CGTalk - Lenovo W700 - Just How Upgradable Is It?

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vcassel

01-16-2010, 03:41 PM

I'm eagerly waiting for my Lenovo W700 to arrive. I'm very happy with the purchase though I had to stick with the 2 core processor because of my budget. Here's some quick specs:

T9900 Core 2 Duo (3.06 GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
NVIDA Quadro 2700 (48-core CUDA parallel computing processor 512MB)
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM

So yeah, I can definetely work with this configuration since it's so much more powerful than I'm used to, though it's regretful that my school insists that I have a laptop because they're not upgradable. Or are they? I've recently found this Lenovo manual for the W700 with instructions on replacing the processor and video card - http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/43y9442_05.pdf (see page 120).

Has anyone here with a W700 tried this? I know this probably invalidates the warranty, but what are the risks? I can't find info on what motherboard the W700 uses, but it should at least accept whatever processors Lenovo configures with it like the Core 2 Quad Extreme (QX9300) right? But what about an I7? And I also wonder if I can upgrade to a Quadro 3700 if I ever want to.

olson

01-16-2010, 08:07 PM

vcassel

01-16-2010, 08:26 PM

Don't bother upgrading until your warranty is expired. What risks are there? Breaking it and making it useless. Only thing I'd ever upgrade in a laptop is the disk drive and memory. In theory you can replace the processor and graphics card in some notebooks but its not that simple. Often times the heatsink is practically glued to the processor and sometimes the graphics cards have specific modifications and firmware for that particular notebook. Also finding parts can be difficult and expensive for notebooks. I'd suggest using the notebook for what it is in class and then do your rendering and work at home on a desktop where you can get much more bang for your buck. Also, no the mobile Core i7 probably won't be a drop in upgrade (but not 100% sure). Cheers!

Thanks olson! I suspected as much about the graphics card. From what I understand from that manual though, the processor isn't glued in--there's just a screw lock. A QX9300 goes for $1000 so trying it may be too expensive of an experiment, but I may try this when the warranty is expired as you say because the processor should hopefully be much less expensive.

olson

01-16-2010, 10:04 PM

Thanks olson! I suspected as much about the graphics card. From what I understand from that manual though, the processor isn't glued in--there's just a screw lock. A QX9300 goes for $1000 so trying it may be too expensive of an experiment, but I may try this when the warranty is expired as you say because the processor should hopefully be much less expensive.

Or just build a desktop at home with a quad core processor and 8GB of memory for less than the cost of a processor upgrade alone on the notebook. Just cause the school asks you to have a laptop doesn't mean you have to do all of your work on it.

vcassel

01-16-2010, 10:10 PM

Or just build a desktop at home with a quad core processor and 8GB of memory for less than the cost of a processor upgrade alone on the notebook. Just cause the school asks you to have a laptop doesn't mean you have to do all of your work on it.

Er, ok olson. Already got that from your other post, but thank you very much all the same! Wasn't so much looking for what to buy advice this time; just trying to seek out anyone with experience on this particular issue.

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