T61P Revitalize

[uxbod]

Hello,

I have an old T61P WideScreen, which I love, but it does need a little TLC I think so am looking for some advice. I guess the first step would be to take it apart and clean the fans etc as it does get hot underneath on the left hand side of the keyboard. The HDD also feels extremely sluggish so I believe should be replaced with a nice shiny SSD; thoughts on which brand to consider ? When I install an SSD is there a modded BIOS for the T61P that would increase the transfer speeds ?

Any other advice to bring my beauty back to life would be very appreciated.

Thank you.

[ajkula66]

Good train of thoughts...my course of action would be, apart from cleaning the fan and re-applying the thermal paste:

a) Install Middleton's BIOS (Google for it, and make sure it's the appropriate version for your widescreen unit)

b) A nice SSD: Samsung 830 or 840 Pro, Crucial M4 or C300

c) More RAM if so required...will also depend on what OS you're running and what your user patterns are.

Happy upgrading.

[Cigarguy]

^^^ I agree. An upgraded T61p is still a very viable computing platform. Definitely worth it.

[TuuS]

Great machines, but if the build date is prior to 08/08 (2008/august), definitely keep the an eye on the temperatures. I'd recommend using some Arctic Silver #5 thermal paste on your cpu/gpu chips, compared to some of the cheaper alternatives it will keep your processors running several degrees cooler. I'd also avoid unnecessary heat cycling, in other words, don't turn it on/off more then necessary and avoid letting it enter standby.

Definitely good advice for using an SSD and the middleton bios

[uxbod]

Thanks for all the great tips I have flashed the BIOS with the Middleton firmware so that is one bit out of the way. With respect to the SSD I presume there is no problem installing a SATA III one as it will provide back level support for SATA II ? Thanks.

[DaKKS]

Thanks for all the great tips I have flashed the BIOS with the Middleton firmware so that is one bit out of the way. With respect to the SSD I presume there is no problem installing a SATA III one as it will provide back level support for SATA II ? Thanks.

Yes, sata is backwards compatible all the way.

[Cigarguy]

Nope, no problem at all using the latest SSD. I don't even concern myself with brand. I go for the cheapest available in the capacity that I need. I've used a SSD from almost every brand and have not experienced any failure yet. No biggie when a SSD fail. The only thing loaded on my SSDs is the OS and programs which are all expendable while all my data is backed up in triplicate.

[cadillacmike68]

Nope, no problem at all using the latest SSD. I don't even concern myself with brand. I go for the cheapest available in the capacity that I need. I've used a SSD from almost every brand and have not experienced any failure yet. No biggie when a SSD fail. The only thing loaded on my SSDs is the OS and programs which are all expendable while all my data is backed up in triplicate.

Only Triplicate? Try quadruplicate!

[TuuS]

When an SSD does fail, they tend to give no warning at all. A HDD will usually show signs of failure long before it dies allowing you to backup your data. I guess you can say this is the cost of performance, you lose reliability, but some SSDs have a much better proven track record. I personally like the Intel 320 series. I tend to go with what works for me, change isn't always a good thing. I've also used samsung and they are good too. Intel also has cheaper versions, hopefully they prove to be as good as my trusty 320 series. When I buy a drive, price isn't really a concern, the top three concerns for me are...

1. reliability
2. reliability
3. reliability

Number 4 would probably be performance and price would be in there somewhere, but not near the top.

This is my opinion, and I respect opinions that differ.

[DaKKS]

In theory, TuuS, I agree with you. The system drive must be the most reliable of them all.

In practice, not so much. If you have a properly managed system with solid backups that wont crap out on you. You can survive a week without an SSD while your RMA it. It wont pose an issue aside from the five minutes it takes to swap out the drive for a spare.

Although, it all comes back to the first, doesn't it? The average user wont keep OCD type backups. It his/her system drive fails, he/she is buggered. So yeah, i suppose it all depends on the user.

[Cigarguy]

I respectfully disagree TuuS. How is a device which fails differently than another device affects reliability? It's just a different characteristic not a function of how reliable it is. You should NEVER hear any noise from a SSD but a HDD can sometimes get noisy.

As I said, I personally have about 9 SSDs in all my various systems and never had one failed on me. Like HDDs, some day they will all fail. Nothing lasts forever. When it does I will have gotten my money's worth, see it as an excuse to reload everything and move on.

As for SSD reliability, faulty early Sandforce 22XX firmware aside, you do not hear of a lot of people complaining that their SSD have been dropping dead left, right and center. Sure there's a lot of, IMO, unproven hype that brand X, X1, is more reliable than others but in my experience the "others" have been pretty darn good. As for the Sandforce 22xx early firmware, I would consider that more of a firmware bug rather than a reliability issue. I've suffered through this with my Corsair Force 3. After the firmware fix which was released about a year ago, this SSD have been working as reliability my my two Samsung 830 and Intel 520.

[Mazdarese]

My T61p has gone:

2GB - 8GB RAM
160GB Mechanical disk - Samsung 840 SSD
T7300 - T9300 CPU

Windows 8 and it absolutely flies. Love it!

[DaKKS]

R61 with T8100, x3100, 4gb ram, ocz vertex 3 128 and windows 8. Runs like a dream. These buggers still have what it takes.

[farmall]

You can survive a week without an SSD while your RMA it.

That's what spare T61s and spare hard disks are for.

Any part of any computer can die without warning, so have more computers, organ donors, spare parts, service manuals, downloaded disassembly/reassembly videos......

[Oglon3r]

Guys you guys can always get a Hybrid HDD.
Here's what I got and I love it.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus- ... B00691WMJG
You can feel the difference in both 7, 8 and Kubuntu.