T30 motherboard confusion

[petemosss]

Between my memory slot issue and now this non- booting issue that others have complained about, I have decided to replace my MB. The plastic label under wifi card reads 91P7695 and the fan 46P2958. I'm not finding much on eBay and what is there and on the web is expensive. (My fav was $349. w. $129. shipping.) My searching last night showed a few posts stating any MB will work. Matching a fan is the issue?

What gives think-pad guru's? Enlighten me!

Anyone have a favorite source or seller they'd had luck with?

Thanks! Pete

[Harryc]

Here's your fan. Try to order a new one if you can find it.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories

Any T30 board will work. Your current board has no security chip. Here's another board with no security chip (nice deal w/ 30 day warranty) Make sure you get a board from a seller that has tested both memory slots -
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-T30-P4 ... 19bacf09bc

[petemosss]

Thanks for the clarification Harry! I noticed some ads state both slots tested. I'll stick to those. My fan has stalled on occasion. A used one will probably do the same

[T30_User]

Here's your fan. Try to order a new one if you can find it.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories

Any T30 board will work. Your current board has no security chip. Here's another board with no security chip (nice deal w/ 30 day warranty) Make sure you get a board from a seller that has tested both memory slots -
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-T30-P4 ... 19bacf09bc

It is an old thread but I thought I'd ask here because it is about the same issue I have.

A T30 I bought recently got broken during an attempt to fix the common memory issue. It must have had the mother board changed at some point and the sticker attached to the mother board was loose, possibly not the real one from this mother board.

Is the above comment really true that I can use any T30 mother board if I don't care about the security chip or the processor version etc? The connectors to the LCD display are always the same and any board can drive the higher resolution LCD that this broken T30 has?

It seems to be very difficult to find the exact same board that is mentioned at the sticker. Also the document from the Lenovo web site does not seem to cover all mother board and computer number/combinations. If any board works, I would buy the least expensive spare part that sounds reliable (tested for both memory slots etc.).

[RealBlackStuff]

Yes, you can use any T30 mobo with any CPU and any cooler.
BUT, from a 2.00GHz CPU onwards it is highly recommended, to use an assembly 2 mobo and an assembly 2 fan.
Most, if not all, people ignore the security chip. It's totally unimportant (I've never used it on any of my probably ten T30 machines).
All T30s come with 16MB ATI7500 GPU, and can drive both XGA and SXGA+.
With the latest BIOS, all T30s can also use 2x1GB PC2100 or PC2700 SODIMMs.
And with the NO-1802 hack, you can use any mini-PCI wifi card.

[T30_User]

Yes, you can use any T30 mobo with any CPU and any cooler.
BUT, from a 2.00GHz CPU onwards it is highly recommended, to use an assembly 2 mobo and an assembly 2 fan.
Most, if not all, people ignore the security chip. It's totally unimportant (I've never used it on any of my probably ten T30 machines).
All T30s come with 16MB ATI7500 GPU, and can drive both XGA and SXGA+.
With the latest BIOS, all T30s can also use 2x1GB PC2100 or PC2700 SODIMMs.
And with the NO-1802 hack, you can use any mini-PCI wifi card.

Thanks a lot for this detailed response. The computer would be for car diagnosis work, no need to have the fastest possible CPU (actually WLAN is not necessary either), should give me more options to choose motherboards then.