Thinking of upgrading my T42

[oeuvre]

Hey, so I have a T42 and it runs quite well, albeit a bit slowly. I know I should bump up the RAM to 2GB from 1.5GB to max it out and I plan to do that at some point.

I also want to know if it would be worth it to upgrade the 40GB 5400RPM HD to a 60GB or higher with 7200RPM. I would just use CloneZilla to copy it over.

Would it be worth it to bump up the processor to an SL7EM 2GHz from 1.7GHz? I need to replace the fan soon anyways as it makes a LOT of noise. I cleaned it out and redid the thermal paste, but if I am already planning on replacing the fan + heatsink, might as well change the processor too. I'd replace it with the 41W5204 part.

Thanks for your advice.

[dr_st]

You are likely to get some gain with each of these upgrades, but if you are expecting a miracle, you will be disappointed. They won't suddenly make your T42 even remotely fast by today's standards.

For the price of these upgrades you might be able to get a machine in the T6x range which will be a more noticeable improvement.

[oeuvre]

I'm not looking to *dramatically* increase the speed, but a little bit more would be nice.

I've owned a T60 and a T61p and while they are fine machines, I'm using my T42 specifically to run 16 and 32-bit programs that don't play nice with 7 and newer.

[ajkula66]

Unless you're constantly running out of RAM - and you shouldn't be with 1.5GB in XP - I don't see that moving to 2GB is going to make a difference.

The likely largest single performance boost will come from throwing in a - preferably NOS Hitachi or Seagate - 7200rpm HDD. I'd go with a fresh install, though, and not with cloning.

As for the CPU...to me personally, 1.7 Dothan that you have is a sweet spot between performance and temperature. I'd leave that aspect alone if the machine were mine.

My $0.02 only...

[oeuvre]

I do run out of RAM occasionally. I'm trying to see if I can get another 1GB module for free online, like I did with the current 1GB stick in here.

Will search for a 7200RPM HD definitely. I'm getting the heatsink and fan at least, cause it currently is a bit loud and the longer fans are definitely quieter.

[systemBuilder]

We have a great many T42's and T42p's but when we want a faster speed, we use either a late-generation lenovo (Y580, keyboard and trackpad both suck), or a T60p with the ATI FireGL 5250 gpu (DirectX 9.3 compatible, barely). The latter can play "League of Legends" at 25-30 fps on a 16:10 external monitor with modest details (for this particular game, extra detail does not make a big difference in visual quality). The T60p is a 14.1" Core 2 duo 2500 and has a 1400x1050 display. I like the keyboard but the scratchpad is smaller and not as nice as on a T42. The T60p is one of the last great 4:3 laptops made by IBM/Thinkpad/Lenovo.

I bought the T60p on EBay and put a 750 GB SATA drive inside of it (7200 rpm).
If I were going to upgrade a T42, the best option would be a PATA SSD drive, maybe 128 GB (horribly expensive, mostly, see ebay for Kingspec)
The cheapest (workable) option is to just stick a ~32 GB SanDisk "Fit" (nubby) USB stick into the USB port. Problem solved.
USB 2.0 sticks aren't terribly fast (18 MBps read and 2 MBps write) but for the occasional game load or for a picture archive they would be convenient and a cheap upgrade. Ideally you could put a USB 3.0 drive into the machine but I haven't found a way to do it and leverage the extra speed (choices include a 32-bit PCMCIA adapter or possibly a PATA/USB adapter if such things exist.) Another choice I am looking at right now is a PATA / CompactFlash adapter (CompactFlash actually is the old IDE/ATA/PATA protocol in a different form factor, and in 2012 was still being used by flagship still cameras from Nikon and Canon.)

[GACrabill]

I know I should bump up the RAM to 2GB from 1.5GB to max it out and I plan to do that at some point. I also want to know if it would be worth it to upgrade the 40GB 5400RPM HD to a 60GB or higher with 7200RPM. I would just use CloneZilla to copy it over. Would it be worth it to bump up the processor to an SL7EM 2GHz from 1.7GHz?

You won't notice much difference with the extra RAM.
You also won't notice much difference between the 1.7 and 2.0 processors.
You will notice that it is a bit more snappy with an 80GB 7200rpm rather than the 40GB 5400rpm.
(Been there, done that, all three items).

If you want a REALLY noticeable difference, skip the processor and 7200rpm upgrades and get a 128GB msata SSD (not Intel) and an IDE-to-msata adapter.

See this thread for details : http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=112081

You won't have Trim in an XP installation, but a current technology msata SSD will have its own garbage collection mechanism which will work fine for XP (and non-Trim-capable Linux systems). Additionally, the msata SSD plus adapter might even be cheaper than the processor and HDD upgrades that you are thinking about. I would do the RAM upgrade last since the speed improvement with an msata SSD will make the RAM upgrade even less noticeable.

If I were going to upgrade a T42, the best option would be a PATA SSD drive, maybe 128 GB (horribly expensive, mostly, see ebay for Kingspec)

Actually, the 'worst' option would be a Pata SSD ... search these forums for Kingspec experiences.

[Johan]

I also want to know if it would be worth it to upgrade the 40GB 5400RPM HD to a 60GB or higher with 7200RPM. I would just use CloneZilla to copy it over.

Would it be worth it to bump up the processor to an SL7EM 2 GHz from 1.7 GHz? I need to replace the fan soon anyways as it makes a LOT of noise. I cleaned it out and re-did the thermal paste, but if I am already planning on replacing the fan + heatsink, might as well change the processor too. I'd replace it with the 41W5204 part.

In order to recommend ay upgrade(s), it would be useful to understand what you seek to accomplish; faster boottime, faster program-load and/or faster execution of CPU-intensive tasks? As to the fan noise, my first recommendation would be to install Notebook Hardware Control (search this forum!), and undervolt your CPU, and downclock your GPU, as much as possible.... result: Lower power consumption, less fan noise and, not the least: The ability to manually adjust the fan-speed trigger levels! A faster CPU (the SL7EM or the SL7V3) will give you a somewhat improvement in performance, but much less compared to getting a SSD. If you are able to find a, say, $10-20 2 GHz or 2.1 GHz CPU, then you may go for it, but if already having a 1.7 GHz, the improvement will be somewhat limited. By the way, I'm sure that there's a lot of posts here on this forum reporting improvement in speed when upgrading a T42 from e.g. 1.7 GHz to 2 or 2.1 GHz.... so I suggest you do a little searching!

I'm using my T42 specifically to run 16 and 32-bit programs that don't play nice with 7 and newer.

Have you tried XP-mode (under Windows 7) and/or DOSbox if your 16-bit applications are DOS-programs?

The likely largest single performance boost will come from throwing in a - preferably NOS Hitachi or Seagate - 7200rpm HDD. I'd go with a fresh install, though, and not with cloning.

I have to disagree here (from own experience on multiple T42's and T42/p's): The single most beneficial upgrade, that will give you the by far largest performance boost (when you already have a fairly fast CPU, and enough RAM), is to upgrade your T42 to having a SSD - as also suggested by GACrabill below.

If I were going to upgrade a T42, the best option would be a PATA SSD drive, maybe 128 GB (horribly expensive, mostly, see eBay for Kingspec)

Disagree here as well: Stay away from PATA SSD's; they are by far more expensive compared to mSATA SSD's, the latter which are easily installed in a T42/p using one of the adapters discussed in the thread New SSD opt. for T4x: mSATA-to-IDE adapter ST663FD9 *PICS*. And, yes, I have tried multiple PATA SSD's in T42/p's, incl. the "OWC Mercury Legacy Pro" so I speak from actual, own experience. By the way, before recommending Kingspec, I strongly suggest you search e.g. this forum for user-experience. I don't recall having read about poorer (!!) PATA SSD's than the Kingspec. I would never, ever recommend any Kingsspec drives after all the very poor feedback I have read about them!

If you want a REALLY noticeable difference, skip the processor and 7200 rpm upgrades and get a 128GB mSATA SSD (not Intel) and an IDE-to-mSATA adapter.

Absolutely, completely and strongly agree to this suggestion!

But, now, why do you say this, Gary, about the Intel mSATA SSD's in T42/p's? According to this post the absolutely fastest mSATA SSD for use in a T42/p (that I have read of!), using the the Lycom/Addonics/Aleratec/DeLock/Kuroutoshikou mSATA-to-IDE/PATA (the Lycom model ST-173-7 and/or ST-173-9) adapter, is the Intel 525! Notice that the Intel 525 contains SF-2281, as does/did Xenomorph's Mushkin Atlas Deluxe mSATA SSD. As reported by Xenomorph in multiple posts (this, this, this, this and this) he has tried the Mushkin Enhanced SSD (with the SF-2281) in his T43, and although he reported this Mushkin mSATA SSD to disappear at times from the system, do you/we honestly, certainly and truly know - for sure! - that this was solely owing to the SF-2281 controller? As I understand from Xenomorph's posts, he seemed to conclude the the reason why the SF-2281 SSD disappeared from his T43 was because it had TRIM enabled?

Part of reason for asking why to stay away from Intel (SF-2281) mSATA SSD's in T42/p's is that I have an Addonics ADMS25IDE that I'd like to try in my T42p, but I am still uncertain about what specific mSATA SSD to get... and I had actually considered the Intel 525 (because being reported to be so fast!), but I'm strongly open for better suggestions! My priorities are: 1) Stability/reliability, and then 2) Speed.

Thanks in advance for sharing the reason(s) for staying away from Intel mSATA SSD's in e.g. T42/p's!

Johan

[oeuvre]

I know about SSDs being a huge improvement. The boot time is fine right now, but I'd like applications to load a bit faster.

I do use Photoshop on it a lot, so the 2GB RAM would actually benefit me. I can find 2GHz processors for around $15 so I'm not concerned much about the price.

I know the hard drive will be the most expensive upgrade and I don't want to spend more than $50 on an SSD for a 10 year old computer. It just... doesn't make much sense to me, especially if I have another laptop and a desktop that has SSDs in them. For SSDs anyways, I've always stuck with Samsung, Intel, and Crucial.

XP mode running on Windows 7 with only 1.5GB RAM sounds like torture to me. And DOSBox is a bit of a nuisance at times.

[pianowizard]

This is the best advice so far:

For the price of these upgrades you might be able to get a machine in the T6x range which will be a more noticeable improvement.

Get a T60 or T61, then sell the T42 for $40. This not only saves you money, but also gives you a much more significant upgrade. And I predict that the T60/61 would last for much longer than this T42.

[systemBuilder]

Actually there might be a HUGE increase in performance in upgrading from 1.7 Ghz to 1.8 Ghz, because you should be going from a Banias processor to a Dothan. The problem is, the 1.7 Ghz and lower thinkpads (as deployed by Lenovo, originally) have 1 MB of L2 cache (Banias), whereas the 1.8 Ghz and higher thinkpads all have 2 MB of L2 cache (Dothan). When I bought my thinkpads I always made certain to buy 1.8 Ghz or higher 400 Mhz frontside-bus machines to guarantee a 2 MB L2 cache.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_I ... processors

The performance boost from this extra cache is huge, it's something like 30%, from my memory in downgrading with my corporate laptop in the T41 generation of thinkpads. If you've had your machine open you should check the CPU code and make sure it's a Banias chip. If for some reason it's a Dothan chipset then the speed increase will not be much. The difference between a 1.8 Ghz Dothan and a 2.0 Ghz Dothan is way less than 10%.

- Don

[ajkula66]

Actually there might be a HUGE increase in performance in upgrading from 1.7 Ghz to 1.8 Ghz, because you should be going from a Banias processor to a Dothan.

Nope.

The 1.7 CPU found in T42 - unlike those in T40/p and T41/p - is already a Dothan, PM 735.

[dr_st]

The performance boost from this extra cache is huge, it's something like 30%

I find that very difficult to believe (across the board). It may be true for some specific workloads, but not in general.

[oeuvre]

Yep, mine's a 1.7GHz 735 Dothan. I found a 755 for less than $10 on eBay, so I figure it's worth it. I'm gonna have to sell something else for the HD, but I have a few spare old PC parts lying around.

I've had several T6x machines and they're great. But I really prefer the T4x series more, moreso the trackpad and whatnot. I'm hopefully going to be DONE with upgrading laptops for a while now after the T42 is all fixed up. Thanks a lot for your advice, folks.

Also, T61p + 4GB RAM + SSD = super fast. I had a 1920x1200 one, but the display seemed a bit dimmer than the T42's and the ZBook essentially took oeuvre the T61p's duties.

[GACrabill]

If you want a REALLY noticeable difference, skip the processor and 7200 rpm upgrades and get a 128GB mSATA SSD (not Intel) and an IDE-to-mSATA adapter.

Absolutely, completely and strongly agree to this suggestion!

But, now, why do you say this, Gary, about the Intel mSATA SSD's in T42/p's? According to this post the absolutely fastest mSATA SSD for use in a T42/p (that I have read of!), using the the Lycom/Addonics/Aleratec/DeLock/Kuroutoshikou mSATA-to-IDE/PATA (the Lycom model ST-173-7 and/or ST-173-9) adapter, is the Intel 525! Notice that the Intel 525 contains SF-2281, as does/did Xenomorph's Mushkin Atlas Deluxe mSATA SSD. As reported by Xenomorph in multiple posts (this, this, this, this and this) he has tried the Mushkin Enhanced SSD (with the SF-2281) in his T43, and although he reported this Mushkin mSATA SSD to disappear at times from the system, do you/we honestly, certainly and truly know - for sure! - that this was solely owing to the SF-2281 controller? As I understand from Xenomorph's posts, he seemed to conclude the the reason why the SF-2281 SSD disappeared from his T43 was because it had TRIM enabled?

Part of reason for asking why to stay away from Intel (SF-2281) mSATA SSD's in T42/p's is that I have an Addonics ADMS25IDE that I'd like to try in my T42p, but I am still uncertain about what specific mSATA SSD to get... and I had actually considered the Intel 525 (because being reported to be so fast!), but I'm strongly open for better suggestions! My priorities are: 1) Stability/reliability, and then 2) Speed.

Sorry ... I forgot about this question.
My suggestion to not buy an Intel SSD in the 'hopes' that it will work thru an IDE-adapter on Win7 with Trim enabled is based on the past experiences of three generations of Intel 1.8" micro-Sata SSDs NOT working thru an IDE-adapter on Win7. Based on that alone, *I* cannot recommend that anyone risk their money 'trying' an Intel SSD in an IDE-adapter in a Win7 system.

There are other msata alternatives that 'work' in an IDE-adapter, Win7 system. When choosing an msata SSD for a Dell Precision M6700 (native msata bay, no adapter), I narrowed the choices to a Plextor M5M and an Intel 525. Both were very close in all of the Win7 performance reviews that I read. In the end, I decided that the Intel was not worth the 33% price premium.

I find it *very* interesting that the Lycom CDM results with their IDE-msata-adapter and a few msata SSDs were done with *XP* !! Really !? Why not a normal Win7 test with Trim enabled ?? Incidently, the same Intel 1.8" micro-Sata SSDs which did not work on Win7-Trim in 2012 .... did work fine with XP.

Lots of folks have a favorite brand of SSD ... some like Samsung, others like Crucial, or Plextor, or Intel, or xxxx. Some folks say buy the cheapest new SSD that meets your needs. Currently, I like Toshiba NAND with a Marvel controller (that's what was in the Kingston 1.8" micro-Sata SSDs in 2012) ... that leaves me with Plextor and Toshiba msata SSDs as my favorites for use with IDE-adapters.

From a performance perspective, I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference between msata SSDs in IDE-adapters in T40-T42 laptops running at Ultra DMA Mode 5 speeds in a side-by-side comparison.

Stability/reliability? ... again, does it get any better than Toshiba NAND and Marvel controllers ?

I also found it interesting (in your posts in the thread that you referenced earlier) that someone actually reported success in a T43 using the Lycom adapter (with a Marvel chip), a Plextor msata SSD (with a Marvel controller), and Win7. I am also surprised that no one with a 'weird' T43 has pursued that combination and reported their findings in a thread.

I guess the bottom line for me is that I will only recommend an msata SSD that I know works in an IDE-adapter with Win7-Trim.

[systemBuilder]

Crucial has just introduced the M550 series of mSata drives, which are marginally larger (256 GB vs. 240 GB) and are marginally faster (maybe 10% faster). Because of these new devices, Crucial is blowing out their older M500 drives for a very low, low price. You cannot do better than buying Crucial, which is the brand / marketing name of Micron, the last surviving memory maker in the USA and one of the best memory makers in the world. They are not some fly-by-night operator reselling factory seconds, unlike (I suspect) some of the other more obscure SSD manufacturers.

So I would jump on this opportunity and go for an M500 flash drive (as low as $125 for a 240 GB drive) at the blowout prices, and put it into a $22 caddy and try to upgrade your system in this way.

There is no point in buying a flash drive of less than 200 GB. Chances are very good that if you buy a small drive and run out of flash, a larger size will no longer be available to upgrade you T4x or T6x computer, so don't skimp on capacity when it comes to upgrading your thinkpad!

Good luck!