Thinkpads Forum

Just recieved a t61 and I had believed it was an intel integrated graphics laptop, since there were no ATI or nvidia stickers on it. Turns out it's an nvidia machine, so I'm a little worried that it will fail. I read that models after 2008 were more reliable but looking around here it seems like most of them do fail? I doubt there are any nvidia gpus that will work with it that are easy to obtain and still it would be very difficult to perform a replacement in mine if it did fail. Are there any gpu bios revision numbers or indicators of how much newer it is?

Being a machine manufactured in April, it's not likely the GPU core is of the revised variety unless the machine was repaired under warranty after the defect period. You can check the date code on the GPU core itself, but there's not an established date by which anyone seems to have a solid answer to when the transition to the revised design was implemented.

Also keep in mind - just because a chip was manufactured during the defect period doesn't mean it WILL fail. Prevent excessive heat and reduce the number of heat cycles... and in all likeliness the GPU will outlast the usefulness of the machine. Both my T61p laptops (my personal workhorse that I bought new in 10/07 and use daily as well as a unit I pieced together from spare parts a couple years ago) have "defective" FX 570m chips and are still operational.

Okay, thanks for the information. I plan on opening it up anyways since I have a t60 and the hinges on the t61 are horrible and I was going to switch them or I may even just move the motherboard into my t60.

gnawzie wrote: I plan on opening it up anyways since I have a t60 and the hinges on the t61 are horrible and I was going to switch them or I may even just move the motherboard into my t60.

I'd just move the entire T60 lid onto the T61 frame and call it a day, presuming that they're both 14" (4:3) units.