T420 Upgrade Options for CPU/Memory

[Farro]

Hi all,
i have been searching on this and other forums.
is there some good upgrades recommended for T420 ?
is is possible to go to 32GB ?
i7-3632QM cpu possible ?

thanx all

[RealBlackStuff]

mSATA in WWAN slot as main OS drive, drive-bay used for storage disk 1, ultrabay used for storage disk 2.
Max 16GB RAM
AFAIK all Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs should work in a T420/T520 (non-s).
Worth it? Probably not.

[Farro]

Thank you RealBlackStuff..
I guess will keep looking for the W530 and just keep this with the others as backup.

[ZaZ]

I believe Intel specifically stated Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge was a no-go for mobile CPUs, so Ivy Bridge CPUs won't work in Sandy Bridge notebooks. Besides you'd need a BIOS update to make it happen, which I have not heard of anyone doing, including Lenovo, though I don't see everything.

[RealBlackStuff]

Apparently Ivy Bridge on a T420 is possible, but rather limited.
You need a Coreboot BIOS: https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/t420

[TonyJZX]

I heard some german fellows have a hacked bios that allows 3 series processors to go into the 2 series motherboards.

I dont believe the 3 was a huge update to 2 in any case.

[Farro]

Thank you all ..
so after evaluating many options , looks like i will be taking the coreboot plunge.

Arranging a Raspberry Pi , SOIC clip , jumper cables and CPU now .. will let you guys know how it goes .

thanx

[Farro]

So did some math
what do you guys think ? worth going through the upgrade on a T420 ? it already has an SSD installed
so i am skipping that .. but the rest comes to

CPU : i7-3720QM 152+28(shipping) = 180$
RAM : (16GB) 125+15(shipping) = 140$
SOIC CLIP = 4$
CABLES Jumper = 3$
RASPBERRY = 81$


408$ NZD or 297 FREEDOM DOLLARS (USD)



what sucks is that i will be still at 16GB and not 32 as i wanted .

looking for your thoughts o wise ones

[jaspen-meyer]

I have an i5-3210m in my T420 (running coreboot 4.5).
(large picture) http://www.jesseo.com/thinkpads/t420-i5-3210m.jpg

edit: now running a i7-3612QM.

You listed $81 for the raspberry. You can save some money by buying a used, older model B.