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Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

T60/T61 Series
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Astalo
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri May 14, 2021 3:21 pm
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#301 Post by Astalo » Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:11 pm

Hi everybody !

I am not much of a talker but I would appreciate if could get some assistance. I have a 14.1" T61 widescreen and I would like go for this mod. I might be few years late :) . I've made some research and in a nutshell I think these are the steps:
1) Flash BIOS
2) cut trace at motheroard
3) solder one new trace (someone posted a picture that has a green wire)
4) solder second new trace (D22)
5) cut or isolate pins from QuadCore CPU
6) flash RAM if problems (or flash RAM as first step to avoid problems)

The problem is that my motherboard does not have D22. I believe totoro_kun and pentode has succesfully made this modification in T61 widescreen and it should be possible. Are all the modifications at motherboard mandatory and what are my options for a workaround ?

I have QX9300 CPU and modified BIOS files awaiting. I am now running X9000 overclocked @3,6GHz with advanced dock 2503 +Radeon RX560, 8Gb 800MHz RAM. I don't care about battery life since I keep it as a static installion for gaming and I don't have problems with temperatures or fan noise. I just feel I need to squeeze every last drop from this wonderful machine. I also have couple spare T61s if I screw up soldering.

Anyway, I would be glad if someone could show me the right way with this.

kfzhu1229
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#302 Post by kfzhu1229 » Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:50 pm

Astalo wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:11 pm
1) Flash BIOS
2) cut trace at motheroard
3) solder one new trace (someone posted a picture that has a green wire)
4) solder second new trace (D22)
5) cut or isolate pins from QuadCore CPU
6) flash RAM if problems (or flash RAM as first step to avoid problems)

The problem is that my motherboard does not have D22. I believe totoro_kun and pentode has succesfully made this modification in T61 widescreen and it should be possible. Are all the modifications at motherboard mandatory and what are my options for a workaround ?
You will wanna flash the RAM timings first, and then restart and verify in CPUZ that your laptop picked up the slower timings.
(If you bricked your RAM, insert a known good stick, power on the laptop and then put it to sleep, then insert the bricked one, and then wake it up and recover the original SPD - works on Dells and HPs but don't know if it would blow fuses on ThinkPads)
Then steps 1, 2, 3 are crucial for any 1066Mhz CPU's to work. In which it would come in handy if you have a cheap P series CPU or something to test if your 1066Mhz mods work and RAM timings are stable.
Then proceed to steps 4 and 5.
I proposed to desolder that resistor and hook a 1KOhm thru hole (big) resistor to the pad and that capacitor instead of cutting the trace, which might be a lot easier (and easily reversible if things go wrong) if you are new to this.
You might also wanna test your QX9300 first as there is a big chance those can be fake CPU's if you just bought one from eBay.
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600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
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T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
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Astalo
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Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#303 Post by Astalo » Tue Feb 08, 2022 3:43 pm

Resistor when D22 is missing and capacitor instead of cutting a trace? I tried to look if you had posted a picture of this before but could`nt find any.

How will a fake CPU behave? The QX9300 I have was harvested from another laptop, Dell I believe.

kfzhu1229
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#304 Post by kfzhu1229 » Tue Feb 08, 2022 4:36 pm

Astalo wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 3:43 pm
Resistor when D22 is missing and capacitor instead of cutting a trace? I tried to look if you had posted a picture of this before but could`nt find any.

How will a fake CPU behave? The QX9300 I have was harvested from another laptop, Dell I believe.
Okay so this is what I mean: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuILfFUnTy5cg2MBiYj ... 2?e=P94fRr
Red marks are the original cut methods, and I marked the desolder equivalent method in blue. One pic to indicate what to do, another picture from schematics indicating what it does to the circuitry. It's clear that it's basically the same, and you can technically reuse that surface mount 1KOhm resistor if you want to, but it's a lot more fiddly.
Insulate the wiring properly, as you don't want CPU Vcore power to be distributed to ground.
This is for the cut step to get 1066Mhz CPU's working only. Any of the steps for making a quad core work remain, as I personally have no interest in getting a Quad core working as opposed to getting a P series chip working that can outperform a T9500 at a fraction of the cost and heat output.
It's a bit annoying on the T61 not all components are marked, so you have to verify the location of the resistor with the schematics. And also it's unfortunate you have to remove the motherboard to do this, which prevents me from trying out on my T61 as my casing is so weak that a motherboard removal is a death sentence.
If you insert a fake CPU inside, you either don't even get a power on at all, or you get a power on and shuts right back off. In your case since such symptoms could be something wrong with you mod as well as CPU being fake, you won't know which one it is.
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

Astalo
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Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#305 Post by Astalo » Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:21 pm

OK, now I understand. Thanks for the pic and schematics, these are useful. I think the method you propose is better as it`s easier to reverst also.

So remaining issue is how to connect D22 to GTLREF since I don`t have D22 at the rear side of the motherboard. The first thing that came into my mind was that maybe I could drill a tiny hole where D22 should be and see if there is something I could solder 🤔. I need to investigate this further.

I try to get my RAM flashed first.

I also need to harvest or buy a cheap 1066MHz CPU for testing. I have one T9900 but don`t want to test with that.

kfzhu1229
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#306 Post by kfzhu1229 » Thu Feb 10, 2022 4:25 pm

Astalo wrote:
Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:21 pm
OK, now I understand. Thanks for the pic and schematics, these are useful. I think the method you propose is better as it`s easier to reverst also.

So remaining issue is how to connect D22 to GTLREF since I don`t have D22 at the rear side of the motherboard. The first thing that came into my mind was that maybe I could drill a tiny hole where D22 should be and see if there is something I could solder 🤔. I need to investigate this further.

I try to get my RAM flashed first.

I also need to harvest or buy a cheap 1066MHz CPU for testing. I have one T9900 but don`t want to test with that.
The point with my proposal is that it is something that's much less fiddly and much better for those people who are beginners with Core 2 hardware to begin with.
You should be fine with testing with the T9900. It's unlikely you are gonna kill the CPU with this mod unless you do something horribly wrong (like connecting that resistor to a 19V filtering cap instead of Vcore cap or not screwing in the heatsink or something). And your T9900 is not getting overclocked in any way with this anyway - The 965 chipset is too slow for that :lol:
I can't help you with the quad core mod part, but drilling a hole there might be a death sentence to your laptop if there are any traces running underneath...
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

pentode
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#307 Post by pentode » Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:07 pm

Astalo wrote:
Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:21 pm
OK, now I understand. Thanks for the pic and schematics, these are useful. I think the method you propose is better as it`s easier to reverst also.

So remaining issue is how to connect D22 to GTLREF since I don`t have D22 at the rear side of the motherboard. The first thing that came into my mind was that maybe I could drill a tiny hole where D22 should be and see if there is something I could solder 🤔. I need to investigate this further.

I try to get my RAM flashed first.

I also need to harvest or buy a cheap 1066MHz CPU for testing. I have one T9900 but don`t want to test with that.
Hi Astalo,
I couldn't find any reference at the time to anyone having done this mod on this particular board revision before. After considering various options, I went brute force and created a jumper wire with some very fine grade magnet wire. I think I have pictures somewhere. I can confirm that this works as I'm typing to you from that same machine with a Q9000- it's been running virtually continuously for a couple years now.
Happy to talk you through what I did- sorry I didn't see your post sooner as I don't check in very often.

Edit: just realized I wasn't super clear: this jumper was installed in the socket _under_ the CPU. As I recall, I couldn't find any exposed traces for these pins- I expect they're either not connected or on a middle layer of the PCB

p.s. don't drill any holes! :)

kfzhu1229
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#308 Post by kfzhu1229 » Tue Feb 15, 2022 5:32 pm

pentode wrote:
Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:07 pm
Hi Astalo,
I couldn't find any reference at the time to anyone having done this mod on this particular board revision before. After considering various options, I went brute force and created a jumper wire with some very fine grade magnet wire.
Edit: just realized I wasn't super clear: this jumper was installed in the socket _under_ the CPU. As I recall, I couldn't find any exposed traces for these pins- I expect they're either not connected or on a middle layer of the PCB

p.s. don't drill any holes! :)
In my experience with jumper wire for forcing 1066Mhz FSB into 800Mhz, I used a 32AWG wire, bend it to shape and inserted it into the socket. AFAIK there are no damages to any of my sockets nor my CPU pins, but the first insertion takes a little bit of force, and the CPU doesn't sit 100% flush so the cooling contacts might be a tiny bit uneven.
You could go for a finer 36AWG wire, but those might be a bit too thin for your eyes and your hands/tools, while 32AWG is much easier to handle, bend.
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

Astalo
Posts: 11
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Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#309 Post by Astalo » Wed Feb 16, 2022 9:33 am

Nice to hear from you pentode. I looked through the motherboard with a powerful flashlight and a magnifying glass. I saw the light coming clearly from the socket holes, but the area around D22 was dim. I guess there is something important there so I dropped the idea about drilling :lol: .

I was thinking that the only solution is to use a jumper wire, but Im not sure if I should connect D22 (GTLREF2) to AD26(GTLREF) in the socket or route D22 from the socket to the opposite side and connect it near R160 resistor.

Magnet wire should be lightly insulated am I right? What kind of precautions you did to prevent unwanted contacts ?

(edited uncertainties with pins and bad grammar)

Astalo
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Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#310 Post by Astalo » Tue Apr 19, 2022 12:46 pm

I finally had some time to continue this project. I could not fit a new resistor because of the coolers bracket on the rear side. I cutted a trace and soldered a new trace with 0,2mm copper wire. Then I jumpwired GTLREF and GTLREF2 on the socket with 0,2mm copper wire. I insulated the wires with kapton tape. I removed 5 pins from the CPU and fitted in the socket.

The machine turns on and I can enter BIOS. It recognizes the CPU as extreme Q9300 1,90GHz. Windows did not boot correctly but I`m not worried about that yet.

I might have issues with RAM because I had no luck flashing it. I tried with those templates someone made but those did not work for me. I could try with another modules or flash them with another machine.

At least the computer boots and seems that I did not break anything :lol: .

UPDATE: Tried with another RAM. Windows booted and CPUZ says rated FSB is about 1066MHz and cores 4. I will think about that RAM issue on another day.

Astalo
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Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#311 Post by Astalo » Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:17 pm

My RAM problem was that I could not flash Hynix but VSeven worked fine. I made some stress tests and can happily confirm that this mod works with T61 14.1" widescreen. I also made some overclocking with the QX9300 installed and it runs now @3,2GHz when the temperatures stays below 85C. Thanks to everyone for this awesome thread!

kfzhu1229
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#312 Post by kfzhu1229 » Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:07 pm

Astalo wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:17 pm
My RAM problem was that I could not flash Hynix but VSeven worked fine. I made some stress tests and can happily confirm that this mod works with T61 14.1" widescreen. I also made some overclocking with the QX9300 installed and it runs now @3,2GHz when the temperatures stays below 85C. Thanks to everyone for this awesome thread!
I tried various Hynix sticks, from DDR1 to DDR2, none of them have unlocked SPD. Micron and Samsung are a mixed bag. Some sticks have unlocked SPD while others don't.
You can, however, match the Hynix stick with another stick with the same speed and timings that is SPD unlocked, flash the SPD on that instead and still have it work. Or if you have the guts you can transplant a known unlocked SPD chip from a useless 512MB or broken DDR2 stick (flash the new SPD before transplant).
I have fitted a 2GB Hynix PC2-6400S with another SPD chip and then the SPD flashes all go through fine and the stick runs stable at 880Mhz
Also, all of my tested PC2-5300S RAM sticks work fine after timing mods and forcing down to 533Mhz, which overclocks to 710Mhz.
However, I have 2 Samsung 2GB PC2-6400S sticks that won't do 880Mhz or even 710Mhz no matter what, and it turns out for whatever reason those sticks run fine with 800Mhz and loose timings but aren't even stable with 667Mhz and stock faster timings out of the box anyway
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

Astalo
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#313 Post by Astalo » Sun Apr 24, 2022 12:02 pm

kfzhu1229 wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:07 pm
Astalo wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:17 pm
My RAM problem was that I could not flash Hynix but VSeven worked fine. I made some stress tests and can happily confirm that this mod works with T61 14.1" widescreen. I also made some overclocking with the QX9300 installed and it runs now @3,2GHz when the temperatures stays below 85C. Thanks to everyone for this awesome thread!
I tried various Hynix sticks, from DDR1 to DDR2, none of them have unlocked SPD. Micron and Samsung are a mixed bag. Some sticks have unlocked SPD while others don't.
You can, however, match the Hynix stick with another stick with the same speed and timings that is SPD unlocked, flash the SPD on that instead and still have it work. Or if you have the guts you can transplant a known unlocked SPD chip from a useless 512MB or broken DDR2 stick (flash the new SPD before transplant).
I have fitted a 2GB Hynix PC2-6400S with another SPD chip and then the SPD flashes all go through fine and the stick runs stable at 880Mhz
Also, all of my tested PC2-5300S RAM sticks work fine after timing mods and forcing down to 533Mhz, which overclocks to 710Mhz.
However, I have 2 Samsung 2GB PC2-6400S sticks that won't do 880Mhz or even 710Mhz no matter what, and it turns out for whatever reason those sticks run fine with 800Mhz and loose timings but aren't even stable with 667Mhz and stock faster timings out of the box anyway
After the modification only modules that worked without flashing were 2GB ADATA 800MHz and 2GB Crucial 667MHz. Samsung, Hynix and VSeven did not work, but Hynix worked when it was paired with my Crucial or ADATA modules. I have 2x 4GB Hynix (4GB 2Rx8 PC2-6400S-666-12) and I tried to flash another with SPDTool. No matter what I did I got 'verification failed' and nothing happened. I have 2x 4GB VSeven 800MHz and I flashed another with no problems. Now I have those 2x 4GB VSeven installed and they work well.

xGrzesieq
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#314 Post by xGrzesieq » Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:44 am

@Astalo, can you give your expression about using C2Q in T61? I also want to keep in life my TP so I want to know some opinions about this mod :) Is it stable? After C2Q mod can you still use E-GPU? Is it 8GB enough for W10/W11?

Astalo
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#315 Post by Astalo » Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:40 am

xGrzesieq wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:44 am
@Astalo, can you give your expression about using C2Q in T61? I also want to keep in life my TP so I want to know some opinions about this mod :) Is it stable? After C2Q mod can you still use E-GPU? Is it 8GB enough for W10/W11?
Sorry for the late response, I don't visit here very often. I am happy with the mod and glad that I did it. Computer is stable but runs quite hot under stress. I cleaned the cooler with copper polish and used good thermal paste so temperatures are under control. For me crashes happen only when overclocking is done wrong. WIN10 works well with 8GB RAM but I installed WIN10 LTS because it feels a little bit lighter. WIN10 works well also with T9500 and X9000. I have not tried WIN11. I use GPU in Advanced Dock and this mod did not affect it's operation. Recently I've been playing Stray with this combination.

T61 is not so much portable after this mod since it drains the battery quite quick. I have another T61 with T9500 that is better for this purpose.

I took couple photos when making the mod so I can upload them somewhere if you want to take a look.

xGrzesieq
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#316 Post by xGrzesieq » Thu Feb 23, 2023 4:15 pm

Yeah, I would really like to see your photos of that mod! I'm really going to buy QX9300 and 8GB RAM :) .

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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#317 Post by Gonzaleitor » Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:08 pm

xGrzesieq wrote:
Thu Feb 23, 2023 4:15 pm
Yeah, I would really like to see your photos of that mod! I'm really going to buy QX9300 and 8GB RAM :) .
wow, man, that will be spicy! (and hot!)

Astalo
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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#318 Post by Astalo » Sat Mar 18, 2023 11:53 am

xGrzesieq wrote:
Thu Feb 23, 2023 4:15 pm
Yeah, I would really like to see your photos of that mod! I'm really going to buy QX9300 and 8GB RAM :) .
Sorry for the late response. I uploaded a photo here: https://imgur.com/a/Cv73Or4

It has the steps I made when modifying MB.

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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#319 Post by huohuo » Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:36 pm

Greetings.
Does anyone happen to have photos picturing the mobo mod (for the x9100)? I can only find photos for the quad core only modifications, and image hosting sites from the original posts are long shut down.

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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#320 Post by micrex22 » Fri Aug 16, 2024 9:41 am

huohuo wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:36 pm
Greetings.
Does anyone happen to have photos picturing the mobo mod (for the x9100)? I can only find photos for the quad core only modifications, and image hosting sites from the original posts are long shut down.
You could try the wayback machine, otherwise it's ancient history.

I had some of the files backed up, but those backups grew legs and I no longer have them :eek:

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Re: Install a 1066MHz FSB CPU on T61 (including Core 2 Quad)

#321 Post by rumbero » Fri Aug 16, 2024 12:21 pm

huohuo wrote:
Thu Aug 08, 2024 6:36 pm
Greetings.
Does anyone happen to have photos picturing the mobo mod (for the x9100)? I can only find photos for the quad core only modifications, and image hosting sites from the original posts are long shut down.
If you could please state the URLs of the "original posts" maybe it would be possible to discern what photo exactly is required.

I have lots of photos safeguarded on disk but without more specific pointers i won't be able to find out whether i have what you need or not.
A few 14.1" and 15" T61+ Frankenpads and one T480

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