Thinkpads Forum

Hello,
I am new to Lenovo and want to buy the below laptop:
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-W ... =de_a_smtd

I have read online that the Graphic system is a hybrid system with both intel and NVIDIA installed. It seems that i cannot find a definite answer if the NVIDIA has a 2GB RAM dedicated and the intel has 2 GB shared or if both have shared memory.

Can anyone help ?
Thank you

According to the tabook, it has 2GB of memory.

Yes
but is it shared or dedicated?

The Quadro cards have 2 GiB dedicated memory.

That is what i expected.
However, Tigerdirect CSR replied to be that it is a shared Memory which i thought was wrong.
Thank you for the replies.

bkazour wrote:That is what i expected.
However, Tigerdirect CSR replied to be that it is a shared Memory which i thought was wrong.
Thank you for the replies.

The W520 has switchable graphics between the Nvidia Quadro 1000m and the Intel HD 3000. When using the Nvidia, it is using 2GB of dedicated video memory. When using the Intel graphics to save battery life, it uses 1.7GB of shared memory from the system's RAM.

If it is possible, take the Quadro 2000M model.

freicher wrote:If it is possible, take the Quadro 2000M model.

Obviously that is very nice but also very expensive. USD 260 extra through Lenovo and usually about the same extra elsewhere. I have seen them for USD 1300 - 1600 used on eBay but those usually come with 1 year warranty so extending the warranty then adds an additional couple of hundred USD as well.

Since the major reason for choosing a W520 over a T520 is probably for the better GPU it seems like many would want the best GPU available.

jdrou wrote:Since the major reason for choosing a W520 over a T520 is probably for the better GPU it seems like many would want the best GPU available.

Fair point! Some people like myself just buy it for fun.

I don't need the Quadro either probably.
The NVidia 4200 in the T models seems a bit useless though.
The Quadro 1000 seems like a nice compromise and also has 2gb of ram.