Thinkpads Forum

I just got a Thinkpad T530 that I'm setting up for someone and it came with a 90 watt power supply.

It is an I7 with Nvidia graphics and 16gigs of Ram...

I have one of these personally and it came with a 170 watt power supply and if I remember right mine won't function when I try to use a 70 watt

So, what's the difference here... shouldn't a 170 watt power supply have been sent with this one I just received?

Or, since it seems to work OK as is... is this not a big deal?

I'd like to know because I want to get an extra power supply for my friend who will be using this (I always get an extra on just to have on hand...)

From looking through some of the old PSREF documents, the T530 w/Nvidia should have shipped with a 90W supply. If in doubt, consult the large label on the bottom of the machine and see what it says after the 20V ---. There should be a current rating, in amps (A). Multiply that current number by 20 and that will tell you what the (minimum) wattage you should be using.

OK, thank you for the clarification!

AFAIK the 170W (with "regular" barrel-type DC-plug) was issued only for W700, and (with "keyed" barrel-type DC-plug) for W520 + W530 with extreme quad-core CPU.
The W510 and the dual-core W520/W530 models "only" need the 135W charger.
Newer/later models have flat/slim DC-plugs and soon there will be Type-C.

Also, a lot of newer machines don't have such a label anymore.

Yeah, I personally have 3 of these older Think Pads and one of them has the W530 with extreme quad-core CPU so it came with the 170 watt power cord.