SSD on ThinkPad T30

[Manuel]

Hi,

my dad uses an old ThinkPad T30 with the following components:

CPU Pentium 4M 2 GHz
RAM 1 GB
HD 40 GB 5400 RPM
Graphic card ATI Mobility Radeon 7500
OS Windows XP Pro SP3

The computer works fine and it's perfect for his needs, but I would like to replace the current hard disk with an SSD (60 or 120 GB) and I have some questions for you:

1. Can you suggest me an SSD already tested with this computer?
2. Is it necessary to update the BIOS to use an SSD?
3. Will the SSD be detected in its full capacity (60 or 120 GB)?
4. Is Windows XP Pro SP3 able to manage properly the SSD?
5. I have the recovery disks. Will I be able to format the SSD and install OS and drivers without problems?

Thanks
Manuel

[dr_st]

1) This computer takes PATA IDE drives. There are very few such drives available, and those that are are deemed overpriced and not good at all (i.e., Kingspec). The other option is an enclosure that includes a SATA SSD and a SATA-to-PATA bridge. This is deemed the preferred option by most, but I have no first hand experience with anything like that.

2) No.

3) Yes.

4) Not really. XP is not aware of the concept of SSD, so will treat it just like any hard drive. In particular the TRIM command which is used to periodically wipe unused blocks on the drive, which increases performance, is not supported. So you will have to rely on a software utility to do so manually, or use a drive with some built-in garbage collection capabilities in the firmware that make TRIM unnecessary.

5) Yes, but it will likely not align the partition properly, and so the SSD performance will be lackluster. It is possible to manually align and format the partition and install XP from its installation media, without formatting, but I am not aware of any way to do so with the recovery disks.

The computer being old as it is - not sure it is a worthwhile adventure. Perhaps a simple 7200RPM hard drive will be sufficient.

[brchan]

For (1), you could also use use a mSata in a mSata-to-PATA bridge. If I am not mistaken, using a SATA-to-PATA bridge would require more room since you are using a full size sata drive with extensions at the front.

[ajkula66]

For (1), you could also use use a mSata in a mSata-to-PATA bridge. If I am not mistaken, using a SATA-to-PATA bridge would require more room since you are using a full size sata drive with extensions at the front.

The problem here is that one gets atrocious speeds since this generation of ThinkPads can't properly read SATA drives...see here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=115478

Honestly, the best option for such a machine is to get a 7200rpm HDD and max out the RAM at 2GB, then call it a day.

[jronald]

I have owned several T30 with the suggested 7200 rpm HDD, 2 gig cpu and 2 gig memory.
For a machine of this vintage is was surprisingly fast.
Take the advise and dont over think this. 99% of what can be gained will be with this set up.

Ron

[Manuel]

Thanks for your suggestions! As for the RAM advice, are you sure that this computer supports 2 GB? The official specs say that the max RAM is 1 GB...

[ajkula66]

As for the RAM advice, are you sure that this computer supports 2 GB? The official specs say that the max RAM is 1 GB...

The official specs were published when the largest DIMM was 512MB, and never updated. With both slots working, T30 will take 2x1GB of PC 2100 (DDR266) or PC 2700 (DDR333) laptop RAM.