Thinkpads Forum

I pulled my W7 SSD from my W520 and installed a new one. I loaded W8 and proceeded with the windows updates from Microsoft. I then upgraded to W10.

Everything works except the graphics are unacceptable. I have the NVIDIA 1000M gpu.

Anybody know if the W530 motherboard has the same form factor as the W520 (I.e., Can I swap the W520 MB with the W530 MB?)

Hot swappable? Very unlikely. With a little dremeling? Maybe.

The first problem is the port layout. The W520 uses a full size displayport and esata on the left side, while the W530 has mini displayport and extra usb in place of the esata. The ports (that changed) are bigger on the W520, but even if you could swap in a W530 motherboard, the frames are slightly different.

Also keep in mind that the keyboard layout in the bios would reflect the 6 row chiclet keyboard, and not the standard 7 row one. There is not solid BIOS mod available right now, especially since *30 BIOS models are locked. You can remap the keys that exist on both keyboards, but the 7th row would not function.

Ok, That's more trouble than worth. Thanks!

My w520 appears to be running ok with Win10. I know its not on the win10 compatibility list. The only problem I see is the graphics in some applications (eg., Chrome) aren't as crisp as I would like. Im using an external 27" monitor via the DisplayPort. There is an exclamation mark on the PCI serial port. I assume my smart card reader isn't currently working.


Anybody want me to look at anything for them?

W520's eSata is eSata / USB combo port, or EUHP (eSata USB Hybrid Port)

And, isn't the connection between display and mainbord not different with the *30 compared to *20?

Yes, the lcd cables should be the same. These changed from LVDS to eDP on T440 and newer models.