Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys. I would like to convert the T61p in my sig to a IPS T60/T61p. Where should I start? Can I just buy a T60p IPS model and swap my T61p board into it? Is it that simple. Does anyone know of a tutoial anywhere that details this process?

No...your T61p board will not fit into a 4X3 T60 chassis. You will need the board from a 14.1" 4X3 T61 to build a flexview frankenpad.

Just search this forum for "frankenpad", and you'll find all the scoop.

So there is no way to have a FX 570m/IPS? I could have sworn I saw one in a forum once.

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the 14.1" (4x3) were only built with nVidia NVS140m or Intel graphics. Most Frankenpad builders prefer the Intel boards anyway, so as to avoid the defective design in the NVS140m and 570m chips, that causes the layers of the chip to seperate.

Here's one of the threads: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=101626

A 14" (4:3) T61p board would have the 570 GPU but with only half of VRAM (128MB) when compared to a widescreen T61p planar...so any gain over the standard NVS140M would be rather minimal...

I have an FX570m frankenpad, they will out perform the NVS140m, but much of the difference can be made up if you (carefully) overclock your nvs chip. The nvs chip is purposefully underclocked to produce a reliable business class workhorse, but if you do force it to run faster you need to carefully watch the heat and be prepared to "pay the piper" if you end up frying it.

By the way, my FX570m frankenpad also has the X9000 CPU, very nice combination with an SSD, 8gb ram and a NOS UXGA screen, however I paid an obscene amount of money for my system board, so you'd probably want to go with an NVS board, just be careful, websites are flooded with reflowed/baked boards that ALL fail, usually within weeks, but if you can find one that has never failed and been well cared for, then there is a very good chance it will last for years. Many do prefer the intel graphics option, and I have one of them too, but with all the high end parts going into the build, I just couldn't see building it with integrated graphics. If it was a casual daily driver, then intel would be the best option, but not if you want to build a super laptop and not with an X9000 (in my opinion).