T61 fan dead, would like to upgrade

[kemnett]

I've been reading the forum for several days now and I see that there are quite a few upgrade possibilities for this model. I have a T61 6465CTO 15.4" with the 42w7875 motherboard. I am interested in knowing what are my best options for upgrading this model? I have read some threads that recommend the t500 fan as well as others that recommend the t61p fan. I am also possibly interested in upgrading my wireless card and PCU. Currently on this board I have the t7300. Since it seems that the Intel graphics card utilizes processing power to do it's job which processor should I upgrade to? Or should I explore the possibility of upgrading to an motherboard with Nvidia graphics and just keep my Intel board around for when it finally fails? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


P.S. I can provide more system info if it's needed.

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

If you're happy with the system's current graphics performance, keep the Intel board.

A CPU such as T9300 or T9500 might help in that department as well. You might have to apply Middleton's BIOS prior to swapping the CPU.

The fan from T500 does not fit perfectly, and you're likely better off staying with a T61/p fan.

What wireless card do you currently have?

[kemnett]

I would say I am tolerant of the current graphics performance. It would be nice to be able to do some light gaming (TF2, COD4, maybe even DayZ but I don't know how strenuous that game is).

I appreciate the advice on the fan, I had assumed as much since I read that a few people had been having keyboard issues from the t500 heatsink.

My current wireless card is a/b/g. I have been going back and forth on upgrading to an N or just buying a decently rated USB N adapter. Belkin makes one that gets solid ratings and it's very reasonably priced.

Would I even be able to find a Nvidia motherboard that will fit my T61? I've heard they are in short supply.

[ajkula66]

Nvidia boards for a 15.4" T61 frame are available, but expect to pay a pretty penny for one.

Wireless upgrade is both an inexpensive and an easy one - you're looking at $30 and a half an hour of work at the most.

[kemnett]

I really appreciate the advice. So it seems that the best upgrade options for this model are as follows:

t61p heatsink and fan w/AS5 thermal paste
SSD after flashing to Middleston BIOS
T9300 overclocked to 3.2 GHz (hopefully to alleviate strain from the Intel GM965)
b/g/n wireless adapter
2x2 GB DDR Ram (If I determine a need to go to 8GB down the road I might, but I don't foresee that happening)

Anything I might be missing?

[ajkula66]

I'd say you're on the right track. I'm not into overclocking but to each his/hers own.

Happy upgrading.

[TuuS]

Your board will run the Penryn (T9x00) processor without a bios mod, but the mod will help with other things, like the harddrive performance. You'll definitely see a big performance gain with a T9300 and SSD, so your graphic performance will improve too. An nVidia board would be nice for gaming and other graphic intensive work, but the biggest problem getting one is that many traded online have failed and been reflowed or baked, which isn't a proper method of fixing one and they are sure to fail again. Getting one that you can be sure had never failed can be difficult, but they are available. The best option is one from august 2008 or later, but most of those boards are still in their original systems and will stay there. The refurb boards coming out of China and southeast asia usually contain blackmarket gpu chips which are just used chips with new dates etched on them, so beware.

I think you'll be happy with the performance once you get some powerful upgrades in it.

[mrclooney]

Be careful. I have been through board replacements (Lenovo Repair Depot) and everything has been very stable since. Recently, I thought my T61's fan was dead. I measured the temps with GPU-Z and HW Monitor (very good freeware) and noticed the 70-80C temps at idle. I canceled my new fan order after a simple blast of air cleaned out the old fan. Now, the T61 idles at the same temp as my T61P, 43-47C. BTW, I looked into upgrading to a Penryn and would advise against it. It is possible, but the Penryn works best with digital sensors on the motherboard. You most likely have analog sensors. This issue is well documented and would cause an error on boot.

Regards,
Mr. Clooney

T61P T7700 Quadro FX 256
T61 T7500 Quadro NVS 140

[RealBlackStuff]

It is possible, but the Penryn works best with digital sensors on the motherboard. You most likely have analog sensors. This issue is well documented and would cause an error on boot.

Time for you to get acquainted with Middleton's BIOS: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo- ... ost6501443

[ajkula66]

BTW, I looked into upgrading to a Penryn and would advise against it. It is possible, but the Penryn works best with digital sensors on the motherboard. You most likely have analog sensors. This issue is well documented and would cause an error on boot

OP already has a Penryn-approved board...so I see nothing preventing him from throwing in a proper CPU...

For the record, not all of the Penryn-capable boards necessarily shipped with Penryn CPUs...far from it.

[TuuS]

not all of the Penryn-capable boards necessarily shipped with Penryn CPUs...far from it.

Exactly, starting in January 2008 the penryn board was first used, initially only with penryn CPUs, but when existing inventory of Merom boards were exhausted, the merom chips were used in Penryn boards. If you have a merom equipped system dated about April 2008 or later there is a good chance it has a penryn board.

[kemnett]

Fantastic information from everyone, once again thanks. I've got the heatsink and t9300 CPU en route this week. I'm still shopping around for the SSD and may just wait for a good sale as I see they do go on sale every now and then. My indecisive nature may hinder me from ordering the RAM in a timely manner. There are far too many manufacturers putting out memory chips these days. It's nearly impossible to determine what is the best value.

At any rate I opened up my case today and blew out the fan and gave it a couple of manual spins. It was shamefully dusty. Once I got everything put back together I fired her up and switched tpfancontrol to manual mode and the fan started spinning again. So far I have had it on for about 40 minutes and have been staying in the 50 degree range. I'm not going to cancel my order for the new heatsink though like mrclooney did. This fan has been in bad shape for a very long time. I'm going to need the better unit in there anyway if I plan to overclock once I get the 9300 in there.

[TuuS]

If it's that dusty I'd recommend getting some arctic silver #5, some foil tape and/or silicone RTV gasket sealer and some very thin oil like is used in sewing machines or electric razors.

Remove the heatsink and clean the CPU and integrated (or discrete on nVidia models) GPU chip with medical grade alcohol, then open up the heatsink and remove the fan. It's held in place with foil tape and small metal tabs that are easy to bend out of the way. If you have foil tape you can simply slice the existing tape to remove it, otherwise carefully peel it back to remove the fan (this requires patience). Clean out the heatsink from the inside, there is probably a lot of dust impacted inside it that you can remove, then blow it out. Remove the fan blades and clean and lube the shaft then reinstall. The gasket sealer can be used if needed to assure it has an airtight seal. Automotive grade silicon RTV sealer is a good choice as it will resist temps far greater then any laptop can produce.

Apply the Arctic Silver #5 thermal paste to the CPU and GPU chips and reinstall. You should find you're cooling is greatly improved. If you want a replacement fan, either the intel integrated fan or the T61p discrete fan, I have both available. The T61p fan does cool better, but is overkill on an integrated board, but for those that like to be able to run idle with the fan rarely ever coming on, then this is a good option.

Good luck with your upgrades and I'm sure you'll enjoy your penryn cpu, the T9x00 versions are one of the most powerful dual core chips ever made, but if temp and efficiency is your goal then the T8x00 chips are a good choice. The T8100 cpu is very affordable and can outperform faster Merom chips while running at lower temperatures and drawing less power. This would be the ideal chip for a system run on battery power as it's build on a die half the size of the T9300/T9500.