Thinkpads Forum

I have a quick question: Has anyone ever done a 14" T60/60p 4:3 Frankenpad mod(the traditional put a T61p mobo in a T60 chassis)? I've never seen one... and I kinda like the 14" T60p's smaller, slicker looking profile over the broader 15" models. Is it a general preference to do a 15" Frankenpad...? I assume so, for the IPS screens.

I've been thinking of trying the Frankenpad mod myself for some time, the issue is that the only T60s/T60ps I get in at the moment are perfectly good ones... so I just end up putting T7200s in them, installing Windows 7 and then sending them on their merry way.

You could just buy 14.1 4:3 T61p?

Wow. I didn't know they made any T61ps in the 4:3 format... and they have the Quadro gfx and everything? Because I figured the 15" Frankenpads were used to get the Socket P for Penryn and Quadro FX 570 gfx in a T60p 4:3 chassis... I wasn't aware there were 14" T61ps. But... there has to be some limitation or downside to them, in contrast to the Frankenpads, if I haven't heard much about them...?

I also imagine they're very desireable, and therefore... very pricey.

It should be not so hard to do if you slightly modify the T60 roll cage in a few spots to properly host the T61 mainboard. Your best bet would be to also use a T61 roll cage, though, as this should avoid the need for any mechanical modifications of the roll cage. Also, don't forget that the T61 display lid actually has an advantage over the T60 one, as the former has also an additional roll cage embedded, which accounts for the perceived increased bulkiness of the T61. Form follows function, and the increased sturdiness of the T61 display lid is therefore rather a plus than a minus, IMHO.

I did a few T61+ Frankenpad conversions because i basically just wanted to equip my existing T61 with the superior Boe Hydis UXGA Flexview display while they could still be had brand new. Said that, after i created the above mentioned T61+ machines (one for daily use and another safely stashed away as a fallback), i used the remaining parts to build a T60+ consisting of the 14.1" T60 mainboard withing the leftover 14.1" T61 chassis. So my perspective is viewing at the whole thing from a T61 angle and, frankly, i wouldn't bother upgrading a 14.1" T60 with a T61 mainboard if i could just buy a T61 of the same size instead.

Anyway, as before for its larger brethren, I only had to modify the T61 roll cage in a few spots to have it match the T60 mainboard, and the reverse should be more or less the same. The result was not really worth the hassle because of the inferior screen and the limited CPU/RAM capabilities, but at least it gave the remaining parts some utility in the hand of a grateful family member with more modest computing needs than mine.

If you are mostly looking for better performance, be advised that adding a SSD to any of the above mentioned machines gave them a whole new lease on life. More than any other potential parts upgrade, be it more RAM or a faster CPU, the addition of a SSD immediately improved the perceived data processing by leaps and bounds. SSD's impressively increase the I/O processing by multiple factors, thus finally getting rid of the typical one single last remaining bottleneck. Very recommended!

By the way, don't be fooled into buying any T61 with any Nvidia GPU, as these are destined to fail one day or another due to a manufacturing fault on behalf of Nvidia. Been there, suffered that. Search the forum for "nvidia bug T61" for further information.

I've actually done some more reading up on this... apparently the T61p 4:3s were special order, making them a bit rare. On top of that, they were made early on, so the gfx chips in them have less memory and suffer from the NVIDIA card fault that rumbero mentioned. I have seen info on that.

I suppose this shows why making the 15" Frankies are a bit more appealing and easy on the wallet. It seems the mainboards from the T61p widescreens fit just fine in the 15" T60 chassis, allowing you to get the later, more fit Quadro cards.

There is the option if the Intel-based T61ps, but... that's a compromise. I don't like compromising...

Medessec wrote:...apparently the T61p 4:3s were special order...

There were about 140 different versions of the 14.1" 4:3 T61p, all in the 8889-xxx or 8890-xxx TYPE range.
They only have half of the graphics RAM (128MB nVIDIA Quadro FX 570M) of their 15.4" WS counterparts with 256MB.
I wouldn't touch them.

Medessec wrote:...It seems the mainboards from the T61p widescreens fit just fine in the 15" T60 chassis...

Are you talking 14.1" 4:3, 14.1" widescreen, or 15.4" widescreen?

Are you talking 14.1" 4:3, 14.1" widescreen, or 15.4" widescreen?

Not certain exactly which widescreen T61p, if that's what you're asking... but basically I just recall reading that T61p widescreen mobos will work in the 15" T60/60p 4:3 chassis. From what I now know, I probably wouldn't touch any of those 4:3 T61ps either, they just seem a bit less worth having than even a standard T60p 4:3, with the V5250 and T7600(which I have, and it's absolutely fantastic).

But I've also seen in what I read that every different screen size of T61p, the roll cage is different and the motherboard is different, to the point where some cheap modding or botching may have to come into play to fit the motherboards in a new chassis. Hopefully this either isn't true or is as bad as it sounds... I don't like screwing up a big thing I try the first time, I'd hate for that to occur with a Frankenpad attempt.

But my T7600 T60p is a 15", and although it isn't absolutely beastly... the 14" T60/60ps I've had in look a bit more sleek, so I'm just wondering what are the possibilities in getting a 14" 4:3 beyond a Merom T7600 and V5250 chip, without resorting to hardware that will be exceedingly rare/horrendously unreliable.

Medessec wrote:...I just recall reading that T61p widescreen mobos will work in the 15" T60/60p 4:3 chassis.

Well, your recall is wrong. None of the widescreen boards will fit into a 4X3 chassis of any kind. It's the motherboard from a 4X3 T61 that will fit, with some modifications, into a 4X3 T60 chassis.

The reason for the Frankenpad is the Flexview display. There was never a T61 built (by Lenovo) with a Flexview screen. If you want a 14" T61, then like has already been said, just buy one.

I got a chance to buy a 14.1 T61p two weeks ago for a reasonable (some may say very cheap) money and it has a known history (purchased new locally, worked well) and definitely not a "baked" chip.

At the moment I'm using it with 4 GB RAM, 128MB Crucial C300 SSD, T8300 CPU and the 128MB Quadro FX 570M is MUCH faster than NVS140M (about 40-50% average) and slower than 256 MB version by ~25-35% (3DMark2006). I am very satisfied with its speed and plan to overclock the CPU to 1066FSB + overclock the graphics memory by some margin (with cooling solution) since this is the real bottleneck. At the same time undervolt the GPU to lower the temperature so this will be a killer Frankenpad with UXGA LED LCD when I will get the 15" T60 chassis.

Raceboy wrote:.....and it has a known history (purchased new locally, worked well) and definitely not a "baked" chip.

^^^^^*THIS* is the key.

I've taken a similar route when building a QXGA FrankenPad, and was very happy that I did...the board wasn't a "p" one, but came from a well-kept, one-known-owner-never-abused, Penryn T61 unit with NVS140M...

Hmm... alright.

Thanks for the info guys. As for buying a T61p 4:3, I may look into it... but it seems for reliability, the NVS140M is the best option, but for the best performance, the Quadro chip.

Thing is... I use my laptops for gaming on occasion, and other than that I run Folding@Home on my machines(if you don't know what that is... google it), and it puts the CPU on full load when I'm not using the computer.

Of course, all the 14" T60ps I get in have never had overheating issues, or problems related to such strain. And my 15", I take it to school for work, and browsing the web and research, but after that I put it on a cooling pad and run the full F@H client on it and leave it until I take it to school again.

I'd like to get a machine where I can be confident of putting it through this strain, and it won't be phased. It just sounds like the Quadro chipped 4:3 T61ps, regardless of the history, will eventually play fate with the Quadro chip issue unless it happens to be a Lenovo warranty replacement.

For reliability, the Intel GPU is better (yes, there exist 4:3 T61's with Intel GPU). Performance for games may not be adequate, though.

dr_st wrote:For reliability, the Intel GPU is better (yes, there exist 4:3 T61's with Intel GPU). Performance for games may not be adequate, though.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=107363