Thinkpads Forum

I bought it for FrankenPad conversion but decided to stick with original T60p system board until I find a T61p 14.1 board for reasonable price so this machine has to go.

Original description:

ThinkPad T61 (8892-78G)
T7500(2.2GHz) -> T8100 Penryn (much cooler and has the same performance, has Dual-IDA enabled)
2GB RAM
160GB 5400rpm HD
14.1in 1400x1050 LCD (excellent condition, nice and bright)
Intel X3100 VGA (no nVidia problems)
DVD Multiburner
Intel 802.11agn wireless (Intel 4965AGN now but whitelists are cleared and one could put any wireless card he/she likes in it)
Bluetooth, Modem
1Gb Ethernet
UltraNav
Secure chip,
Fingerprint reader
6c Li-Ion (Panasonic battery, holds a good charge ~3 hours)
WinVista Business 32
90W AC adapter

Machine looks like new, there are no scratches on the lid, palmrest and keyboard are like new, e.g. no shine at all.

I am asking $340+shipping (~$40 to US/Canada, $25 to Europe) for this nice machine.

_________________

Check your private email

Paweł

Wouldn’t be the first time they’re wrong but Lenovo says an 8892-78G has the nvidia gpu.
Intel models seem limited to these numbers: 8895, 8896, 8897, 8898, 8899, 8900, 8938.
Any thoughts? MB been replaced?

ThinkPad T61 (8892-78G)
T7500(2.2GHz), 2GB RAM, 160GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

91011 wrote:Wouldn’t be the first time they’re wrong but Lenovo says an 8892-78G has the nvidia gpu.
Intel models seem limited to these numbers: 8895, 8896, 8897, 8898, 8899, 8900, 8938.
Any thoughts? MB been replaced?

Most likely. From what I know all motherboards with nVidia GPUs fail prematurely.

mikemex wrote:
Most likely. From what I know all motherboards with nVidia GPUs fail prematurely.

This isn't supported by any facts. I guess if you said all nVidia boards fail, that would be true, but so do all Intel, ATI and all other boards... they all will fail in their own time. The nVidia boards are going on 6years old now and I believe over 99% havnt suffered gpu failure. That is still a low success rate, 99.99 would be good, but it's still a far stretch from saying all will fail. This however is a complicated subject because it's a trivial matter to temporarily get a failed board to boot, and there is no shortage of people willing to sell failed gpu chips/boards/laptops. If you get one that never failed, it may never fail, and if you get a laptop built in 08/08, it probably won't ever fail from gpu problems... but unfortunately there are no 4:3 units built then, so you need to accept some risk if you want the power of nVidia graphics. It's a reasonable trade-off, and I agree with the OP, I held out for a nVidia board for my frankNpad build. Just didn't seem right to dump buckets of money into a system with netbook class graphics. The intel is a great gpu though, stable, reliable, and a great choice for most average computers, but if you want the best, then you need to accept the risk, just check into the history of the board you're getting, an nVidia board from a trusted source, or well documented is a viable option in my opinion.

ps. Good luck with the sale

Hi Raceboy!

Are you there? I sent you an email about my payment for that laptop yesterday and havent got any feedback yet. Please contact me via email ASAP.

Pawelek wrote:Check your private email

Paweł

His profile says he was last in the forum on monday, your message was sent on tuesday. This time of year people tend to go on vacations, so be patient, I'm sure you'll hear from him soon.

TuuS wrote:This isn't supported by any facts. I guess if you said all nVidia boards fail, that would be true, but so do all Intel, ATI and all other boards... they all will fail in their own time. The nVidia boards are going on 6years old now and I believe over 99% havnt suffered gpu failure. That is still a low success rate, 99.99 would be good, but it's still a far stretch from saying all will fail.

Are those claims "facts"? See, it's not speculation, it's a proven fact that this chips were defective and that they never really got fixed for good. The "glue" used to support the die wasn't appropiate for the application and above a certain temperature it allows the die to move, which stresses the solder balls. They never fixed it because there was no appropiate "glue" at the time of production. That it keeps working doesn't mean that it's not affected, just that the operating conditions haven't put enough stress on the chip to fail.

At the moment the laptop sale is pending and when payment arrives, it goes to Pawelek.

I should have been clear in the original post, the main board has been swapped with Intel board, hence the difference.

mikemex wrote:
Are those claims "facts"? See, it's not speculation, it's a proven fact that this chips were defective and that they never really got fixed for good. The "glue" used to support the die wasn't appropiate for the application and above a certain temperature it allows the die to move, which stresses the solder balls. They never fixed it because there was no appropiate "glue" at the time of production. That it keeps working doesn't mean that it's not affected, just that the operating conditions haven't put enough stress on the chip to fail.

The chips aren't considered defective by nVidia, Lenovo, or any other OEM that I'm aware of. They definitely do have a higher then expected failure rate, which has been acknowledged.

This problem has nothing to do with "glue", nor the solder "balls", the problem is with the internal chips bump material. It also has very little to do with high temps, the die doesn't "move" and the solder balls aren't stressed.

They did fix the problem and the new chip was used exclusively in T61 models build in august 2008 and newer (which unfortunately rules out any 4:3 units). You would be hard pressed to find an 08/08 unit with a failed gpu chip anywhere, and if you did happen to find one, you'd probably find the board was replaced with an older one, or it wasn't the actual gpu that failed. I've yet to see any credible evidence that one has ever failed, yet the older chips seem to fail at a steady pace that doesn't indicate an extraordinary rate

If this problem was related to the solder balls, it would be an easy fix, but it's not. The problem is internal to the chip.

Laptop is sold to Pawelek. Thanks!