Thinkpads Forum

Hey all,

Just a quick question regarding switching CPU's in a T61p. I would have the chance to get myself one with very good specs, but it only comes with a 2ghz Merom C2D which I'd like to switch for a faster Penrym CPU only I'm not entirely sure will it work correctly. I've read conflicting reports from the 'net that you either cannot at all, or you can but it won't work correctly and you get the thermal sensing error on boot, which can be removed with a custom BIOS, however they also state you still wont have "full Penryn support" whatever that means due to the mobo not being made to handle the Penryn architecture. Can you guys shed a little light on this matter? For what's it's worth, the machine is a 6459-CTO, can't tell you mobo code unfortunetly.

Also I've read that regular T61's can have problems with the GPU dying early, is that possible with the p's Quadro FX 570M too?

I apoligize if this has been asked before, couldn't find any straight answers via search.

thinkpadhole wrote: or you can but it won't work correctly and you get the thermal sensing error on boot, which can be removed with a custom BIOS, however they also state you still wont have "full Penryn support"

This is correct. With that said, Merom boards work fine with Penryn CPUs once Middleton's BIOS is flashed. I'd just stay away from gaming on a nVidia-based Merom planar.

For what's it's worth, the machine is a 6459-CTO, can't tell you mobo code unfortunetly.

Do you know the production date code on the bottom of the system? Anything past January of 2008 is likely to be a native Penryn board, regardless of the CPU that the machine shipped with.

Also I've read that regular T61's can have problems with the GPU dying early, is that possible with the p's Quadro FX 570M too?

Yes. The defect which is *within the chip itself* affects all nVidia GPUs from that era, be it on a ThinkPad, Mac, Dell, HP...

Thanks for the reply. I'd still like to know what problems will arise from the Penryn CPU on a Merom board aside from ones that can be circumvented with Middleton's BIOS, I'd atleast assume any Penryn would in all cases be better than even the fastest Merom due to larger CPU cache?

The date stamp on the bottom of the machine appears to be 07/08. I just assumed it's a Merom model due to it having a T7300 CPU and I doubt it's been thinkered with since it's an off lease ex-business machine.

Bummer about the GPU, now I'm kind of doubting about getting it since I wouldn't like to have the laptop die on me any time soon, even though it will be mostly for light WinXP work.

That's a 2007/August machine, prone to eventually snuff it.
However, putting in a T9300 (the best option) will make the machine run cooler.
So other than ca. $30 for the CPU, it'd be a cheap great improvement.

You MUST add the Middleton BIOS before you you put in the Penryn CPU.
Other than that, absolutely no problems.
I have done that at least 50 times by now.

thinkpadhole wrote:Thanks for the reply. I'd still like to know what problems will arise from the Penryn CPU on a Merom board aside from ones that can be circumvented with Middleton's BIOS, I'd atleast assume any Penryn would in all cases be better than even the fastest Merom due to larger CPU cache?

Well, it's really not all that simple BUT a Penryn will run cooler, which would be my preference for a system of this nature.

The date stamp on the bottom of the machine appears to be 07/08. I just assumed it's a Merom model due to it having a T7300 CPU

I've owned numerous machines that had a Penryn board but a Merom CPU. However, anything from 2007 - presuming that the board is still the original one - is Merom only.

Bummer about the GPU, now I'm kind of doubting about getting it since I wouldn't like to have the laptop die on me any time soon, even though it will be mostly for light WinXP work.

If the machine is in good physical shape and very inexpensive, go for it. If not...I'd pass.

Good luck.

Thanks for the clarification guys. Not sure anymore do I want to sink a total of 200€ on a machine that will undoubtly eventualy die on me and would be just a curiosity item, but I guess that's Lenovo for you. Oh well, maybe I'll have a look at the t400/500.

thinkpadhole wrote: Not sure anymore do I want to sink a total of 200€ on a machine that will undoubtly eventualy die on me and would be just a curiosity item, but I guess that's Lenovo for you.

Well, every machine will eventually die as will its owner... ...and as I've previously stated the nVidia bug affected an entire generation of laptops built at the time, not just ThinkPads.

T400/500 are decent systems generally speaking although my opinion is that T61/p had a better build quality than these.

Happy shopping.

Yes you are correct of course, but I'm fairly certain my T42 will outlive me by hundres of years easily, those things were built like to survive an atomic war if not a couple

Never really liked nVidia over ATI and there's even more reason not to...

Yes, I've read about some of the problems with the T400/500 series, but IMO not having no inherent design flaws (atleast that I know of) otherwise that will crap the system prematurely will outweight those issues by far.

thinkpadhole wrote:but I'm fairly certain my T42 will outlive me by hundres of years easily, those things were built like to survive an atomic war if not a couple

You do realize that thousands of these machines died due to BGA soldering issue on both GPU and SouthBridge and cost IBM millions of dollars in planar swaps under warranty...

Yes, I've read about some of the problems with the T400/500 series, but IMO not having no inherent design flaws (atleast that I know of) otherwise that will crap the system prematurely will outweight those issues by far.

Prematurely...

The youngest T61/p system will be 8 years old around Christmas time, and the *00 series aren't all that much younger.

For your intended use - at least the way I understand it - any of these machines will do just fine.

Happy shopping.