This place has been amazing to find out about stuff, but there are still some specific stuffs I'm not sure about. I'll try to break down the whole ordeal to be as clear as possible as I'm looking for guidance through my project. I haven't been able to find a 15" T43p for sale at all, so I decided I would build one with some "for parts of repair" units.
I have strong essential tremors so I hope this goes super smooth and I don't have to do any soldering or heatsink manipulation.
What I have:
- T43 15" 2668Y12 ATI Radeon / 1400x1050 IPS FlexView
- The fan is loud
- It will shut down if I run websites that are too intensive (too many ads, videos), and it will freeze eventually if I run a game. But it's a bit weird because the game keeps running but the keyboard inputs won't update. So it keeps inputting the same thing and I can't use the keyboard.
- The screen is a bit brownish on the right edge, but aside from that it looks great.
- Very good cosmetic condition overall.
- The left hinge is broken and the cover won't latch
- The hard drive does sad noises and won't boot, but it boots to BIOS
- The fan runs fine, but I haven't had the chance to test the gpu. Hopefully the FireGL runs fine.
I think those two complete each other very well, so I will attempt to combine them and get the highest spec T43 machine without having to purchase it at MSRP for some reason. I will swap the motherboard from the T43p into the T43. That takes care of both the fan and GPU issues. I also hope to swap the CPU for the 780 (2,26Ghz). I heard those can just be hot-swapped with no issues. Can I leave the fan assembly onto the motherboard as I do the swap? Are there extra software steps I need to be aware of?
I plan to install a custom BIOS to get rid of those annoying error messages. I also will be running a dual boot of Linux Lite and XP.
I've got an extra keyboard so I'll refresh it up by swapping the keycaps around. The T43p keyboard is in better condition. I also hope to swap the clear plate that has all the green light icons and the "T43p" branding. That'll be a bit tedious but it sounds fun. I will also oil up the fan with some sewing machine oil.
I plan to maybe follow Guido's cooling system upgrade. Would removing the wifi card and using a wifi usb dongle be more efficient?
If everything goes well, I will be looking into the SSD upgrade. I can't do any soldering myself so I will be looking for someone to do it for me locally hopefully.
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Does that sound like a good plan? Hopefully I'm not completely off-trail. I'll update on here as I do it for prosperity.
Thanks!