Thinkpads Forum

November 2010 to be exact. I've made mistakes reading these numbers before, but I've never done it on the actual GPU. Would the top right sequence be the correct one to look at? It's the only one that makes sense.

ajkula66 wrote:No.

Your chip is missing the actual date code, which should be in the middle of it...

Dang. I'm glad I asked. Thanks for the response. Based on your reaction, I take this isn't common?

Edit: I'm comparing it to other chips that I found on Google Images, and none of them seem to have any more numbers than mine. Do you happen to have an example of where the date should be located?

deleted.

ajkula66 wrote:

scl23enn4m3 wrote:Dang. I'm glad I asked. Thanks for the response. Based on your reaction, I take this isn't common?

TuuS would be the one to ask, but I've never seen something quite like what your picture shows, and I've gone through my fair share of T61/p machines and then some...

Gotchya. Thanks for your input!

Looking around the web I've bumped into a few images of chips that resemble yours.

Might have something to do by where they were manufactured specifically, since there was more than one plant involved.

Let's wait for Mr. TuuS since I'm getting confused here, and being as tired as I am I'm starting to question everything which is not good...

Your reading of the date is correct, but this isn't conclusive that your gpu was actually produced on that date since we have seen a flood of Fake chips from China that have been used on 3rd party refurbished boards. It's believed these are old chips that have had the dates polished off and new ones etched on. This has been a common practice for decades and hasn't been a major problem until they started using defective chips or rebranding chips to imply they were military grade. However if your board was supplied by ibm/lenovo and carries this date, then you can be pretty sure it's a new GPU. I'd suggest pulling the bottom cover and looking for an orange "serviceable used part" sticker which would mean that the board is most likely a genuine lenovo refurb and has had the chip replaced.

These chips haven't been mass produced since 2008 and manufacturing them in small quantities is very expensive so nVidia only makes them as needed and only for OEM partners, this has created a demand for chips and perhaps the reason why the chinese knock-offs have flooded the market.

Thanks for chiming in on this thread TuuS. That's really messed up regarding the fake chips. I didn't even think scams like that were possible in this day and age. Then again I guess I shouldn't be too surprised as everything else seems to have been already faked.

Thankfully I'm the original owner and everything was replaced under warranty straight from Lenovo, so I'd say chances are slim it's a fake. I'll take the board completely out today and look for that sticker. Any chance the FRU would be located on that sticker? Thanks again!

If the board was installed by lenovo, then it's a good chip. As far as I know they don't source boards on taobao or ebay, so you have nothing to worry about.

The FRU on replacement boards is usually under the ram modules and is most likely 44c3931 for a 15.4" T61p, or perhaps a 43y9048.

TuuS wrote:If the board was installed by lenovo, then it's a good chip. As far as I know they don't source boards on taobao or ebay, so you have nothing to worry about.

The FRU on replacement boards is usually under the ram modules and is most likely 44c3931 for a 15.4" T61p, or perhaps a 43y9048.

Spot on TuuS! 44c3931 hiding right under the so-dimms. Penryn upgrade it is then.