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CPU change from Sandy to Ivy (Moded Bios needed)
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2025 8:15 am
by toshimoto
I have a t520 with cpu i5-2520M @ 2.50GHz and I want to upgrade it to i7-3630QM. My current bios is version 1.49 from Lenovo official web site and I am searching for a moded version of the same bios so it can recognize the new cpu when installed. Anyone can provide a working link with the moded 1.49 bios?
I will greatly appreciate the help. Thanks
Re: CPU change from Sandy to Ivy (Moded Bios needed)
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2025 1:03 pm
by TPFanatic
afaik this doesn’t exist.
people who successfully installed ivy CPU in ThinkPads like T520 managed it with Coreboot which is entirely third party and needs a hardware flasher.
A Sandy quad upgrade is still possible on official BIOS, but with T520 ud want to upgrade the heatsink to one intended for the DGPU models. See
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=137195 ud have to do this anyway since the original heatpipe for base-spec i5 2520m is deliberately only good for i5 2520m or similar low power CPUs.
just a word, w520 heatsink doesnt fit t520 motherboard, there is an engineered difference in the mounting that makes them incompatible
edit to add:
Figure 1: W520 heatsink, note the orientation of the mounting screws, squared
Figure 2: T520 dGPU heatsink, note the orientation of the mounting screws, very stout
Figure 3: T520 iGPU heatsink, with useless noodle pipe and no rear vent
That said, it appears aliexpress has the T520 dGPU fan. Compared to regular T520 fan, this fan has a larger heatpipe and a functioning rear vent. It will be a substantial and worthwhile upgrade over the factory noodle pipe setup which is really only meant to cool 35W dual core i5s and nothing more.
i cannot tell if the T510 fans are compatible either. they appear to also use noodle pipes. so i think the best bet is to buy the T520 dGPU fan on aliexpress.
Also note that the T530 dGPU fan is not compatible, as it adopts the structure of the W510/20/30 fan. So you definitely need at best the T520 dGPU fan.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802749117659.html
Re: CPU change from Sandy to Ivy (Moded Bios needed)
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2025 6:10 am
by toshimoto
Thanks for the replay TPFanatic. I will try on of the following cpu's: i7 2860QM, i7 2820QM, i7 2760QM. I will report the results after installation. Many thanks for tuning in