Motherboard replacement recommendations

[amm229]

Hi,

I was another victim of a t41p GPU solder cracking. I love my old T41 and was considering buying a replacement motherboard. I was wondering if any of the compatible motherboards (T40,T41,T43,etc) were less susceptible to the GPU solder problem. I don't want to spend $100-200 on a refurbished board only to have the same issue recur in a matter of months.

Any advice? I have already tried reflowing and even had the motherboard professionally reballed. These solutions worked for 2-3 months but the same problem has recurred.

Thanks in advance,
Andrew

[eyestrain]

I'm interested in the same. And the southbridge problem.

Is the southbridge problem limited to T4x only, T43 only, or does it also apply to R5x, or perhaps only also to R52?

How common is the southbridge issue compared to gpu?

--
amm, I've read here that T43 and later T42 are less likely to have the GPU issue than earlier T4x models. I don't know about R vs T.

Of course, if you get a board without ATI graphics, you don't have to worry about the GPU issue. Much easier to find R5x with intel graphics than T4x.

I'm a newbie on the flex/sodder issue myself, so hopefully if I'm off above, will be corrected.

[Norway Pad]

I have no personal experience with neither GPUs nor Southbridges coming loose. But from what I have seen here on this forum (That might not be how things really are) the loose GPU seems to be mostly related to ATI equipped T40/41/42s, while the Soutbridge issue seems to be related to T43s.

Why?

IBM became aware of the GPU issues, and improved soldering techniques over the years the T4x series ran. This, including the use of epoxy to help keep the chips in place, is probably why there are less GPU failures on the T43.

But what happened to the Southbridge? Is there a different SB chip on the T43, with properties that makes it more likely to come loose? Probably so, since they were built with a SATA interface for the main HDD. (Which we know that later in the T43 development process got converted back to a PATA interface over the now famous SATA/PATA bridge) If I am not wrong, the type of interface should influence the type of SB. Another theory is that the loose SB is also an issue on the earlier T4x machines, but the GPU comes loose first and sort of covers the SB issue. Can that be the reason for some of the failed GPU reflow/reballing operations, because the GPU wasn't loose at all, it was the SB that was loose? Or if the SB came loose later, was that taken as a sign of a GPU repair that failed again after a while? The symptoms are different, but if the laptop starts acting up, especially after the GPU has been repaired, it's probably easy to give up and discard the laptop as a hopeless GPU case.

This was probably not the answer you guys were after, but I am a little curious on this my self.

[RealBlackStuff]

I have another (as yet unsupported) theory for the Southbridge coming loose.
It sits right under the wifi-card, which can produce copious amounts of heat.
Do this on a daily basis, and eventually something must give...
The Southbridge problem is mainly limited to the T43 and R52.
It's very rare, compared to GPU problems. I have an R52 with a reballed SB, which works great again.

For T40/41/42 and R50/51 models, the best solution is an R51 mobo with integrated Intel graphics.
This has already been chewed over umpteen times (also see the T4x stickies).

[ajkula66]

Southbridge fails on ALL T4x/R5x machines. The only reason that it has been talked about more when it comes to T43/p machines is the fact that they normally fail less than their older siblings, but are still prone to the Southbridge issues.

While T4x/R5x units with Intel graphics are safe in the respect of GPU failures, none of them has been vaccinated against SB problems.

[eyestrain]

Thanks for the replies. (and bump for someone in T60 forum in case this thread was missed.)

[dr_st]

Southbridge fails on ALL T4x/R5x machines. The only reason that it has been talked about more when it comes to T43/p machines is the fact that they normally fail less than their older siblings, but are still prone to the Southbridge issues.

In the most general sense, southbridge fails on all machines, but typically it is not a common failure (at least not as common as the reported GPU failures on early T4x).

Considering your vast experience with aforementioned systems, would you say that the southbridge fails more frequently on T4x/R5x than on other Thinkpads? Other laptops?

[gherritwhite]

For T40/41/42 and R50/51 models, the best solution is an R51 mobo with integrated Intel graphics.
This has already been chewed over umpteen times (also see the T4x stickies).

But you can't just buy an R51 motherboard with Intel integrated graphics as a drop in replacement, right? From reading other posts on the forum, the impression I'm getting is that you need to get an R51 motherboard that supports the higher 1400x1050 SXGA+ resolution found in many T4x notebooks, and was from a 14" R51 too.

What I find confusing is that I haven't seen anything in the way of specific motherboard model numbers, or any more precise information as to what motherboards to look out for. That's what frustrates me the most about this.

Edit: From one of the stickied threads, it seems like the R51 motherboard replacement fix only works if you have at 15" ThinkPad; none of the 14" motherboards from the R51 seem to support the SXGA+ screens in 14" T4x ThinkPads.

[RealBlackStuff]

That's what we keep saying!
R51 with Intel GPU only supports 15" SXGA+, not the 14.1" SXGA+ models.
If you don't have SXGA+, any mobo (ATI or Intel integrated) from any T40/41/42/R50/51 will fit in any T40/41/42/R50/51.
The T40 mobos are the 'weakest' with the lowest options.

[ajkula66]

Motherboards are the same between 14" and 15" machines, that's not an issue.

However, 14" SXGA+ doesn't seem to be supported by them. There's a thread here by someone who got the 14" SXGA+ working on a R52 with Intel graphics using a modified LCD cable from a SXGA+ T43.

If XGA is something you can live with, it's a plug and play into any of these boards, with the correct cable.