Maxing out an x220 in 2016 (...now 2017): a couple of questions

[xserieslove]

Hello, I recently acquired an x220 i5 4GB 320GB and I want to max it out in one sit down, I'm in the process of ordering parts but I have a few questions

1) CPU: is it worth it to change the thermal grease? I got some leftover Noctua

2) RAM: with modded bios 1.43 (whitelist removed), I figured I should buy 2x8GB ddr3 1866Hz, but they also come in various CL speeds (1866 CL11, 1866 CL10), would the fastest CL10 work? is it worth the extra money?

3) SSD sata III: I feel that these days the sweet spot is a 512GB Samsung 850 Pro, not sure a better SSD will ever come out on SATA

4) WLAN+BT half height mini pcie: WIFI AC 2X2 + Bt 4.0 based on Broadcom BCM4352 (e.g. Dell DW1550) because I trust Broadcom more than Intel (7260) and Atheros for wifi performance/issues and I tend to have Broadcom wifi chipsets on the AP side at home. It's pricier than other AC cards but it's also one of those cards that play well with macOS. Would you advice other solutions?

5) Lenovo Bluetooth daughter card: this is where it gets confusing. How does the "double bluetooth" situation play out? I mean if you have BT4.0 on the wifi card and BT3.0 on the daughter card. Which takes precedence? What does Windows10 do? What card activity is then linked to the green bluetooth LED? Should I also upgrade this card to the lenovo 4.0 FRU 60Y3303/60Y3305 just for the heck of it?

6) WWAN (for EMEA region): I understand Sierra Wireless MC7710 is the best option and has the antenna connectors of the right size (not the smaller ones in later Sierra cards)

7) ExpressCard 54 flush always in: Startech two port USB 3.0, does anybody have one? Is the high price justified by a better build quality compared to cheaper USB cards? Would you go for a three port one?

Display: the current TN is terrible, hard to watch. I read the "T1" one (AH-IPS meant for another laptop) looks better than the "B3" one (e-IPS meant for x220), is that the consensus? Also, why people say the T1 "smaller"? It being smaller is it visible from the outside? What would be a fair price for a T1?

9) AC adapter: I think I should buy a 135W original one just to be on the safe side and quickly charge x220(6-cell)+slice_battery with ease

10) Batteries: I'm on 2011-manufactured 6cell + slice (less than 10 cycles each) and Windows 10 estimates 20hrs if completely idle and 8-9hrs if doing anything at all, not sure I should ruin the profile of the thinkpad with a protruding 9-cell? Maybe recently manufactured straight from Lenovo site?

thanks for the attention

[Cigarguy]

1) Depends. Check the idle and load temp and see if it needs it. I did it on my X220 only because I enjoy taking everything apart, cleaning and reapplying TIM. Most people don't.

2) Check the HMM and just get the recommended RAM in the capacity that your require. Faster RAM will do nothing for you.

3) The 850 Pro is a good MLC SSD. So is the Sandisk Extreme Pro. Me, I'd go with the Sandisk, personal preference.

4) Sounds good

5) I would not be running 2 simultaneous BT cards. I'd disable one and run with the other.

6) I don't bother with WWAN anymore. Just not worth the hassle in my books. By hitting one button on my smartphone I turn it into a wifi hotspot with service from my cell provider at LTE speed.

7) Had one, don't care for it and have not used it for a long time.

9) 135W is not being safe. A x220 will work fine with a 65W adapter. Faster charging is not always beneficial. A 90W adapter is what I mostly use on mine. Plenty of power and plenty fast enough.

10) That battery life seems phenomenal to me. Too good to be true to be honest. When's the last time it's been calibrated. If you are getting those times just leave it alone. Keep using it until battery degrades then look at sourcing the newest, freshest battery you can find. These modern batteries degrade the day they are made.

[Tasurinchi]

Welcome to the forum!

For 1) I would definitely renew the thermal paste. X220's were built around 2011/2012 and Lenovo never applied very high quality paste, so after 5 years I think is time to renew it (I personally always renew the paste in 2nd hand ThinkPads, but that's just me).

I got some leftover Noctua

If you mean NT-H1, I have good experiences with that paste

Regarding TFT panel, there is an interesting thread about it here: click me!

[dr_st]

1) I am in the conservative group when it comes to "refreshing" thermal paste - that is - if you don't experience issues - don't bother.

7) Whatever you do - don't get any ExpressCard based on Renesas uPD720202 chip. They are notoriously problematic with the X220. You basically have to disable ASPM to get them to work right which comes with a steep price in terms of power consumption.

[brchan]

If you want as silent a machine as possible and don't mind opening up the machine, then the noctua paste would certainly do better than the stock one. Otherwise, I agree with dr_st about not trying to fix something that does not need fixing.

For SSDs, I have both the 128GB 850 PRO and 256GB 840 PRO. Haven't experienced any issues at all and the performance is really nice! AFAIK, the 850 PRO models have the longest warranty of any SSD: 10 years.

[jdrou]

2) RAM: with modded bios 1.43 (whitelist removed), I figured I should buy 2x8GB ddr3 1866Hz, but they also come in various CL speeds (1866 CL11, 1866 CL10), would the fastest CL10 work? is it worth the extra money?

CL difference wouldn't really be noticable. Even the faster clock unlocked by the modded BIOS would only help graphics performance and you might not even notice that outside of benchmark tests.

[Cigarguy]

AFAIK, the 850 PRO models have the longest warranty of any SSD: 10 years.

Sandisk Extreme Pro also have a 10 year warranty.

https://www.sandisk.com/about/legal/war ... anty-table

[mj0]

1. I'm with dr_st on this one - if it's not broken don't fix it. Haven't replaced mine yet and it's totally fine, not worth bothering.

2. You won't notice the difference between DDR3-1600 and DDR3-1866, much less between CL11 and CL10. In most cases you won't be even able to measure it in benchmarks.

3. Samsung 850 Pro is a great choice. I'm not a big fan of Samsung per se but their SSDs are pretty awesome.

...

9. I have all three, the 65W, 90W, and 135W charger (65W came with the laptop, 90W with the UltraBase, 135W with the Dock that I initially bought for the T510) and there is literally absolutely no difference between these three when charging the laptop. The 65W one is more than powerful enough.

10. There is no way you'll get 20 hours of battery life out of this five year old 6-cell battery. I've had the large 9-cell since day one and was able to get between 9-10 hours when the battery was brand new. Now, after almost six years, I'm down to around 6 hours.

Can't help you with the display since I've been avoiding TN for years. I've purchased my X220 with the premium IPS panel and haven't regrettet it. It's very bright, usable outdoors, but I did have to get it replaced after 2 years 10 months (that's right - just in time!)

[jaspen-meyer]

8. Display: the current TN is terrible, hard to watch. I read the "T1" one (AH-IPS meant for another laptop) looks better than the "B3" one (e-IPS meant for x220), is that the consensus? Also, why people say the T1 "smaller"? It being smaller is it visible from the outside? What would be a fair price for a T1?

Bought mine used for $25 - it's the best display I own. I didn't notice it was smaller than the TN display.

[axur-delmeria]

7) ExpressCard 54 flush always in: Startech two port USB 3.0, does anybody have one? Is the high price justified by a better build quality compared to cheaper USB cards? Would you go for a three port one?

Having it always plugged in will result in a warm palmrest and higher power consumption. I leave mine inserted most of the way in, but not actually plugged in.

I suggest one based on the Fresco Logic FL1100, because that's the one I use and have little problem with. Renesas-based cards can be finicky, as mentioned in other threads.

One more thing: these cards don't have enough current to properly support external HDDs. You can use a USB 3.0 Y-cable or a powered USB 3.0 hub.

[xserieslove]

Surely but slowly (very slowly) my x220 hobby project resurface every now and then. I even use this thread as a reference for stuff I forgot.

I scored a good bargain for the 4G/LTE card (no msata ssd for me) a couple of weeks ago.

While a patiently shop for a genuine B3 or T1 ips lcd (not personally interested in the FHD mod, still amazing though), just wanted to tell some you guys that my battery combo (flush-with-foot 6-cell + slice 6-cell) back in the day was officially rated 23hrs. Maybe some of you missed the "+ slice" part.

This also brings me to the charger debate. Basically you're supposed to plug the charger in the slice, hence both batteries will be charged in this order (incidentally the reverse of how they're discharged during use): first the built-in 6-cell (or 9-cell or 4-cell), then the slice 6-cell. That's a lot of juice to fill. I may have read somewhere that a faster charging speed for this battery combo is actually supported when using a bigger charger (I fully realize this is not a given by any means and need to be officially supported by the circuitry on the battery side). But I could be wrong. Need to find more definitive info about this.

As for the 9-cell protruding battery, it comes down to fear of missing out for me...9-cell + slice 6-cell would run circles around many modern laptops...but in the end maybe I'll stuck to the flush 6-cell + slice 6-cell combo...