Motherboard swap - t61p -> t60p 15.0 - boards compatibility

[kaamil1984]

Hi guys.

I have to replace motherboard in my t60p 2008-FBG (15.0). I have read on this forum, that some motherboards from t61p will fit into t60(p) 15.0 chassis.

I don't want to buy t61p, because i want to keep my precious FlexView, and t61p generally sux. It doesn't look like real old school ThinkPad). New ThinkPads are even worse... So i want to keep my t60p and put fastest possible hardware inside.

1. Can i find motherboard->chassis compatibility table or swap guide for noob modders somewhere? I found 2 board FRU's, that will fit my notebook for sure, but i cant find it in my country.

2. Can i put T9900 CPU into t61p motherboard, or only 800MHz FSB processors are supported?

3. Can i put Q9xxx CPU (core 2 quad) in t61p motherboard? (lets say i don't care, if it will run on FSB 800 instead of 1066)

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

1) Plenty of threads on FrankenPadding in the T6x section. Do some reading.

2) No.

3) No.

[kaamil1984]

1) And that is the problem. There are plenty of threads. Too much for me. English is my third language.

I was searching what the hell is "mobo" for 40 minutes...

Sorry that im asking about something that was wrote many times, but its really hard to find what i want in these looong threads. I thought that someone somewhere wrote something like FAQ about this and someone will show me where is this.

I can buy 42w7867 board (14.1 16:916:10)... looks similar to mine t60p board, but i cant find anything about 42w7867 board on forum...

[ajkula66]

No.

You need a board from a 4:3 unit, not a 16:10...there were never any 16:9 T61 machines...

[kaamil1984]

Thanks so much.

Now im trying to find FRU's for t61p 4:3 boards with new CPU support and Nvidia 570...

I found only some dead links on forum

[TuuS]

Hi, the 4:3 boards with FX570 aren't cheap and nearly everyone you'll find online that has been removed from a laptop was done so for good reason (research nVidia failure). These failed boards are improperly fixed and dumped onto websites like ebay and others. Once the chip fails, any repairs on it will typically last only weeks, often less. The only way I source these boards is from complete fully working corporate laptops, and only after a week of testing would I consider them a candidate to source a board. The NVS140m nVidia graphics are more common and cheaper, but do suffer the same issues and risks. I use nVidia boards in all my frankenpads, but if you want powerful graphics, you have to accept the risk that comes with them, as there were none manufactured with the newer updated gpu chips.

For this reason many opt for the Intel graphics. The integrated X3100 isn't a bad chip, and in combination with the T61's SATA2, 8gb ram limit, and faster cpu support, they are far superior then any T60/T60p boards available.

I currently have some Intel, and some NVS140m boards available, but no FX570m, they usually sell as fast as I can get them, which isn't very often.

[Raceboy]

And actually you can use 1066 MHz FSB CPU's on T61 by overclocking FSB on T61 via PLL mod: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=106595

Regarding gaming performance, the Intel X3100 is nowhere near V5200 or even X1400. Since I use the Flexview machine two of 3 times a year on lanparties (Call of Duty 1-4) it is sort of important to me and at the moment I'm in the progress of making a Frankenpad myself with UXGA LED LCD panel and therefore not even considering the Intel board.
I am probably going for NVS140M board (can get locally entire barebones machine with 3 month warranty for a reasonable price) and see how it performs against V5200. Mods done by Binh (see the link I posted above) help with temperatures and stability and I plan to overclock it a bit too.

I'll use T8300 overclocked to 266 FSB (3.2 GHz).

[TuuS]

Raceboy, I consider your word gospel on these things, and I do agree that any discrete gpu chip with it's own memory will trump an integrated gpu, but the intel x3100 really is a good chip. In order to properly compare them, you'd can't use a game that is written to use a specific discrete gpu and compare it to another that isn't supported and is forced to render the graphics the hard way, but some games do support the Intel x3100 and they run very well on it.

Personally I agree with you, my two frankenpads have FX570m and NVS140m gpu chips, and I love them both, but I would still much prefer a T61 with x3100 integrated over any of the T60 boards. I was never really impressed with even the ATI FireGL5250, and I even prefer the nVidia graphics over the T500/W500 with ATI graphics. I'm not one to do a lot of benchmark testing, or even research it, I just go by what works for me, and what doesn't, and the ATI is a very stable system, but I'm just not the crazy about the performance they offer.

Of course this is just my opinion

[Raceboy]

I just know from a presonal experience that I could play CoD: Modern Warfare with V5200/T7400 combo but I couldn't play it at all with X3100/T9300 combo

What I really would like to do is buy W510 (cheaper than W700 series) and transplant a 15.6 IPS panel from HP or similar to it and have a killer machine.

Not a 4:3 system but a very nice lanparty/entertainment system.

[TuuS]

I just know from a presonal experience that I could play CoD: Modern Warfare with V5200/T7400 combo but I couldn't play it at all with X3100/T9300 combo

Those games are specifically written to support the ATI chipset and not the Intel, but I do agree if gaming is your passion, then you want discrete graphics.

There are websites/blogs dedicated to what games do support the x3100 and similar intel gpu chips. Many work nicely.

What I really would like to do is buy W510 (cheaper than W700 series) and transplant a 15.6 IPS panel from HP or similar to it and have a killer machine.

Not a 4:3 system but a very nice lanparty/entertainment system.

I agree, which is the core reason I got a 17" HP system myself. I'm not sure if the screens can be interchanged, I do fear it could fry parts if the pinouts are different and at very least the screen may need to be reflashed. The 17" HP WVA screen is essentially similar to the 15" uxga flexview, same vertical size and pixels but with a lot of additional horizontal realestate. Not sure if I'd want more vertical space, anything taller and it wouldn't be a laptop anymore imo.

For the smaller models, I think I'd prefer a 15.4" with 16:10 over the 15.6" with 16:9, and it could be done in a T61 or T500, as well as R or W series.