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Update March 1, 2016
I'm so confident in these boards that I'm offering a FREE 1yr 50/50 warranty with every board!
I've been considering offering an optional extended warranty with these boards since the nVidia chips that came in the original laptops were all less reliable I though some members would feel more comfortable if they had some assurance the new board wouldn't fail, but after looking into the legalese requirements when selling warranties I've decided it was more trouble than it's worth, so I decided to address it with a policy change instead. Everything I list in this forum (unless stated otherwise) has a 30 day free replacement if there is something wrong with the part and my plans were to sell an affordable 1 year warranty (note that when IBM still sold these at over $1100 they only offered 90 day limited warranty), so what I decided was to give a FREE 1 year 50% warranty, so if your board dies from natural causes within 1 year of payment the replacement will be half price and even the shipping(domestic) will be 50% off, so basically I'll cover half the total cost to replace it. This is because I'm solidly convinced these boards are reliable and to date haven't seen one fail. This policy is only for this specific part and only for as long as I have sufficient amount available, so when supply runs low I will obviously need to end this policy.
Even better, I'm making this policy RETROACTIVE, so anyone who purchased one of these from me in the forum within the last year (after march 1, 2015) will have this policy apply to their board. What it will not cover is liquid spills, extreme power surges/lightening strikes, or boards that have been modified including pin mods, soldering wires or new circuits, physical abuse, damage from failed bios flashes or mods, or anything else that would void a typical factory warranty.
Happy New Year 2016
Sale extended until January 16th at which time shipping cost adjustments will be made to reflect usps rate hikes.
To celebrate the holidays I'll be offering these motherboards at upto half price. Buy one for $129 or two for $250 plus shipping.
These are brand new in original IBM boxes with the updated GPU chips!!!
Let this season be the perfect opportunity to upgrade your motherboard or set one of these aside to assure you'll always have a good reliable discrete graphics board at a great price.
These are the latest revision, FRU 44c3924 with nVidia nvs140m GPU chips most of which are dated in 2010 with board manufacturing dates in 2011-2012.
Make no mistake, these are BRAND NEW, not refurbished!
These are the latest revision of 42w7649, 43y9045 and 42w7873, and can directly replace 42w7650, 43y9046, 42w7874 and 44c3926. With the addition of a discrete fan they can also replace 42w7648 and 42w7872 as well as being retrofitted into T60/T60p 15" and 14.1" models.
Update for 2016
T61 Motherboards with nVidia Graphics: the (hi)story.
History of these motherboards:
First introduced in T61 Standard Screen (4:3) 14.1" models with nVidia Graphics under the following part numbers:
FRU: 42W7649 first revision
FRU: 43Y9045 mostly used as refurbished boards
FRU: 42W7873 new revision with Penryn CPU (T8100/T8300/T9300/T9500/X9000) support in January 2008
FRU: 44C3924 originally used for refurbished board but later also for new production boards
These can also be used as a drop-in replacement for the following boards, which are identical (albeit with slightly different GPU chips), but they all use the same hardware and drivers:
42W7650, 43Y9046, 42W7874, 44C3926
Also compatible with the following boards with the addition of a discrete heatsink/fan assembly
42W7648, 42W7872
nVidia defect discovered:
It wasn't long before Lenovo discovered a higher than anticipated rate of failure for the nVidia equipped T61 models. This was due to a poor choice of bonded materials within the GPU chip that expand at different rates when making the transition to operating temp and back to room temp which lead to microfractures within the chips. Lenovo fixed this problem in July 2008 by removing all boards from production and replacing them with new production boards, so any units produced in August 2008 aren't effected, but unfortunately they stopped regular production of this series at the end of august and only a few special order units were built in september and october, however the news was even worse for the much loved Standard screen models whose production was cancelled months earlier, so it was impossible to get one with the updated GPU chip, and even if your laptop failed under warranty, it likely was replaced with a used (refurbished) board by Lenovo warranty service.
IBM however took the problem more seriously and since they rely on their corporate customers for their livelihood, they supplied these boards to their corporate customers prophylactically to treat the problem. The existence of these boards however remained a secret until recently when the corporations began to retire their fleets of T61 laptops and the boards that remained unused also went into liquidation. We were fortunate to get all of the NEW boards that came into liquidation and are offering them at a very affordable price.
Photo of one of these boards with closeup of the new GPU chip used
NOS board (high res)
All relevant info about these boards is included in this quotebox, No need to read further however I have updated the rest of the original post to reflect other boards currently available so you're welcome to continue reading.
Update: As promised I have some exciting new boards to offer!Now also available 42w7872 Rare Penryn board with Intel graphics
1. We'll start off with the Holy Grail of Frankenpadding, a BRAND NEW (nos) discrete board (not a refurb) with the NEW updated nVidia GPU. This is a Genuine IBM part in original box!!! This will fit 14.1" (STANDARD screen) T61 or T61p.
***In stock 3-31-13*** (more available next week) Now available!!!
See photos
board in box with IBM manual 1 *expired link*
board in box with IBM manual 2 *expired link*
NOS board (high res) Alternate link
This is the 4:3 aspect T61 discrete board with Penryn support!!! compatible part numbers are 42w7873 (used 1/2008 till about 5/2008) and 44c3924 (used on newer boards). The nVidia chip on this board is dated from 2010, well beyond the 2008 era when the common failure problem was resolved.
I currently have only one Several available!!!
These are NOT the 3rd party refurb boards commonly sold online, this is the REAL DEAL, a genuine IBM nos (new old-stock) part in original box, never used.
Since Lenovo stopped the general production of the 4:3 units long before the nVidia problem was solved, the only way to get a reliable board was one of these, but the supply had been exhausted for years due to the warranty claims then followed by Lenovo's brief free replacement program that ended years ago leaving the only "official" source to be Lenovo refurbished boards that cost $600-700 and many of them didn't get an updated gpu.
I only have one now have several of these left that isn't reserved, the price is $299 Now Only $129 while they last, plus shipping.
2. Next, Also NOS in original box 42w7866 Intel graphics *Penryn* for 14.1" widescreen.
This is the perfect board for converting your dead nVidia unit to Intel graphics. Price $129 now $99 plus shipping
I also have these available as refurbished for less $, pulled from complete fully working corporate laptops, fully tested and firmware updated.
3. Next I also have a New replacement board that was installed by Lenovo on-site warranty, 42w7867/44c3933 nVidia graphics *Penryn*. The GPU on this one is dated 9-11 (2009, 11th week), so it's well past the 2008 date when the gpu issues were fixed. This is NOT a refurb board (no orange "serviceable used part") sticker, it was installed brand new. Even though there is no question this is a good generation of GPU, I nonetheless ran it through the same testing I do with all nVidia boards which includes seven day burn-in including several hours of intense GPU stress tests while temps are monitored. This one passed with flying colors. Price is $199 plus shipping sold
This board is sold, but I do have an original 08/08 board I can offer for the same price.
4. Next we have a genuine Lenovo refurb 4:3 board with Intel graphics, 42w7648, installed in a corporate laptop by Lenovo on-site warranty. This board will come with middleton bios installed to support penryn cpu chips. Price is $189 plus shipping. I also have these available used fully tested pulled from complete fully working corporate laptops. [sold] but I have a similar one available for $99
5. Next we have another genuine Lenovo refurb 15.4 with Intel graphics *Penryn* 42w7875, also installed by Lenovo on-site warranty in a corporate laptop. Price is $239 plus shipping. I normally can get these as as used pulls, but they are in huge demand so none available at the moment, but you can PM if interested. Sold I have a similar one available for $129, refurbished by lenovo and never used, and a new NOS board for $149
I do have some of these available in Merom or Penryn models that are fully tested with middleton bios installed, 42w7651 (merom) $99 or 42w7875 (penryn) $129
End Edit (3/10/13) Edit and prices updated Jan 2016
These boards are suitable for replacement in T61/T61p 14.1 Standard screen 4:3 (not widescreen) or in a T60 Frankenpad
I got a couple very nice boards here to offer, sourced from complete fully working corporate laptops, fully tested for a full 7 days including several hours of GPU specific stress tests to assure these have good strong graphics processors.
1. 42w7873 (44c3924) SOLD (more coming soon) *rare* penryn board used only in the last few months of production and only in the high-end systems so very difficult to source.
2. 42w7649 (43y9045) Genuine Lenovo refurbished board installed by lenovo onsite warranty in a corporate laptop, includes the original mac address stickers still attached and of course the orange "serviceable used part" sticker that all genuine Lenovo refurb parts carry to assure it's a genuine Lenovo refurbish part. Lenovo sells these for $600-700. Sold
I have some more of these coming in so I'm willing to deal. My asking price on these are $199 each plus shipping but I'm going to offer them @ $149 now obsolete due to the new NOS boards offered above.
Note: I've done extensive testing on each of these so I can assure you these are NOT failed boards that have been reflowed like are commonly traded online, I only source boards from complete working laptops, I never buy "mystery boards" that were likely removed from the laptop for a reason, or pulled from badly damaged/abused laptops. I know exactly where my boards have been and during testing if any show any abnormal temp spikes or issues during testing, they are rejected, but with that said, there is always potential for failure with nVidia graphics. I've done everything humanly possible to avoid this fate and in the case of the lenovo board I'm sure they have done similar testing too and if you want the powerful graphics that nVidia offers, then you have to assume some risk. For those who prefer the Intel graphic system I can offer the same deal on a 42w7648 board equally well tested with Intel graphics.
Please send me a PM if you have any questions as the PM will allert my by email so I can reply asap.
Domestic shipping is a flat $15 regardless of quantity ordered, International will vary.
Shipping rates haven't changed in years dispite several cost increases, but due to large increase jan 2016 new prices will go into effect after Jan 16th.
***PM with questions***
I would like one of these frankenpad boards please for my T60 shell i bought 
