Thinkpads Forum

Looking at a used T520, 8 Gb RAM, Intel Core i5-2520M 2.5GHz, 320 SATA HD and the seller says it got a 90 day warranty, and Intel HD 3000 Graphics installed. Price is very good.
Is this graphics card any good and how does the rest sound?

The Intel HD 3000 is very good IMO, unless you want to play games newer than 5 years old.

It handles most games older than 5 years quite nicely, at medium/low settings.

The rest sounds good, you should consider replacing the HDD with an SSD later on though.

wmgeorge64 wrote: Price is very good.
Is this graphics card any good and how does the rest sound?

The answer to the second part of your question really depends on what the price is..."very good" means different things to different people.

ajkula66 wrote:

wmgeorge64 wrote: Price is very good.
Is this graphics card any good and how does the rest sound?

The answer to the second part of your question really depends on what the price is..."very good" means different things to different people.

$300 shipped to my door with a 90 day repair or replace warranty. Seller has 99.7% positive FB on eBay, payment via PayPal with that protection of course.

hhhd1 wrote:The Intel HD 3000 is very good IMO, unless you want to play games newer than 5 years old.

It handles most games older than 5 years quite nicely, at medium/low settings.

The rest sounds good, you should consider replacing the HDD with an SSD later on though.

Don't do games, I do some 3D modeling, very simple designs for my 3D printer. Right now I am using AutoCAD's 123D, not happy but it is better than the rest I have tried.

wmgeorge64 wrote:

hhhd1 wrote:The Intel HD 3000 is very good IMO, unless you want to play games newer than 5 years old.

It handles most games older than 5 years quite nicely, at medium/low settings.

The rest sounds good, you should consider replacing the HDD with an SSD later on though.

Don't do games, I do some 3D modeling, very simple designs for my 3D printer. Right now I am using AutoCAD's 123D, not happy but it is better than the rest I have tried.

I can't comment on AutoCad performance on Intel 3000, I think it could benefit from having a better graphics chip, like the nvidia one, if you can't find definitive info about this, then a T520 with nvidia would be a safer bet.

wmgeorge64 wrote: $300 shipped to my door with a 90 day repair or replace warranty. Seller has 99.7% positive FB on eBay, payment via PayPal with that protection of course.

One thing that I've forgotten to ask about is the screen resolution, which is an important part of the specs. Presuming that the machine in question sports a FHD (1920x1080) panel, $300 is OK but nothing to write home about. And a 90-day warranty from a third party is something that I really put zero value on.

wmgeorge64 wrote:
Don't do games, I do some 3D modeling, very simple designs for my 3D printer. Right now I am using AutoCAD's 123D, not happy but it is better than the rest I have tried.

I'd go with something that has a stronger graphics card if I wanted to play with CAD applications, but that's me.

@wmgeorge64: Not to rub it in but I recently got this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181782174158

"i7-2620M(2.70GHz), 8GB RAM [delivered with single 4GB module; now a total of 12GB ], 128GB Solid State Drive [missing; now with 500GB 7200RPM Seagate], 15.6in 1920x1080 LCD, 1GB NVIDIA N12P-NS1, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure Chip, Camera, 9c Li-Ion [74Wh 85 cycles first used 09/2013], Win7 Pro 64"

Seller is local and I've dealt with him before a few years ago. Initially listed at $180 with a Buy-it-Now, I submitted an offer at $135 and local pickup (avoiding the additional $11 shipping charge) which was accepted. The only things wrong with it is a broken left lid latch (these pieces are HARD to find by itself), a worn spot on the Trackpad (typical for these systems) and a couple of small dents in the left speaker grille. Threw in a 500GB drive (about $30), an 8GB module ($33) and loaded W7Pro64 ($0 recovery set from Lenovo) and everything seems to be working well (total spent: $198). I usually don't buy from eBay sellers that don't offer returns but I took a chance as he's close by and I have history with him. You can usually find better deals than what you spent but it does take some time and patience, as well as keeping a close eye on new listings at eBay.

Well I have been looking off and on for a week or so and this is best price I could find on what I have listed, a working unit with 8 Gb memory and with a 90 day warranty. EBay listing at $375 was next.

So if someone knows of a better deal, let me know. I do appreciate all the knowledge you have shared.

rkawakami wrote:@wmgeorge64: Not to rub it in but I recently got this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181782174158

"i7-2620M(2.70GHz), 8GB RAM [delivered with single 4GB module; now a total of 12GB ], 128GB Solid State Drive [missing; now with 500GB 7200RPM Seagate], 15.6in 1920x1080 LCD, 1GB NVIDIA N12P-NS1, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure Chip, Camera, 9c Li-Ion [74Wh 85 cycles first used 09/2013], Win7 Pro 64"

Seller is local and I've dealt with him before a few years ago. Initially listed at $180 with a Buy-it-Now, I submitted an offer at $135 and local pickup (avoiding the additional $11 shipping charge) which was accepted. The only things wrong with it is a broken left lid latch (these pieces are HARD to find by itself), a worn spot on the Trackpad (typical for these systems) and a couple of small dents in the left speaker grille. Threw in a 500GB drive (about $30), an 8GB module ($33) and loaded W7Pro64 ($0 recovery set from Lenovo) and everything seems to be working well (total spent: $198). I usually don't buy from eBay sellers that don't offer returns but I took a chance as he's close by and I have history with him. You can usually find better deals than what you spent but it does take some time and patience, as well as keeping a close eye on new listings at eBay.

After reading it over it looks like you got a heck of a deal. Better graphics, newer processor and more memory.

wmgeorge64 wrote:Well I have been looking off and on for a week or so and this is best price I could find on what I have listed, a working unit with 8 Gb memory and with a 90 day warranty. EBay listing at $375 was next.

So if someone knows of a better deal, let me know. I do appreciate all the knowledge you have shared.

Oh, sorry, I read your initial post as you having purchased the unit already. I see that you already have a WTB in the Marketplace forum so hang tight and somebody may have what you are looking for. On eBay you tend to pay a higher price for a "complete" system, be it for a regular auction or a Buy-it-Now. I usually find systems that are incomplete and then get them into running condition for a lower price. The problem with doing it that way is you are taking a chance at getting a lemon since most sellers will say the system is untested and as-is. Even for the sellers that offer a money-back guarantee on those systems, you'll still be out the return shipping cost and nothing to show for the transaction. The other thing I can suggest for your eBay purchases is to snipe or use a sniping service. "Sniping" is the method of submitting a bid in the last few seconds of the auction. Here's an old thread that has most of the information on sniping: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=38881

If you want more details PM me off list and I'll gladly describe the process.

The Thinkpad T420/520 series is a pretty good computer for most laptop activities, but AutoCAD might be pushing the 3000 graphics. Also, there's some question whether Windows 10 will fully support that chipset. You should be able to find a T530 with the (much) better graphics chipset for $300. Keep looking; Craigslist has been my go-to place for all of my computers for the last several years.

sktn77a wrote: Also, there's some question whether Windows 10 will fully support that chipset.

This is the first that I've heard of it. Where did you get that piece of info from?

sktn77a wrote:The Thinkpad T420/520 series is a pretty good computer for most laptop activities, but AutoCAD might be pushing the 3000 graphics. Also, there's some question whether Windows 10 will fully support that chipset.

No, Intel HD3000 is not supported in Windows 10 by Intel. The Lenovo Windows 10 support status for .20 models is rather joke unless you are ok with "upgrade" from proper Intel HD3000 driver (Windows 7 and 8.1) to Microsoft generic video driver (Windows 10).

I didn't expect that! I mean, HD3000 is pretty good for everyday tasks and there are a lot of HD3000 powered notebooks. W10 support for HD4000 but not for HD3000?! This.is.stupid.

It is too early to tell how good or bad MS generic drivers will do, but from history, they might be fine.

Windows 8.1 works fine on Intel 945GM even though it is supported up to Windows 7 by Intel.

For the HD3000, it will not support any new DirectX or OpenGL versions, so there is really nothing more to do for it, Hopefully Windows 8 driver (or derivative from it) should work without allot hassle.

hhhd1 wrote:It is too early to tell how good or bad MS generic drivers will do, but from history, they might be fine.

This statement doesn't mirror my experiences with Microsoft's generic drivers whatsoever. They've been nothing short of horrendous when it comes to unsupported GPUs.

It seems that they have yet to learn from the "mandatory hardware upgrades" that Vista was infamous for. Oh well...

ajkula66 wrote:It seems that they have yet to learn from the "mandatory hardware upgrades" that Vista was infamous for. Oh well...

I think the move from XP to Vista was much more rough then the later moves from Vista to 7 to 8 to 10.

Since with the XP-to-Vista case, there was new standard for signed drivers, and new features (like Aero) that required new hardware.

As far as I know, there isn't that much change from 8-to-10, that compares to XP-to-Vista.

hhhd1 wrote: I think the move from XP to Vista was much more rough then the later moves from Vista to 7 to 8 to 10.

In this particular respect, Vista = W7. I don't know anything about W8.x given that I'm not running it on any of my machines.

Since with the XP-to-Vista case, there was new standard for signed drivers, and new features (like Aero) that required new hardware.

Yes and no. Even with Aero obviously disabled, standard VGA graphics adapter just outright sucked on "unsupported" hardware, making even the basic browsing laggy.

As far as I know, there isn't that much change from 8-to-10, that compares to XP-to-Vista.

Well, if Intel sticks with non-supporting Sandy Bridge in W10 that's going to be a major smack in the face to a ton of people who are hanging onto their SB ThinkPads, Latitudes and EliteBooks...

@ajkula66

I hope they do support it, even though it is better for Intel to not support it to make people upgrade.
This could affect allot of people .. many people haven't upgraded after sandybridge because there wasn't huge performance improvements afterwords for desktops, and for laptops, OEMs started going with low power processors.


I did some googling what I found:

1. some intel representive at their forums saying that it will be supported after windows 10 release:
https://communities.intel.com/thread/61432

The table you reference does not include Windows 10 because it is not yet a released product. One Windows 10 launches the table will be updated to include it.

Drivers for Intel HD 3000 will be in-box divers that will be included in the Windows 10 distribution media.

2. multiple responses in this forum saying that drivers few versions older for windows 7/8 64 bit work fine in comparability mode.
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Fo ... w2014Setup

This is why I choose models with dedicated graphics when ever I can despite the problems that comes with the extra heat ect. Time will tell if the generic drivers are too bad but who knows maybe a custom driver will surface down the road.

For CAD and Gaming always go dedicated unless you know that the IGP will meet your needs. To boost the IGP if the bios is stock as in that it has never been updated you can run up to 1866 ddr3 ram for a noticeable boost even when running casual games. If the bios is newer than 1.28/29 or so you will be capped to 1333 (yuck) and the speed won't be as good.