Thinkpads Forum

I am going to be retiring my trusty Frankenpad at some point in the next year or so, and the only replacement option that I have come up with is a W530. I pored over dozens of other machines, new and used, and in the end the W530 seemed to be the most powerful option with the fewest objectionable compromises. The only downsides to me are the size/weight and the non-IPS LCD, but I have used a W520 at work for a number of years (same LCD panel, B156HW01 v.4)) and it is a pretty darn good TN panel. While the viewing angles are not perfect, the brightness and color reproduction put my T6x Flexview to shame.

Anyway, I am always up for some mods and of course one area to look is the CPU. As I discovered with my Frankenpad, swapping in a Core 2 Extreme CPU with 10W higher power dissipation did lead to increased fan noise under load. Has anyone on here owned a W530 with a 3920XM or 3940XM? I see both listed as options in the FRU manual even though the 3x40 CPUs were never official options in the US. There only seems to be one heat sink / fan module type, so it doesn't seem like there was a beefier cooling option for W530's that shipped with the Extreme CPUs. I could always go for a 3820QM or 3840QM, but those are as expensive as the Extreme ones on eBay, probably since they are as fast as you can go without adding another 10W to the power dissipation! So, can anyone give me their thoughts or experiences with an "Extreme" W530?

One other question...32GB of RAM. I will probably just run 16GB (8GB x 2) since I do not use VMs very much, but if I was to want to go with 32GB, how tight is the stack between DIMMs? Most 16GB DIMMs have chips on both sides, but a Youtube video showing a 32GB upgrade on a W530 showed the person putting in 16GB modules with chips on only one side. I don't plan to use "official" Lenovo RAM since it is $$$$$, so I am curious to know if I need to be super careful about which RAM I get on N**egg.

Let's see...other than that, I haven't seen or thought of too many other mods for the W530. There is at least one IPS panel out there (LP156WF4-SLB1) that is of the same general size and with a LVDS connector, but the connector is in a different place, there seems to be a PCB sticking out the bottom a little and the metal frame is different and the color coverage is not as good as the stock W530 TN panel.

The W530 can take an IPS panel described towards the bottom of this thread: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=116092.

For ram, I haven't experienced any issues with 8GB ram modules not fitting (I have 8GB x 2 and 4GB x2 modules for 24GB). The W530 has 4 ram slots, with 2 under the keyboard, and another two accessible through a door at the bottom of the case. IIRC, I do not believe there are 16gb ram modules on the market that work for intel based laptops. There are 16gb ram modules, but they only work on AMD based systems. Hopefully someone can chime in.

I can't comment on heat from extreme cpus, since I only have a 3820qm in my W530. It does run very cool, however.

You can't put 16GB DIMMs in a W530, or any Intel-based laptop at this moment.

However, 4x8GB is perfectly doable and has been done by a number of people here.

The i7-3940xm I have running in a W530 produces normal fan noise in my opinion.

Like George said 4 x 8Gb memory has zero fitment issues.

Brad

brchan wrote:The W530 can take an IPS panel described towards the bottom of this thread: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=116092.

I did some checking in that thread and found photos of the W530 LCD's backside and the proposed IPS unit. They are very different in terms of mounting brackets, connector placement and PCBA size. It may well be swappable, but it would be a bit of work!



Everyone else...thank you for the input on the RAM and CPU. Good stuff to know!

One more question. I am going to buy a 3920XM and swap it in. Is a SR0T2 PGA chip the right one? It seems to be the only one for sale on eBay.

Folks,
Glad I found this thread.

I'm looking for a used W530 with a i7-3940xm (similar to the 3920xm you guys are using). My concern is heat and fan-noise;
I'm not concerned about battery-life given I use the plugged-in power brick 99% of the time.

So does the extra 10 TDP (55w vs. 45w) create more heat or does it just use more energy? And the fan?

And lastly, if it does run hotter and/or more fan noise, is it only under load or just "normal" usage?

Thanks so much!

Ragtopgeek wrote:Folks,
Glad I found this thread.

I'm looking for a used W530 with a i7-3940xm (similar to the 3920xm you guys are using). My concern is heat and fan-noise;
I'm not concerned about battery-life given I use the plugged-in power brick 99% of the time.

So does the extra 10 TDP (55w vs. 45w) create more heat or does it just use more energy? And the fan?

And lastly, if it does run hotter and/or more fan noise, is it only under load or just "normal" usage?

Thanks so much!

From looking at the repair manual, the heat sink is the same for both the Extreme and non-Extreme CPUs. So, yes when you are operating under heavy load you will have higher fan speeds since it is dissipating an additional 10W of power. I have my W530 running with the 3920XM and the fan is audible when I am crunching through large datasets and whatnot, but it remains quiet when watching videos and that sort of thing.