Thinkpads Forum

I have finally decided to buy X220 series rather than T420 and going to get the i5 version of it.

X220i: i5-2410m, Intel wireless 1000, 1yr warranty
X220: i5-2540m, Intel wireless 6205, 3yr warranty
Price difference: ~$200

Should I go for X220i or X220??

edit: typo

go for X220 for 2 reasons:
1. Great battery life, I get around 12 hours on 9 cell battery using the runtime option 'maximize battery life',
2. it is the coolest running ThinkPad I have ever owned.
My X220 has the i7 and IPS, very fast system.

From a performance perspective, they're probably about the same. If one has the IPS while the other does not, I'd go with the one with the IPS. Other than that, the warranty is probably the biggest difference.

The x220i has the i3 cpu, the x220 has the i5 cpu. The difference is a very minor cpu clock difference, and that the i5 (ending with "20" and higher) helps you with encryption and virtualization (vmware). If you don't need both, the i3 cpu is around the same speed.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:The difference is a very minor cpu clock difference, and that the i5 (ending with "20" and higher) helps you with encryption and virtualization (vmware).

Does it mean that the 2520M is faster than 2537M ? There are only two preconfigured models available over here. First is 4287-2TG (i5 2537M, SSD 160 GB) and second is 4287-2SG (i5 2520M, HDD 320GB) which is much cheaper. So the cheaper configuration without SSD has faster CPU ? I use virtualization all the time (Virtual PC) so your note about the CPU is important for me.

i5 2520
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52229
- Graphics Base Frequency 650 MHz
- Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 1.3 GHz
- Intel® vPro Technology
- Max TDP 35 W
- Clock Speed 2.5 GHz

i5 2537
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=54619
- Graphics Base Frequency 350 MHz
- Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 900 MHz
- Max TDP 17 W
- Clock Speed 1.4 GHz

The Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E220s has a i5 2537 cpu. Do you think of buying it?

ssd_thinkpad wrote:The Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E220s has a i5 2537 cpu. Do you think of buying it?

No, the 4287-2TG model with i5 2537M is the only X220 configuration with SSD available here. No option to get X220 i5 2520M (nor i7) with SSD.

Base on benchmarks the i5 has to be at least better than the i3, which is why I went for the X220 instead.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core ... 318.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core ... 317.0.html
"Compared to the 2510M, the 2410M does not support AES, VT-d, and Trusted Execution functions."

Between the i3-2310m and i5-2410m, it seem to be the same chip consuming same power, but the i5 clock higher with turbo boost which i3 doesn't have.

The turboboost cooks the notebook alive. I heard you can disable it in a windows setting. If you do encryption, the 2520 is definitely by far the best option. The speed gains are very impressive. I'd reconsider my buying choice.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:The turboboost cooks the notebook alive. I heard you can disable it in a windows setting. If you do encryption, the 2520 is definitely by far the best option. The speed gains are very impressive. I'd reconsider my buying choice.

Thanks for the info. Lenovo has another ecoupon for all Thinkpads so I can reorder.

Based on Notebookcheck the performance between the 2520M vs 2540M seems to be significant. In fact, the i5-2540M score is close or as good as the i7-2620M. The i7-2620M is about the same speed at 100mhz higher, dual core also, mainly 1mb bigger L3 cache. My assumption is the performance difference is going to be very unnoticeable between i5-2540M and i7-2620M. So the i5-2540M is worth it and rather not go for the pricey i7 which won't give any practical performance boost.

From ark.intel.com, the GPU frequency between the two are the same. The only technology i7-2620m have in addition is Intel Insider, which seems to be an extra layer of DRM technology developed by Intel for steaming DRMed HD Hollywood contents, there are already other legal online services to do this without needing another DRM technology add-on.

I begin to realize how expensive Intel CPU are ($280 2540M). AMD is coming up with some good stuff with their lowend Fusion line and also higher end "Bulldozer" line. Would be interesting to see the price of Thinkpads with AMD's new gen APU.