Supported processors in the ThinkStation C20 and C20x

[#1]

Question

Which processors are supported in the ThinkStation C20 and C20x?

Answer

As of the writing of this article, the following Intel® Xeon® processors are supported in C20x systems:

L5506 L5508 L5518 L5520 L5530	E5502 E5503 E5504 E5506 E5507 E5520 E5530 E5540	X5550 X5560 X5570	W5580* W5590*
L5609 L5618 L5630 L5638 L5640	E5603 E5606 E5607 E5620 E5630 E5640 E5645 E5649	X5647* X5650 X5660 X5667 X5670 X5672 X5675 X5677* X5680* X5687* X5690*

*130W CPUs are not compatible with C20 systems, only C20x, due to the lack of CPU VRMs on the planar necessary to handle the higher power requirements.   C20x systems support 130W CPUs listed above without issue.

Before performing any upgrades, please be sure to download the latest BIOS revision for the C20 and C20x available here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-72168

Note: If adding a second processor to an existing one, stepping revisions of each processor must match for compatibility.  Subsequently, two procesors added simultaneously must also match stepping revisions.

For the most current list of supported processors as well as installation instructions, please refer to the C20/C20x Hardware Maintenance Manual available here: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-75550