Thinkpad X220 (Tablet) SSD Upgrade

[X-Man]

I've just ordered one of the the above intending to modernise my old X61T prior to Windows 10, and was thinking to upgrade to an SSD.

I wonder if somebody can please help me with any obstacles in my way:

* Is there a BIOS whitelist, and if so any idea what models are acceptable
* Is there a modded BIOS that I might with advantage install
* Any other tips or problems to look out for?

All advice gratefully appreciated!

[RealBlackStuff]

AFAIK there's only a whitelist for wifi-cards.
You can put in any HD/SSD you like and/or can afford.
Good read: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=118276

[ZaZ]

Any other tips or problems to look out for?

I might suggest getting a mSATA SSD. It's a small SSD the plugs into a miniPCI slot on the X220. The benefit of going this direction is it allows you to keep the platter drive in the main bay for storage, where speed is not as critical. If you're planning on doing WWAN, nevermind, as they share the same slot and can't do both.

[X-Man]

Thanks chaps.

I had been thinking a little about a mSATA SSD option, but my unresearched concern is that there may be various recovery partitions and stuff on the drive that I don't want to fiddle too much with shrinking in the first instance.

Frankly one feature of this purchase is a general lack of research from my side. But I was concerned that with Win 10 release approaching fast I didn't want to tie a full version of Win 7 Ultimate currently on my working X61T to some obsolete hardware, and that produced something of a kneejerk purchase when I saw what appears to be a good deal.

BTW, anyone know offhand whether the X220t supports SATA III?

[X-Man]

I suppose what I could do though is just carry on with the existing or an upgraded bigger hard disk, do the Win 10 upgrade, and then you apparently afterwards get the option of a clean OS install that I could do on an mSATA SSD.

That could be a winner! Are there any mSATA SSD names/models I should look out for?

[ZaZ]

BTW, anyone know offhand whether the X220t supports SATA III?

The main bay is SATA III while the mSATA slot is SATA II. The Intel chipset at the time only supported two SATA III slots and they chose to use the other port elsewhere, but I wouldn't be overly concerned about it. It's the latency, how fast files are found and read, not the throughput that, makes SSDs fast. There's no latency difference between a SATA II and III drive. Only applications that put a heavy load on the controller, copy and pasting files would be an example of this, would you notice a difference. Typical notebook usage like Office, media and Internet, won't put a heavy load on the controller.

[Temetka]

^ What he said.

For programs and the OS a 250GB from Samsung or Crucial will serve you well. I know some people here don't care for Samsung's SSD's but to be quite honest I have been using a 250GB EVO in my T410 for over a year with ZERO issues. My friend is running a 128GB PRO in his tower and a 500GB EVO in his T410, also with zero issues.

My 2 cents. Otherwise enjoy the new X220, they are nice machines.

[X-Man]

Good stuff, thanks again guys. So I am going to go with a 256gb mSATA SSD + a conventional 2tb drive in the main bay. And I'll get another 256gb mSATA SSD for my T530 while I'm at it.

That leaves only one unresolved question at the moment: there seems to be some ambiguity about whether the X220 can address 16GB of ram -- does anybody have a definitive view on this?

[ZaZ]

I am going to go with a 256gb mSATA SSD + a conventional 2tb drive in the main bay

There are no 2TB drives for the X220 without modification. The X220 uses a 7mm drive as most modern ThinkPads do. The biggest drive available for the X220 is the 1TB WD. You can dremel off the tabs on the X220 to make it fit without the rails.

The X220 does indeed support 16GB of memory.

[X-Man]

There are no 2TB drives for the X220 without modification. The X220 uses a 7mm drive as most modern ThinkPads do. The biggest drive available for the X220 is the 1TB WD.

Thanks, ZaZ, rather useful info, that

In the meantime the second hand machine turned up earlier today minus the dock, which the seller forgot to put in the box.

It is running a windows update now, and first impression is it looks almost new but seems to be running a little hot. Nothing new in that of course as I know from my X61Ts, and I'm hoping temperatures start to cool once the update is done.

Overall I am delighted, and look forward to giving it quick a run out before I add all the bells and whistles.

[RealBlackStuff]

Given that the machine is already ~3 years old, I'd take it apart and clean up/refresh the thermal paste between CPU and cooler.

[axur-delmeria]

It is running a windows update now, and first impression is it looks almost new but seems to be running a little hot.

Two things:
1. The Core i5 and i7 processors have Turbo Boost, lets them run faster than their nominal clock speed as long as they don't get too hot.

The i5-2520M inside my non-Tablet X220 will hit 3.0GHz (from its normal 2.5GHz) with Turbo Boost enabled, but its Core temperature will reach 80 degrees Celsius on a hot day with ambient temps over 30c.
You can use software HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor to check your CPU temps.
You can also disable Turbo Boost from inside Lenovo's Power Manager.

2. The X220 was released in 2011. By now, it's very likely that the heatsink's cooling fins are clogged with dust, and the thermal paste between the processor and heatsink may have dried up. When I acquired my X220 late last year, cleaning the heatsink and replacing the thermal paste were the first things I did.
Check your CPU's idle temps. Mine idles between 47c and 51c, so if it's well above that-- say, anything over 56c-- then it's likely that the heatsink needs cleaning and some new paste.

[ZaZ]

Keeping in mind the i7 X220 runs warmer and has a more noisy fan.

[humdinger70]

Keeping in mind the i7 X220 runs warmer and has a more noisy fan.

I don't know. I replaced the spinning metal disk with an SSD. I barely hear it running.

[humdinger70]

Good stuff, thanks again guys. So I am going to go with a 256gb mSATA SSD + a conventional 2tb drive in the main bay. And I'll get another 256gb mSATA SSD for my T530 while I'm at it.

That leaves only one unresolved question at the moment: there seems to be some ambiguity about whether the X220 can address 16GB of ram -- does anybody have a definitive view on this?

About RAM. Yes, it will work with 16GB RAM. Although the X220 specs say 8GB max, articles around say it can support 16GB.

I got 16GB from Crucial via Amazon (2x8GB SODIMM DDR3 1333Mhz) for about $136. Installed it (there's a YouTube video on how to do this) and the BIOS recognizes it, Ubuntu Linux recognizes it.

[X-Man]

I finally got around to making a little progress with this project.

On reflection I use my tablet mainly for relatively lightweight stuff on specific projects, small presentations, maybe an undemanding VM or 2, that sort of thing. And since my full data inventory weighs in at close to 2Tb I couldn't store it on the X220 even if I wanted to with the current 1TB hard disk limitation.

So I have just ordered a 512gb conventional SSD, partly to use the main SATA III interface, but also as a reflection of the fact that I won't be packing my full data inventory.

In a similar vein I remembered I had a matched pair of 4gb sodimms that shipped with my T530 and I have installed those. But I was also pleasantly surprised to see my X220 shipped with a single 4gb module, so I can hopefully upgrade the second machine I intend to buy for free.

Finally I took a look under the keyboard. The machine was indicated as being refurbished and it looked pristine inside with no sign of dust on the cooler and everything neatly in place. I appreciate the advice to reinstall the cooling, but temperatures have fallen significantly after I installed the 220 odd Windows 7 updates, and I've installed Core Temp to keep an eye on things.

Many thanks for all the advice, and I'll certainly be installing a mSATA SSD on my T530 in a few weeks.

Finally one last question: does anybody know whether the systray Windows 10 upgrade notification is supposed to appear under Windows 7?

[X-Man]

Figured out the missing Win 10 upgrade notification, which was due to an optional update I hadn't installed.

Still waiting for my SSD but so far everything checks out and I am delighted. Next step is to try to set up an android VM to see if it recognises the multitouch display.

[X-Man]

Just to round off, I couldn't find a Lollipop iso that looked 100% legit, but I now have a Android 4.4.2 Kitkat VM running in fullscreen under Virtualbox, with full multitouch control.

I'm pinching myself and half expecting the machine to self-destruct at any moment, because as things stand it seems far too good to be true. Highly recommended!