Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone. I have a T510 and I'm planning on upgrading it with a i7-920xm and a dedicated GPU, and the only thinkpad able to support that is the W510, so I thought of buying a W510 motherboard for it. Would it fit properly, would it need simple modifications or is it just impossible to do?

Also, I've seen some posts of doing the opposite thing, putting a T510 motherboard on a W510, that's why I think it could be done.

T510/W510 use the same HMM (manual), so you should be good.

segfaultdev wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:07 pm

and the only thinkpad able to support that is the W510

Outside the 15.6-inch class, the W701 and the W701ds are capable of supporting the Core i7-920XM/940XM as well.

segfaultdev wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 13, 2021 6:07 pm

Would it fit properly, would it need simple modifications or is it just impossible to do?

Yes and no.

You need to source some parts from the W510 while you're at that, such as the heatsink and its specific AC adapter (135 W). Be wary of some W510 motherboards with only 2 SO-DIMM slots too, as those are not capable of supporting a 1st generation quad-core Core i7 processor. As long as the motherboard has 4 SO-DIMM slots, this is nothing to worry about, but just be careful.

If going through the trouble of a board swap you may find a better upgrade in a W530 for the faster CPUs and GPUs. Note W530 with a 7 row requires hardware and firmware mods for optimal function.
As mentioned by others you would need the W-series power brick and heatsink.