Help - Have you ever heard of a 1.5Ghz T41p?

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Dead1nside · #1 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:38 pm

Hi guys,

I'm new here (if it isn't _really_ obvious). I'm a student and need to be doing my programming projects while out and about. So, I've come to the thinkpad range, I've found a T41p on eBay. And I've arranged to pay the guy £650 in total for it. (A little overpriced I know)

But in his description it says it's a 1.5Ghz. Now I'm no expert, but I've never seen a T41p with a 1.5Ghz Pentium M, have you?

I was also wandering if you can upgrade these processors?

Thanks for your time and any replies.

JHEM · #2 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:20 pm

Dead1nside wrote:But in his description it says it's a 1.5Ghz. Now I'm no expert, but I've never seen a T41p with a 1.5Ghz Pentium M, have you?

Nope, all T41p came with a 1.7GHz CPU! Get the model and serial numbers from the seller and check them on the Lenovo/IBM website to determine the exact model type he's offering and the warranty status.

Dead1nside wrote:I was also wandering if you can upgrade these processors?

Yep, up to 2.4GHz IIRC.

Regards,

James

Dead1nside · #3 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:22 pm

Thanks, well it's definitely a T41p, the guy isn't lying. So I'm hoping for a 1.7Ghz. As even though it's only 200Mhz, that's still more powerful than the early computers.

Thanks for your reply. I might consider replacing the processor. I hope I can be of some sue to you guys, as you have been to me.

hollingwood · #4 Post by **hollingwood** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:24 pm

Hi

Just a thought - I have just bought a brand new T42 complete with all new manufacturers warrantys etc for £652.13 inc VAT and carriage.

It came from www.microwarehouse.co.uk and they have good stocks.
Can be seen on their website with full specs.

You might like to consider this when comparing dubious specs on your T41 from ebay.

Hollingwood

Dead1nside · #5 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:43 pm

Thanks for the link, I tried looking through retail, but Thinkpads are very expensive. Like this, does anyone know how much it would be to extend the warranty in the UK on this T41p? A link would be nice thanks.

To be honest I would have chosen a less expensive laptop. Bought I thought that having some decent 3D support on it, and also the 14.1'' 1400x1050 screen was invaluable.

EDIT: I'd die for a T43p 2669, but such is the life of a student.

fbrdphreak · #6 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:13 pm

Get the model number of the Thinkpad, go to http://www.lenovo.com, and in the search box at the top right put in that model number. It will pull up the specs for you so you can compare to make sure he hasn't modified the machine.

I don't know what CPU's T41p's came with, but there was a 1.5GHz Pentium M, it was the 130nm Banias core with 1MB L2 Cache. If he stripped out the CPU, I would make sure you're getting a correspondingly cheap price and upgrade the CPU yourself.

Dead1nside · #7 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:26 pm

Thanks. Yeah I did a bit of research, and found teh 1.5Ghz Pentium M. If this is so, this "Banias" core does it have inferior cache etc. than the 1.7Ghz, which core does taht have? Dothan? Thanks.

fbrdphreak · #8 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:30 pm

What's the model number of the T41p he's selling?

Dothan has the following improvements over Banias:

*90nm process, uses less power
*Improved branch predictors for better performance
*2MB L2 cache for better performance
*Misc architecture tweaks for better battery life & performance

Unless the Banias is SUPPOSED to come with that model T41p, make sure you're getting a really good price. And if you can, I would invest in a Dothan chip. PM me if you decide you want to get a Dothan chip, I may be able to help you.

simms · #9 Post by **simms** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:36 pm

I went from Banias to Dothan and I notice it's MUCH quieter (the fan) and cooler as well.

Dead1nside · #10 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:48 pm

I looked on Thinkwiki.org -

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T41p

It says it is meant to be Banias. The two chips aren't socket compatible are they? I guess this is the main reason to buy a T42p.

Oh well, I'm in a sort of binding agreement. And I think the T41p will do me just fine. Once I get the serial number I'll post it here.

I just want it to be as fast as my desktop rig:

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
1GB DDR333 RAM
9800 SE ALL-IN-WONDER

I think they're quite equally matched on all fronts. All the T42p's that I seem to find are around £800+

As I said, I'm in an agreement now. I can't really get out of it. I've put a £50 deposit down.

fbrdphreak · #11 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:50 pm

You don't need the serial number - you need the model number. Like my T42 is a 2373-NC1, that is the general model of the T42, not the serial number. Request that from the seller

Banias and Dothan are compatible, you just may need a BIOS update for it to properly recognize the Dothan.

Dead1nside · #12 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:56 pm

Ok, I've requested the model number. Thanks for your help. The T41p and T42p are pretty similiar hardware wise, so here's to hoping that it's compatible with the Dothan core.

fbrdphreak · #13 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:57 pm

Search these forums to see if others have put a Dothan in a T41, I'm sure its been done.

Dead1nside · #14 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:17 pm

The two useful threads I've found (this is for anyone with my problem)

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ht=478+479

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... othan+t41p

Dead1nside · #15 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:53 pm

Dothan chips seem to be pretty [censored] expensive £250 brand new, I'm hoping to get one on the cheap. If so I'll probably put a 2.0Ghz model in, will the battery life be approximatley the same? Due to the power saving features, over the clockspeed increase?

Anyone done this before, I've looked through the manual for disassembling it, lots of screws, seems pretty complicated.

fbrdphreak · #16 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:06 pm

I replaced the 1.7 Dothan in my T42 with a 2.0GHz model. It is very easy to change. Just follow the guide for removing the keyboard and palm rest, it is just a matter of a bunch of screws. Then you unscrew the heatsink, pull it out, swap the CPU, and replace. Make sure to buy some thermal goop (i.e. Arctic Silver 5 or Ceramique) to replace the goop that was on it, and clean the heatsink & CPU with rubbing alcohol.

T40 series hardware maintenance manual:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46464

semaj · #17 Post by **semaj** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:36 pm

can the t42p laptop run the donathan then? It would be nice to have the 533mhz bus speed

fbrdphreak · #18 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:40 pm

You are confusing something. There are three model Pentium M processors: Banias (400MHz FSB), Dothan (400MHz FSB), and Dothan (533MHz FSB). The 533MHz FSB chips require a 915 chipset, which was used in the T43 only. You can run a 533MHz FSB processor in the 400MHz FSB 855 chipset (i.e. T41 & T42, maybe T40 also), but it will run at a reduced speed.

To understand why, you need to know a couple things. First, Intel quad-pumps the bus. So while people call it a 400MHz FSB, the actual clock rate is 100MHz and the data is sampled four times per clock for an effective clock rate of 400MHz. Next:

Processor Clock speed = FSB * multiplier

So for the 2.0GHz model,

2000MHz = 133MHz * 15x multiplier (133MHz FSB * 4 = 533MHz effective)

So what happens when you run it on a 400MHz (100MHz actual) FSB?

100MHz FSB * 15x multiplier = 1.5GHz

The same applies for any other Dothan CPU.

Dead1nside · #19 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:15 pm

The 533Mhz 'Dothan's are part of the Sonoma Centrino Platform which is only on T43p. AS fbrdphreak says you may be able to underclock the processor FSB to run it in the motherboard but that's iffy.

Just like you can place DDR400 RAM into the thinkpad if it can only run DDR333, it'll just underclock it.

Thanks, I seem to understand that all Pentium M's ending in 5 e.g. 755, 745 etc. can be used in the T41, T42 etc.

They are so expensive though: I could spend £400 upgrading to a 100GB HDD 7200RPM, 2GB RAM, 2.0Ghz Dothan CPU.

semaj · #20 Post by **semaj** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:16 pm

Ahh. I wasnt sure if the t42p board could run at 533mhz bus speed. I figured it was a t43 thing but kinda hoped(especially with this upgrade from a t41 to t42p board). I know my athlon pc says it is running at 133 when it is prob as you say double-pumped it so it is 266mhz bus speed. How does hyperthreading come into play and does it compare to the dual core processors?

Dead1nside · #21 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:21 pm

Hyperthreading creates two virtual processors, that can handle more threads. In some situations it works faster, in others it slows it down. For instance in Intel chips dual-core with hyperthreading it actually slows it down.

It is much better to have an actual dual-core but awhile ago hyperthreading did have some good advantages now not so much.

Yes AMD doubles the FSB, Intel "quad-pumps" so for me with an Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton" I get 166Mhz doubled. Just the different ways they do it.

Dead1nside · #22 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:22 pm

Anyone know where I can get a Pentium M 755 2.0Ghz (2MB Cache) for under a £100? In the dream world, will probably be the answer.

semaj · #23 Post by **semaj** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:29 pm

I looked around and found the cheapest USA one is 307 plus shipping or 319 including shipping. that was in usd. Used on ebay they run for $185-215 USD. I am not sure how much that converts to, but it sounds better than 300$ usd. Hope this helps

Dead1nside · #24 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:40 pm

Thanks, that's quite close to the £100 mark. But lots of US sellers don't accept international bids. It's quite annoying that these 400Mhz Dothans are actually more expensive than the 533Mhz ones, as these are all over eBay for _very_ cheap.

semaj · #25 Post by **semaj** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:07 pm

i normally ship overseas but i insist on paypal and also verified. Why dpnt you post a want ad in the marketplace thread on this site and see what turns up within a week

Dead1nside · #26 Post by **Dead1nside** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:10 pm

Thanks, I'm new to thinkpads.com and it's already proving to be a fountain of knowledge with many helpful people like yourself and fbrdphreak.

I think I'll try get the Dothan after I've got my laptop even in September. Thanks for all your help, I hope some of this knowledge has helped you and others too.

Impressive mod with your T42p in the T41 chassis, hope you get it working flawlessly.

semaj · #27 Post by **semaj** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:19 pm

the board works great. No problems after i replaced a defective fan i was sent. Its the xga screen not the sxga, but im ok with that.

Help - Have you ever heard of a 1.5Ghz T41p?

Help - Have you ever heard of a 1.5Ghz T41p?

Re: Help - Have you ever heard of a 1.5Ghz T41p?

donathan

cpu

pentium m 755

cpu

t42p

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