W520 second half mini-pcie slot

[Joshhh]

Under keyboard only one full and one half mini-pcie slots, specs on w520 page said 1 full, 2 half

Where is second one half slot located? 

[tanujhanda Retired Partner]

You may check under Palmrest place.

Best Regards,

Tanuj

[rationalstorm]

Are there really 3 internal pcie slots? From the hardware maintenance manual it doesn't look like there is a slot under the palm rest. It only mentions the two slots under the keyboard.

[rationalstorm]

Bump. It seems like an official Lenovo support specialst suggest on this thread that there are indeed 3 internal PCIe slots. I'm would love to have an additional slot since the two under the keyboard are already filled up with the WiFi card and an Intel SSD. After reading the Hardware Maintenance Manual I'm skeptical as to the existence of a third slot. Could anyone who has actually seen this slot please confirm?

[harrisb · Accepted solution]

There are only two mini-PCIe slots in the W520. There are other cards (MDC, BDC, I/O sub) installed, but these are not mini-PCIe form factors.

[rationalstorm]

Thanks for the (disappointing) answer harrisb. I checked and the OP ist right, the PDF specs from Lenovo say 1 full 2 half. I guess they mean that the W520 is able to take 1 full at most and 2 half at most by using the full slot for a half-sized card. 

[Joshhh]

Checked T510 under touchpad, has unsoldered minipcie slot and AIDA 64 said that one slot from 4 capable is empty, didnt disassembly w520 to check it, think it has this slot 

PCI Express Controller: PCI-E 2.0 x1

port #1 Empty PCI-E 2.0 x1

port #2 In Use @ x1 (Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n Wireless Network Adapter) PCI-E 2.0 x1

port #4 In Use @ x1 (Silicon Image SiI 3132 SATARaid Controller) PCI-E 2.0 x1

port #5 In Use @ x1 (Ricoh PCI-E Memory Stick Host Controller, Ricoh PCI-E SD Bus Host Ad