Thinking of buying a T61P w/ FX 570m

[DOSBrony]

I'm thinking of buying a T61p as an upgrade over my current T61. I'm mostly doing it for the FX 570m graphics in it, as I want to use this for portable gaming. I've found that the NVS 140m is laggy with many early 2000's titles, despite the graphics setting being on low and the nvidia control panel being configured for maximum performance. I know that I'm not going to be doing any hardcore gaming, but I'd at least like to have smooth gameplay on games made before 2006 on any settings. I also use it for school and multimedia. Would it be worth 120$, or should I just upgrade my current T61? (Or maybe get a different laptop for <150$?)

Here's the link to the one I am considering buying: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad ... 4ae0374fe9

Current T61 Type 6457-4XU specs:
Core 2 duo 2.2ghz
2gb RAM
320gb 5400rpm HDD
Nvidia Quadro NVS 140m
1680x1050 15.4" Screen (The screen can't get bright enough. What can I do to make it brighter?)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

[RealBlackStuff]

That eBay machine is from 2007, leave it be.
The GPU is guaranteed to crash on you sooner rather than later.
Only R61/T61 with nVidia from 08/08 (= 2008/August) or later can be trusted.

[dizmayed]

"Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit" . . .

Hmmm, quite an expensive version of the OS. Do many users actually buy that version? Don't know. I have seen a few TPs with Ultimate. All had counterfeit installs. That may or may not give you problems down the road.

Microsoft's little tool MGADiag.exe reports on the authenticity of the installed OS. Confusing to read but tells the story.

Perhaps I'm overly suspicious. Apologize.

dizmayed

[theterminator93]

True, any Ultimate version of the 6.x OS flavors would have me wondering the authenticity, especially since no T6x came with anything newer than Vista.

In any case, that T61p with the FX570m is indeed a ticking time bomb - there's no telling how long it will last you. Playing games will certainly accelerate the impending death of the GPU...

A T410/510 or T420/520 will give you good performance on games from that era with a little bit more of a "future proof" combo regarding CPU and GPU headroom (in particular those with the discrete GPU options). They'll cost a little more but you get a vastly superior CPU and a GPU that is 3-4 times more powerful than the old NVS 140m (and 1.5-2x more powerful than the FX570m).

[thinkpadcollection]

Ok, what about T60 x1400 and T60p firegl V5200/V5250 GPU performance vs FX570m and all discrete Tx10 and Tx20?

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

[ajkula66]

Ok, what about T60 x1400 and T60p firegl V5200/V5250 GPU performance vs FX570m and all discrete Tx10 and Tx20?

FX570M - in 256MB guise found in 15.4" systems - will leave ATi offerings from the T60/p era in dust.

Now, the discrete graphics seen in T410/420/510/520 are nothing to write home about but W510/520 is a whole another matter, and GPUs found in these will beat the living daylight out of the old 570M.

[brchan]

Not to mention that the fastest processors (T9500/T9300 or X9000) in a T61 is significantly faster and cooler running (T9500/T9300) than a T7600 will ever be for a T60. You can also get SATA II with T61 units. T60 to T61 might seem like an incremental upgrade at glance, but the latter can be much more powerful.

[CPC464]

An intermediate option between T61p and the newer core i ones would be the W500. Externally, it looks almost exactly like a T61p, they share battery, keyboard, screen...

It is extremely silent and cool, and supports up to 8Gb DDR3 (faster and cheaper to upgrade than the T61p's DDR2), and Penryn processors. It's performance is better than the one of the T61p, and it has got an Ati FireGL v5700 with 512Mb dedicated memory, switchable with the integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD.

I've had a T61p, and I still have and use a W500, one of my favorites.

And you have got some T500 options with wsxga+ and dedicated ATI HD3650 with 256Mb

IMHO a W500 or a high-end T500 are far better options than a T61p, and the price shouldn't rise too much with these.

[Medessec]

I would also recommend a W500 as well.

If you don't mind going widescreen, the W500 has roughly the same aesthetic as the T60/61, while having the later Core 2 Duo CPUs which are very beefy and keep up fairly well with any game, even recent ones. The ATI FireGL V5700 is... ATI, which isn't as good, but it's very capable and will definitely give something like the FX 570M a run for it's money. Plus, you won't have to worry about the NVIDIA issue. The ATI FireGL still runs hot though- and can fail if you don't take care of it... so regular laptop rules apply (dust the fan, replace fan if it makes noise or loses fins, replace thermal paste if you can)

W500s are also getting pretty inexpensive... $150 will buy you a decent one with the 1680x1050 display and T9400/2-4GB of RAM(would recommend 4 at least). I have a couple I can sell you right now...

[ajkula66]

IMHO a W500 or a high-end T500 are far better options than a T61p, and the price shouldn't rise too much with these.

I'm not necessarily certain that I'd completely agree with such an assessment.

T/W500 are a *safer* option than a T61p. If one needs graphics oomph, FX570M will still leave the sorry excuse for the GPU that is ATi in these system behind.

Let's not forget that the last true roll cage on the LCD was found in 15.4" T61/p.

RAM is cheaper. SATA II is native. All true for the *00 series. But the jump in performance is barely noticeable on the CPU side if one presumes no modding on either board.

For a real difference in performance, one needs to move onto Core i machines, and that's where we lost the 16:10 aspect on 15" ThinkPads.

[Medessec]

I'm not necessarily certain that I'd completely agree with such an assessment.

T/W500 are a *safer* option than a T61p.

I would agree that finding a 15.4" Wide T61p would be a far better bet than getting a W500... although, they're tougher to find in the correct spec, and you have to look out for one that isn't pre 08/08. I recall that they float dangerously close to the W500/T500 prices as well, because people want them.

I'd rather have a T61p 15.4" if it was me in your position... needing a main laptop for older moderate gaming, but a W500 will suit you just fine, and it takes away a lot of challenge and worry on finding a good one. As long as it has the "W" as in W500, and not T500, you're getting a T9400/9600(unless someone manually swapped CPUs), ATI FireGL V5700(which is basically a Mobility Radeon HD 3650, a very nice mobile GPU for the time), and a 1680x1050, with a good chance of even getting a 1920x1200 screen.

Either way, if you want either... your proposed maximum of $150 is probably what you'd be expecting to spend... and if you want a good one, maybe pitch in a bit on top of that.

[Khipata]

T500 with 1920x1200 screen and discrete ATI GPU hands down. You can also upgrade CPU later up to T9900.
I know, I am typing on one right now and you can play Crisis on medium settings or Supreme Commander Forged Alliance on maximum settings
Not bad for that old laptop, huh? And you can buy used T500 for around $150 or less;)

[Cigarguy]

IMO, the unit you're looking at is a ticking time bomb, pricey, runs hot and is power hungry. My FX 570 T61 doesn't get much use because it runs too hot and drain the batteries too quickly to be practical on the road while at home I prefer a desktop.

[Medessec]

T500 with 1920x1200 screen and discrete ATI GPU hands down. You can also upgrade CPU later up to T9900.
I know, I am typing on one right now and you can play Crisis on medium settings or Supreme Commander Forged Alliance on maximum settings
Not bad for that old laptop, huh? And you can buy used T500 for around $150 or less;)

Forged Alliance on max settings? Dang... most of the time on W500s I get in, they struggle to run medium to high settings without framerate stuttering and temperature problems. SC: FA is a pretty good stress test game, because if you spam Tech 2 units and have a big honkin' battle on anything past a 20x20 map, it abuses the heck out of both the machine's CPU and GPU.

Also... YEEEAH! SC: FA! Best RTS ever.

[Khipata]

Medessec, brother

You are absolutely right, even my W520 with quad-core CPU and M2000 GPU struggles on max settings with giant maps, but come on, we are talking T500 here, $150-ish thinkpad

When I said MAX settings, of course, I meant tiny maps and not too many units

SC:FG is the best RTS ever in my opinion too.

On T500 I would really recommend Empire Earth and expansion The Art Of Conquest. Great game and heck, I even play it on my Getac V100 (first generation, single-core and non-existent dedicated Video RAM) on max settings

You can install and play it even on X40 (medium settings of course).

And one more honorable mention: Blitzkrieg and Blitzkrieg 2. T500 is God sent for that game