Wow, this is a great thread! I'm so glad that there is a more "permanent" fix to this problem.
I too have recently begun to experience GPU problems with my T40 within the past couple of months. I noticed that you mentioned the R52 board will fit in the T4x chassis. I like that it's SXGA+ compatible because it will leave room for upgrade, but is it also XGA compatible? I currently have an XGA panel, but it would be nice to be able to have that option to upgrade in the future if I change motherboards beforehand.

This appears to be correct. R52's were offered with Intel GPU and SXGA+ LCDs. I am not 100% positive if all R52 Intel GPU motherboards are the same model (support SXGA+), but perhaps another forum member can add more information.

My T42 has the 64mb Radeon 9600 which sucks and has come detached again after briefly being resurrected by a heat gun reflow job. The screen is 14 inches, but runs at the high native resolution (1400 x 1050 or something). From reading this thread, it sounds like a r52 board with the Intel 915GM GPU will fix my problem. I think the FRU for this board is 39T5646. Does that sound right? Will the RAM and other bits from my T42 work alright with this board? Thanks!

AFAIK if you want to keep the RAM and processor you should go with a R51 mobo
R52 runs with DDR2, nor DDR1 like in the T42

i dont know if the r51 mobo supports the 1400x1050 screen (i think so) - here i let someone more experienced to post an opinion

Ah, so it sounds like I would need RAM as well. So would I also need a new processor? If so, what model?

Edit: I've done some looking, and it seems that my t42 has a Pentium M 735 processor and the r52 often comes with the Pentium M 740. The main difference between the two is the bus speed: 735 runs at 400, 740 runs at 533. Do you guys think the 735 would work in the R52 board?

no, i dont think so
the bus speed of T40/41/42/R50/51 is 400hmz - and R52/T43 is 533

It will definitely work! The 533MHz bus boards (T43 or R52) support and properly setup all the 400MHz CPU's as well. (It's the other way around that won't work well, 533MHz CPU's in T40/T41/T42/R50/R51 machines.)

You won't need a new CPU, just new memory. Luckily, the PC2-4200 or PC2-5300 memory (both will work) is about $10 per GB (less if you are skilled at eBaying).

And, the R51 mobo with Intel GPU will NOT support SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) LCD's - read the first post of this thread!

d'oh! I already ebayed a Pentium M 740 (533 bus). Oh well it WAS only $15. I also got 2 gigs of PC2-4200 for $25 on NewEgg. I am super excited for everything to arrive and to try the fix!

Here is another potential issue: My T42 has the "long" fan that extends to cool the Radeon. From looking at pictures, I am guessing that the long part of the fan will just hang out into space and not interfere with anything. I think I will just have to try it and see. Hopefully I won't have to pony up for a "short" fan as well...

Anyone want a Pentium M 735?

i knew it works, but what i've tried to say - that it's not worth it keeping a lower bus processor, and thus not using the full performance of the r52 board...

That is true, especially when Pentium M 740's are selling for $15!

So, what's the consensus: If I had the choice between an R51 board and another T40 board (knowing the issues with the T40's in general), would I get the R51?

for me there is no doubt - R51 mobo for sure

I second that. The R51 board in a T4x chassis is amazing.

Ok...that's what I thought, but I'm not the smartest all the time...

As I learned through experience and this thread, this solution will not work if you have a 14 inch sxga+ LCD. Apparently the intel video R52 boards are sxga+ compatible, but will not work with a 14 inch sxga+ screen.

Basically, if you have a T42 with a 14 inch sxga+ screen, you are SOL. The only options are a reflow or a new ATI GPU board, both of which will fail again eventually. I figured this info should be added to this thread so no one else makes the same mistake I did.

Well, I picked up an R51 board...I now have a working TR4051...way smooth, quick enough where my wife noticed...I'm much happier now, and it's much more reliable...

Doug, sorry to hear about this result, I updated the first post of this thread with the info from your research. I suppose one could use a mobo from a 15" R52 that was originally equipped with SXGA+ in a 15" T42/T43 base with an SXGA+ LCD and cable.



Nice work! Enjoy it.

What is the part number for this board?

Is the only advantage of this swap the intel GPU? would you get the same effect from a t4x intel GPU motherboard?

That is the goal of doing this. The only Intel T4x's are certain T43's.

aaa is correct. The goal is to use a mobo that won't fail because of its GPU solder connections breaking.

The Intel GPU mobos also probably run cooler and improve battery runtime slightly, too.

You can certainly use a T43 Intel GPU mobo in any T4x base, but then you'd have a T43. Nothing wrong with that.

Thanks aaa & underclocker. I think I will look for an intel board or a T61. The T4x are attractive because of the cheap parts machines on eBay. How do the T40s compare to the t60s in battery life?

I know that any T4x (ati or intel) is better batterywise compared to an ati T6x. I don't know how good the intel T6x's are.

T4x vs. T6x battery life is a little off topic, but I agree with aaa that T4x's use less power, however, if you compare a 14" 4:3 LCD T4x with a 14" 4:3 T6x, then the actual runtime will be nearly identical. This is because the capacity of the 6 cell battery or 9 cell battery increased as the model changed.

More specifically, a 6 cell T42 battery was rated at approx. 47.5Wh while a 6 cell T60 battery was rated at approx. 56Wh. So, even though the T60 uses more watts per hour to run, the both will last roughly 4 to 4.5 hours on a fresh battery.

Note: In Lenovo's T60 promotion materials, they state that the Intel GPU models last over one hour longer than the ATI GPU models with the 6 cell battery.

So, in my experience, there is a significant difference in runtime.

Firstly, many thanks to underclocker for a great thread. Hope is restored in the long-term use of my T41 !

I have a couple of questions if anyone can help:

1. Will this fix also solve the USB 2.0 speed problem ? My T41 will only run the ports at 1.1 speed. Did the R50/51 board suffer similar issues in this respect ?

2. Are any special tools required to complete the swap-over ?

Thank you for the nice comment.

Since both the ATI and Intel GPU R51 boards were nearly identical to the T4x ATI GPU boards, I would assume that it could be an issue. Perhaps others have more information. (I don't think the slow USB port issue is a prevelant a failure as the loose GPU issue. I've had dozens of T4x and R5x machines and only one T4x had a USB issue, while several T4x's had GPU failures.)

Regarding tools, thanks to IBM's thoughtful design, all you need is a good, small Phillips (size 00) screwdriver for all the screws you'll encounter and an X-Acto knife to remove the five palmrest screw covers.

Good luck.

P.S. I usually take a few pictures along the way to remember the routing of cables, etc.

I've noticed that R51s are prone to various power problems - I have a dead R51 motherboard that died out one morning when a USB printer was attached to it. Surfing the web and l'voila - several people have the same problem... There's definitely something wrong with USB power handling on these boards - I measured up some components - fuses were ok, but main power handling ic (near the southbridge - Maxim MAX1831) had some irregularities to it - voltages on some sensing pins were not according to the datasheet for MAX1831, whereas they were ok for my ex T41. Blown cap or inductor might have caused this, but I haven't gone any further with the "research".
Just thought you all might want to know that R51 board are no angels either...

probably linked to the known usb issue on T4x's...
either way you look at it, there isn't any thing perfect on this earth - only things "more or less perfect" depending on your needs...

ontopic: i try using the pcmcia usb 2.0 most of the time, in order to give the native usb ports a break, after i've found out the T4x usb issue

More info on compatibility. I've just test a R52 planar with FRU 39T0322 (System board assembly 915GM with IEEE1394) and it does not support screen resolutions above XGA

Edit: That planar did not work with an XSGA+ assembly (lid, cable LCD) from a T40P, but I can confirm it does with an SXGA+ assembly from a R51.

So, I can confirm the 915GM chipset does support SXGA+. My guess (untested) is that the 910GML chipset does not as this chipset was specified on other Intel equipped thinkpads in the R51/R52 series, many of which were fitted with XGA screens.

HTH

I did this on a T40. Used an R51 board.

However, there's something not right. The CPU (Centrino 1.5) is running at 600MHz. It is all plugged in so it can't be the speedstep technology? And fan is working, plenty of thermal paste used... And the memory seems to be running at 166MHz (PC2700 memory). (as per CPU-Z)

I'm using the exact same harddisk and software setup. I just installed the different intel chipset software and intel graphics software.

I didn't uninstall the old chipset software before installing the new. I thought it just wouldn't be used. My device manager is listing 3x82801 devices and 3x82852/82855 Intel devices.

Maybe I should try resetting my bios to default values? (Version 1.25). I only changed the time on this. Any help appreciated. Thanks.