Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,
New T520 owner here.
I probably should have asked here on the forum first, but I got "buck fever" and bought some parts to hopefully improve it.

The T520 I have is a type 4239-L65. (intel i5-2520M cpu, HD3000 graphics, 1366x768 LCD).
It is mint, not a mark, scratch or shine anywhere. Came with a genuine 9 cell 7 cycle battery with 84wh capacity.
I've already increased the ram to 8gb and added an intel 310 msata 80gb drive, all from the parts bin.
Also added a 1 Tb 2.5" HDD I had laying around in the regular drive bay.
Nice, fast and quiet with great battery life. I like it except for the sucky screen.

I was fortunate to locate a genuine Lenovo B156HW01 V.4 FHD screen for a decent price, it will arrive tomorrow.
I understand this is a drop in part, so I'm expecting no problems (fingers crossed).

Now is where the Bipolar kicks in...

After studying the specs, reading the HWM and perusing this forum here's what else I bought...
W520 mobo 04W2028 (System board assembly for W520, Nvidia Quadro 1000 M, AMT, TPM, no RAID adapter) with 4 RAM slots.
W520 HSF 04W1576 (Thermal module for W520, 45W) big, lotsa heat pipes!
Genuine Lenovo 135W power brick.
All this stuff will arrive within the next week.

I think this is all the bits I need to upgrade the mobo, did I miss anything?
Any mods, hacks or tricks needed to make it happen?

My main question is, can I use my current i5-2520M cpu on the W520 mobo?
Does the i5-2520M have the capability to access all 4 ram sticks?
Would it be worth the money and trouble to upgrade the cpu in the future, and if so which cpu would be best?


If this all goes well, I should have a nice T(W)520 hybrid for very little $$$.

bobcardone wrote: 1. My main question is, can I use my current i5-2520M cpu on the W520 mobo?
2. Does the i5-2520M have the capability to access all 4 ram sticks?
3. Would it be worth the money and trouble to upgrade the cpu in the future, and if so which cpu would be best?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes, quadcores like 2860qm, 2760qm, 2820qm, 2720qm, .. in that order. there maybe other slightly less powerful quadcores and cheaper, see the full list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bri ... e_platform
look for ones ending in "QM"

Thanks for the info!

can I still use the i5 with only 2 slots populated on the W520 mobo?
i5 max memory address is 16gb.
I already have 2 each 4gb sticks.
If I filled the extra slots with 2 more 4gb sticks, it wouldn't work?

I got and installed the new FHD screen today.
No problems installing, it is fantastic!
Highly recommended if you can get one at a decent price.

the i5 should work on the w520 motherboard, but only 2 ram slots will work.

to have 16gb of ram work with the i5, you must have 2x8gb of ram.

Here's how to "man" the RAM-slots: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P ... a-p/249257
W510 and W520 have the same logic.