Thinkpads Forum

I am planning to buy one today. Does it support? I will apply Arctic Silver 5 on it.

T420 only supports i7-2620M.
It's the T520 that supports i7-2630QM, i7-2720QM and i7-2820QM.

RealBlackStuff wrote:T420 only supports i7-2620M.
It's the T520 that supports i7-2630QM, i7-2720QM and i7-2820QM.

Actually what I mean by support is that would it work if I plugged i7 2630qm? Same socket, same bios.

The T520 has a better heat sink than the T420 that can dissipate more heat.

Would it work? I think it will (I have read older posts from others who say that it is theoretically possible). But after seeing how HOT mine can get with a 2640m with four threads at full load (about 90C)... I don't think about trying a QC anymore.

The TDP of the 2640m is 35W - all the QC chips are 45W or higher.

If you go forward though and it works out, I would be interested in seeing your full load temps though...

theterminator93 wrote:The T520 has a better heat sink than the T420 that can dissipate more heat.

Would it work? I think it will (I have read older posts from others who say that it is theoretically possible). But after seeing how HOT mine can get with a 2640m with four threads at full load (about 90C)... I don't think about trying a QC anymore.

The TDP of the 2640m is 35W - all the QC chips are 45W or higher.

If you go forward though and it works out, I would be interested in seeing your full load temps though...

After applying Arctic Silver 5, my i5 2520m temps have lowered to 75C at full load. 45W would most probably go past 90C. I will most probably turn off turbo boosting, I need this CPU for better cores and cache size.

What exactly are you doing that requires this particular processor?

Arctic Silver is not going to make a big enough difference for this to make any sense. Just because it physically fits does not mean it mechanically fits. If you swap a 351W engine into a 4-cylinder Mustang without upgrading the radiator, you fool with issues the entire time you own the contraption.

Yes it will work and have done it myself but as a warning it will run hot, I advise against running a i7 quad if your T420 has the Nvidia as the extra heat will be too much. If you do upgrade better run throttle stop and disable the turbo that way to keep the temps in check, as for actual load it will be well below the 45W rated draw during typical use but once you put a real load it will be hard to not notice the heat.

I don't like my machines running hot so I actually downgraded to a i5 and still running throttle stop.

Doesn't the QC i7 processors lack intel graphics, so you must have the nvidia gpu for this to work?

A bit off-topic but when I upgraded from the i5-2540m (2.6 GHz/3.3 GHz turbo) to the i7-2640m (2.8 GHz/3.5 GHz turbo) I couldn't find my tube of Arctic Silver - so I used whatever I had that I could find - the "cheap white stuff" you're never supposed to use on anything you care about. I finally ordered new Arctic Silver and decided to do a temperature comparison before/after... with 4 Prime95 FFT/maximum heat threads running before AS5, TPFanControl instantly reported the highest figure it could on this system, which means temps exceeded this value (96°C (!!!)). With AS5 applied, temps are now 88°-89°C. Still a good 10° hotter than I'd like, but with at least a 7-8°C drop (probably closer to 10°-12° in reality) at least it's not as absurd as before. This is with the nVidia GPU shut down. Just goes to prove what we all already know - don't cheap out on thermal paste!

On the other hand... If I load up the NVS 4200 in Furmark with Prime95 still running, CPU temps again go above the 96°C max shown by TPFC and the GPU tops out at 82°. After terminating Furmark, it took about 60 seconds for the temps to start showing less than 96, eventually (after a several minutes) dropping back down under 90. My guess is CPU core temps during this got close to the maximum allowed temperature of 100. I can't imagine what temps would do with an extra 10W TDP thrown at the heatsink, even with good thermal paste. Thermal shutdowns at full load, my guess.

No Prime95 running, Furmark running, GPU climbs to 81° and a single full load thread on the CPU brings it to 88°.

This is all in a room with ambient temperatures of about 28°C (84°F).

brchan wrote:Doesn't the QC i7 processors lack intel graphics, so you must have the nvidia gpu for this to work?

Sandy Bridge on up has the IGP that the i3/i5 have, the only real reason why the T420 never shipped and officially supported the i7 Quad was because the cooler can't handle the heat even though the board is happy to run it. For those who use the 90w charger power isn't a problem at all with full turbo.

Thermals on the T420 are not very good with the i5 to begin with. If anyone does decide they want an i7 quad better turn off the turbo.

RealBlackStuff wrote:T420 only supports i7-2620M.
It's the T520 that supports i7-2630QM, i7-2720QM and i7-2820QM.

Wrong answer.

theterminator93 wrote: If you go forward though and it works out, I would be interested in seeing your full load temps though...

90 degrees with Prime 95 full load. In my everyday work it is around 55-65 degrees and goes up to 75 when loading Windows. No problems at all, it's quiet and cold.

So i7qm in T420 is plug and play stuff ?

And temps? Do you have nV mobo ?

Yes, with the latest BIOS available. The temps are in the previous post. I don't have nV mobo, don't even know what this is ........
My heatsink is FRU 04W0627. For 45W i7 CPU you need at least 90W power adapter.

He was asking if you have an Nvidia GPU or not.

I see.
No, i don't.

shavo wrote:Yes, with the latest BIOS available. The temps are in the previous post. I don't have nV mobo, don't even know what this is ........
My heatsink is FRU 04W0627. For 45W i7 CPU you need at least 90W power adapter.

what is the power consumption of the processor, the "CPU Package Power", when the temp is around 90c ?

Temetka wrote:He was asking if you have an Nvidia GPU or not.

Exactly Thank you.

75C when Win starts.... What about some really stress test like OCCT or Orthos for a while

Ok, what about T420 with intel iGPU (integrated only) and quad core CPU?

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

That what i want, but i want miss 200 bucks for hot and loud machine.

I'm running i7 2760qm on my T420,
running hot, will throttle after full load for ~15 mins.
But the performance is hotter!!!

Will the T420 also support the low-voltage i7's and i5's?

jaspen-meyer wrote:Will the T420 also support the low-voltage i7's and i5's?

standard voltage only and socketed for those T420. The other thinkpads that uses low TDP is soldered CPU.

Yes.

Also i7-2720QM works perfectly well.