Throttling on the W520 with Newest BIOS Update?

[j9kewa]

Hey everyone,

My decision has been a long one, and every time I build up the motivation to upgrade to a W520, I always get worried from the forums. My main concern it the throttling on battery and the stuck cpu clock. As of the latest BIOS update, is all of this resolved? I can handle a little throttling on battery power but 800 MHz is just ridiculous. Before I finally let go of my money, can I buy the W520 in confidence that it won't still have these problems? I will have to use this machine for at least 5 years, and if I have to start with these problems, I won't be a happy camper.

Thank You.

[ThorsHammer]

Test it like hell as soon as you get the machine.  You have 21 days from the date of shipment to do a return.  Supposedly there are restocking fees now but I believe those are for people that simply change their mind.  Finding a defect or feature that doesn't work is pretty good grounds to get a fee waived.

[j9kewa]

That seems to be the only way from what I have read.

It's frustrating to feel like I have to gamble on a $2000 computer when I could go get a $700 computer that would most likely be without such well known problems. I don't understand why they can't just fix it in a BIOS update.

Does the T520 Series throttle or get stuck?

[huberth]

It's frustrating to feel like I have to gamble on a $2000 computer when I could go get a $700 computer that would most likely be without such well known problems. I don't understand why they can't just fix it in a BIOS update.

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If you need all the power you can get in a relatively light weight laptop, get the W520 and put an SSD in it.

I am very happy with my system (despite some gripes... see below)   

[kmonchamp]

All of the throttling issues have been fixed (I noticed the issues before the updates). If your plan is in high performance mode then it throtles down to 1.5ghz (on battery), which on a hyper threaded quad core is still quite a bit of power. As always, throttle stop will allow you to set a multitude of settings and can save settings into four plans so if you feel that the throttling is not right and you need a bit more power, it will let you.

[ZipZap · Accepted solution]

Hi, J,

    I think you get a polarized view of the W520 on this board. It is a solid and reliable machine. The throttling problems have been resolved a few BIOS revisions ago.

    Yes, it is not perfect in every way. However, it is a godsend to this software developer. Yes, I use it to do actual work.

    Now that I have sang its praises, I will do a 180 by saying that I would wait for the "W530" at this late stage of the game. It is probably only a couple of months off, and may represent a significant improvement.

    BTW: If you are going to get one, you will get a better deal by going for one of the pre-builts from a reseller like Amazon or Buy.com. It is way cheaper to do this and then upgrade than to have Lenovo customize it for you.

For example, I went this route: 

W520 from Amazon

I've seen this model as low as $1360. You can throw in a load of RAM for not much money. 

I meant to mention, Buy.com often stocks this machine, and they have a 45 day return policy.

    There's my 2 cents.

                                                                               ZZ

[ColonelONeill]

It will only throttle if you're using the discrete GPU while on battery. The battery simply cannot output enough wattage.

[Chatbox]

yeah, I'm still waiting for Lenovo to be "Innovative" with the battery tech, so they can market their laptops as no performance lost even on the road.

[ColonelONeill]

There are some basic chemical principles that govern these limitations.

Sure, they can add more cells to load balance, but that decreases energy density with respect to the whole battery pack. Then people will complain that the battery life is short.

Then they'll make the battery bigger. People will then complain about having massive, heavy battery packs.

Or we can all go back to using NiCd battery packs with memory effect and always have to full charge/full discharge our laptops instead of grab-and-go.

[ThorsHammer]

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ZipZap wrote:

    Now that I have sang its praises, I will do a 180 by saying that I would wait for the "W530" at this late stage of the game. It is probably only a couple of months off, and may represent a significant improvement.

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I wouldn't be so sure.  It could be September or October before it starts shipping.