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Advice for a T43p 15" build

T40/T41/T42/T43 Series
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Placeholder
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Advice for a T43p 15" build

#1 Post by Placeholder » Sat Sep 21, 2024 11:19 pm

Hey champs

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.
- T43p 14.1" 2668G3U ATI FireGL
  • 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.
The plan:
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.

__________

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!
T43(p) - T6xF

TPFanatic
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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#2 Post by TPFanatic » Sun Sep 22, 2024 8:11 am

I empathize with your passion for the T43 platform. I relate to maxxing out my much-loved ThinkPad T500. I hope this response helps you materialize your vision of the greatest T43p you can have.
[..] 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.
This sounds like Southbridge failure on your T43 2668Y12 unit. Sadly very common failure on T43 and the entire T40-series at large. Altho on T43 the failure is more caused by excessive heat from the WLAN card in sandwich-style proximity of the already excessively hot Southbridge. On older T40-T42 the failure is caused by bad quality lead-free solder. Hopefully your T43p 2668G3U board is in better operating condition.

Ideally you can test T43p 2668G3U to see if it has a better Southbridge-condition anyway, before involving yourself in the labor.

It sounds like both machines are overdue for a thermal paste refresh anyway, this is likely why your T43 2668Y12 shuts down in compute-intensive tasks, from the CPU tripping the thermal safety switch. The GPU does not have this safety switch, so you're not hitting the switch when gaming, although sometimes sufficient GPU heat can trigger the CPU's switch.

My recommendations:

PLAN A:

Assume T43p's Southbridge is functional, you should test it:

1. Repaste the T43p, remove the WLAN card to preserve the Southbridge, and test its performance under gaming.
-- If you lose keyboard input or encounter other Southbridge-failures or other failures, abandon all hope and cut your losses. Baby your existing T43 and enjoy it with its limitations.

-- Else, since everything is working fine:

2. Follow the HMM-Manual for T43/p to disassemble both machines to their planars/systemboards, then rebuild one machine.
<-- https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_pdf/39t2393.pdf -->

3. Don't bother with the clearplate swap, it's like glued on with single-use adhesive and it sounds like a PITA.

4. Enjoy!


PLAN B:

Don't bother testing anything and wing it. It'll be fun.
Stable of Unicorns: P71 4K 7700HQ 20H2 ~ T430 QHD 3632QM Server 2008 R2 ~ X330 WQXGA 3615QE 22H2 ~ R500 WUXGA T9400 7 Ult ~ T500 WSXGA+ P9700 7 Ult ~ R61i UXGA T9500 22H2 ~ X61s SXGA+ T8100 7 Ult ~ T60 UXGA T7400 7 Ult ~ A31p UXGA 2.0 SL6V9 XP Pro
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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#3 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sun Sep 22, 2024 10:15 am

Using a needle, carefully get behind the clearplate at the T43 end, lift it up and carefully pull it off to the left, trying not to bend the plate too much.
It will fit again on the other LCD-front.

Don't use AS5 paste, try e.g. Noctua NT-H2 or Arctic Cooling MX6, or go all out with PMT7950 Thermal Pads.

There are three keyboard manufacturers, NMB, Alps and Chicony.
They all have their own keys that are NOT interchangeable with other brands.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#4 Post by Gonzaleitor » Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:34 pm

I use the disabled Wifi card with a thermal pad as a heatsink for the southbridge, haven't got any problems to this day. Does the kapton tape over the PCMCIA cage really improve the airflow? It's an interesting mod. The northbridge gets as hot as the southbridge?
Last edited by Gonzaleitor on Sun Sep 22, 2024 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#5 Post by Placeholder » Sun Sep 22, 2024 9:40 pm

TPFanatic wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2024 8:11 am
Ideally you can test T43p 2668G3U to see if it has a better Southbridge-condition anyway, before involving yourself in the labor.

It sounds like both machines are overdue for a thermal paste refresh anyway, this is likely why your T43 2668Y12 shuts down in compute-intensive tasks, from the CPU tripping the thermal safety switch.
Could I just swap in my hard drive from the T43 into the T43p to boot it? The alternative I see is to get a compatible hdd and get a booting cd for the T43 on eBay.

I actually read the manual and attempted a disassembly/reassembly of the T43p yesterday, but I got stuck on the fan assembly bit. It's caked up onto the gpu and won't move. I'll check a few videos and see what's the best way to go about it. I read that you can boot up your pc, let the gpu heat up a bit and it'll help unstick the copper plate thing?

But dude it's so much fun, it feels like playing with a puzzle box, everything fits so well together. I'll definitely enjoy this, so I might end up just winging it. Worst case I rebuild the T43 and paste it well so it runs as good as it can.

RealBlackStuff wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2024 10:15 am
Using a needle, carefully get behind the clearplate at the T43 end, lift it up and carefully pull it off to the left, trying not to bend the plate too much.
It will fit again on the other LCD-front.

Don't use AS5 paste, try e.g. Noctua NT-H2 or Arctic Cooling MX6, or go all out with PMT7950 Thermal Pads.
Is it glued on top? From checking through the manual, it looked like I had to get it off from the inside. If it's just slapped on top that makes my life way easier lol.

Huge thanks for the paste recommendations, that's one thing I would've been anxious about.


Thanks for all the help :) I actually got my first pc in 2015 as an upgrade to my Acer Aspire laptop from 2008. The lego kind of pc that installs everything by itself. There's a lot of basic computer stuff that I don't know so I appreciate all the tips.
T43(p) - T6xF

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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sun Sep 22, 2024 11:42 pm

Is it glued on top?
Yup.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
But I actually prefer Murphy's from Cork!

Placeholder
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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#7 Post by Placeholder » Mon Oct 28, 2024 8:07 pm

Update to the project; I completed the motherboard swap and the FireGL runs smooth. Also no more overheating issues when browsing basic websites, and that replacement fan is oiled up. I am terribly happy.

With that said, it didn't go without a hitch. The thermal pad was caked onto the GPU and it was very hard to remove. I managed to pop it off using a hairdrier and some nylon thread, kind of sawing my way under there. Then I soaked the heatsink part into 99% rubbing alcohol and scraped the concrete off with a credit card. I'm not sure I did a great job because the copper surface is a bit scratched, but that's what I managed to do. Then the replacement thermal pad for the GPU nearly took a month to arrive somehow, and the bracket that's underneath the board that allows you to screws the heatsink in place fell off during the teardown, and I only realized after applying all the thermal stuff. The scramble that followed caused me to forget to place two 5mm screws somewhere. I plan to tear it all down again and put it back up properly - the original unit actually was missing some screws for the armrest, but with the 14" T43p in pieces I've got some spare screws in there.

Sooo; I got some Arctic MX-4 thermal paste for the heatsink / CPU contact, and some Arctic TP-3 0.5mm thick thermal pads for the heatsink / GPU contact. I will upgrade to the Honeywell PMT7980 eventually but this will do for now. I'll take care of all the hardware/thermal stuff before starting to play with software, better preserve that south bridge as much as I can.

Priorities in order:
- Upgrade the thermal stuff to the max.
- Find a 780 2,26GHz CPU (I'm currently running a 770 2,13GHz CPU)
- Get that HDD with only XP on it - I traded a 380XD/380Z/390E/i-Series bundle I found locally for a T6x frankenpad that's gonna take care of the Linux stuff.
- Custom BIOS upgrade
- Cosmetic: Keyboard cleanup and T43p plate swap.
- Some cool games and programs.
- SSD upgrade

It feels like the biggest part of the project is done so I'm happy. Thanks gang.
Gonzaleitor wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:34 pm
I use the disabled Wifi card with a thermal pad as a heatsink for the southbridge, haven't got any problems to this day. Does the kapton tape over the PCMCIA cage really improve the airflow? It's an interesting mod. The northbridge gets as hot as the southbridge?
I missed your comment. I'm completely in the dark when it comes to thermal stuff so I don't really know lol. Your mod sounds interesting though, do you have any pictures you could share of your mod? I've asked some people around and they say that removing the Wifi card is enough to prevent southbridge issues, but might as well improve the whole thing just in case. If it starts having issues there's no going back.
T43(p) - T6xF

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Re: Advice for a T43p 15" build

#8 Post by Gonzaleitor » Tue Oct 29, 2024 4:38 pm

Placeholder wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2024 8:07 pm
Gonzaleitor wrote:
Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:34 pm
I use the disabled Wifi card with a thermal pad as a heatsink for the southbridge, haven't got any problems to this day. Does the kapton tape over the PCMCIA cage really improve the airflow? It's an interesting mod. The northbridge gets as hot as the southbridge?
I missed your comment. I'm completely in the dark when it comes to thermal stuff so I don't really know lol. Your mod sounds interesting though, do you have any pictures you could share of your mod? I've asked some people around and they say that removing the Wifi card is enough to prevent southbridge issues, but might as well improve the whole thing just in case. If it starts having issues there's no going back.
Don't have an image at hand, but if i get some free time i'll take it apart and post a photo.
It's pretty simple, anyways, i took a 2mm thermal pad, cut it to the size of the southbridge and placed the wifi card. I assume that it transmits the heat to the wifi card making it a bigger surface to spread it thus avoiding the concentration in the die of the SB. I must state that this isn't my most used T4x, but it has been used for long sessions of LAN gaming and never had any trouble.

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