if needed and have the knowledge to do so without breaking it.

If someone could tell me what to look for if its apparent looking at the circuit board, I will tear down the unit I have and get photos. I just have no idea what I am looking for, especially inside a ThinkPad with regards to B2 or B3 stepping.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#23 Post by arlcrane » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:49 pm

own6volvos wrote:How about this. I have a review unit W520 on hand that has no warranty to worry about. I can completely dismantle it if needed and have the knowledge to do so without breaking it.

If someone could tell me what to look for if its apparent looking at the circuit board, I will tear down the unit I have and get photos. I just have no idea what I am looking for, especially inside a ThinkPad with regards to B2 or B3 stepping.
Here's a W520 thread that has been discussing many topics. http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo- ... hread.html
Start reading around page 100 or so for items related to the B2 stepping issue.

Here are some specific posts related to the issue that may guide you in your exporation.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7406924-post1030.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7407259-post1037.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7407306-post1039.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7408521-post1058.html

Looking forward to hearing your results.
Or.......better yet, just send that W520 to me 8)

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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#24 Post by own6volvos » Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:13 pm

OK well I am going to start tearing down my system now unless there are some other pictures somewhere. I would really enjoy clearing this stuff up to get to more pressing issues (like why the hell is RAID disabled and whatnot on non-preconfigured RAID notebooks).
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#25 Post by own6volvos » Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:19 pm

Hrm, wow. Well I am having second thoughts right now. To get at the chipset you need to remove the unibody and basically tear this thing down to a pile of screws and boards. I may call it quits until after our review (and more importantly photos!) are done. Then I will tear it apart.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#26 Post by davidhbrown » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:32 pm

@own6volvos....

I believe the best way to identify the chipset would be to examine the "Top Marking" printed on the surface of the chip package and compare that to the values given by Intel in their Intel® 6 Series Chipset and Intel® C200 Series Chipset Specification Update. Specifically, the "Markings" table on page 8 of that pdf (direct link).

The Hardware Maintenance Manual should get you pretty well through dismantling the W520. In particular, on page 84 it describes removing the cooler (thermal module); I believe the chipset would have to have a heatsink on it, right? But I'm not sure if it's part of this CPU/GPU cooler or if it's its own piece.

(The HMM has technical drawings, not photos, which I've always thought better because they don't show what you don't need/want to see.)
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#27 Post by MikeM » Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:00 pm

own6volvos wrote:Hrm, wow. Well I am having second thoughts right now. To get at the chipset you need to remove the unibody and basically tear this thing down to a pile of screws and boards. I may call it quits until after our review (and more importantly photos!) are done. Then I will tear it apart.
If you remove the thermal cooler, you might need to reapply thermal paste. Taking that cooler off will expose the top of the CPU and the Nvidia graphics chip, both which require thermal paste.

I don't have a clue where the southbridge chipset is parked on the mainboard, but the revision code should be printed on it, which will tell you what stepping it is. I'd like to know just because this whole issue has my attention. My personal W520 went out today to be returned for a refund. My 17" 1920x 1200 anti-glare 2828QM 16:10 milled aluminum unibody MacBook Pro has been ordered and my ram and SSD upgrade are on the way. I managed to get an RMA on everything I had purchased to use for the W520 except for the mSATA card, which I loaded Ubuntu Linux on before I yanked it out of my W520 so no personal data of mine could be vacuumed off of it. I may hang it from the rear view mirror in my truck to remind me of when I owned a W520 for a short period. 8)

I actually found a caddy that I can sling the mSATA card in that will turn it into a 2.5" laptop drive. I could then use that as a boot drive for my old E6600 desktop and maybe put some life into that noisy box. Or I could use it on my T61p to boot Arch Linux....

If you peel that W520 open I'd like to see pix if you can swing it. Thanks!
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#28 Post by own6volvos » Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:06 am

Yea getting the entire top cover removed is pretty simple. The south bridge looks like its located under a section of the unibody underneath the trackpoint buttons. To expose it to read anything from the top you need to remove the unibody completely. Taking off that top cover took like 6 minutes. Getting the unibody removed and remembering where everything goes and wires are traced would probably be a couple of hours. I will make a point of getting all my photos and remaining benchmarks done early next week so I can tear into the W520.

Now while the Apple notebooks are not without their flaws, isn't the premium like $1,000 or so between each system? Usually you don't see people jumping that much between systems... not to mention getting something not even in the same league anymore. Those things are pretty massive ;)
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#29 Post by MikeM » Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:05 am

own6volvos wrote:
Now while the Apple notebooks are not without their flaws, isn't the premium like $1,000 or so between each system? Usually you don't see people jumping that much between systems... not to mention getting something not even in the same league anymore. Those things are pretty massive ;)
I paid $2710 for the W520 with 4GB ram, 2820QM processor, and 500 GB spinner HDD. I paid $3071 for the 17" MBP with 4GB ram, 2820QM processor, and 500GB spinner HDD.

I was at BestBuy today and picked up one of the MacBook Pros. It's insanely well built. The case is carved out of an aluminum billet. The whole bottom comes off in one piece to change out the HDD and ram. The battery is inside. It runs OS X, in addition to Windows, Linux, and probably BSD and Solaris. You can buy a kit to make the SuperDrive an external USB drive or FireWire drive and stuff a second HDD into it. You can buy ExpressCard SSD drives for it that it will actually boot from. BestBuy only had the shiny screens, which I think look GREAT until I have to use one for actual work, so I have not seen one with the anit-glare matte finish yet, but that and the keyboard are why I like Lenovo. The MacBook Pro keyboard is nice and I love that it's backlit. It has an HD camera like the W520. About the only thing I did not get was the XRite color calibrator and I'll ditch that for 16:10 aspect ratio and a 17" screen any day. I'm big and tall and a 17" laptop fits me fine and I can get away with using it as a desktop w/o needing any external monitors for what I use it for.

I had swung by Office Depot to drop off the W520 for UPS shipping back to LenovoLand and was feeling kinda bad about losing it. After I picked up that MacBook Pro at BestBuy any feelings of missing the W520 vanished immediately.... and I KNOW my computer has B3 stepping. :D
Last edited by MikeM on Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: your W520's QM67 stepping is B2 or B3

#30 Post by MikeM » Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:09 am

Oh, I forgot. No more Bismark-scale AC power supply. Those suckers on the W520 are good for shot put training. If you grab them by the cable, you can also practice your hammer throw.

and B3 stepping!!!
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