Thinkpads Forum

With the Nvidia problem, how much is too much to pay for a T61 with nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M? Throw out $$ numbers on what one with 1680x1050 15.4" screen would be worth with a 2.0ghz processor. Things like 80GB-100GB hard drives and Lenovo power supplies included.

I know it's a crap shoot with these T61 series with Nvidia graphics. Sooner or later the GPU will die on them.

Hans Gruber wrote:With the Nvidia problem, how much is too much to pay for a T61 with nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M?

There's no "one size fits all answer" here.

A Penryn-era system is safer than a Merom one. Known history of previous user's habits is a big plus. Overall condition of the machine can give a hint on how it was treated in general. Etc.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't buy a Merom-era unit unless I knew the owner personally.

Sooner or later the GPU will die on them.

Well, given the age of these systems GPU might not even be the first thing to go. The machines that are still standing may keep on running for quite some time, given the low failure rate that I've experienced with nVidia-based FrankenPads.

So $50 for Mermon T61 with Nvidia cards and 1680x1050 resolution and power supply. Is that too much to pay or worth the risk?

Is there a difference between the T61p and the T61 if both have nvidia graphics? Is the failure rate the same on both the T61 and T61p with discrete graphics?

There are differences between T61 and T61p. Among them are that the T61p came with only a Quadro FX 570M whereas T61 can have any one of the three (Intel/NVS/Quadro). T61p had higher minimum screen resolutions as well. You won't find a T61p with a paltry 1280x800 display...

ANY nVidia T61 or T61p made before 08/08 is potentially nVidia defect material. Failure of any potentially-defective chip containing system is HIGHLY dependent on use, so it's very hard to quantify results of failure rates on one vs. the other since your average T61p user would probably push it harder than the average T61 user.

I've seen both T61p and T61 systems go due to nVidia failure. Both my T61p systems exhibit "defective" GPUs and still work; one which I've had in nearly continuous service since the day I received it from Lenovo back in 2007...

BTW - it's Merom, not "mermon".

Last 2 T61 with Nvidia GPU pre 8/8 I paid $50 Cdn each which is worth it for me. I knew what I was getting into. Considering this is vintage 2008, these machines have lasted a long time and is still useful. Can't say that about many consumer laptops of newer vintage. I have 4 T61 that is a ticking time bomb but I'm not worried, when one dies I'll transplant the SSD, HDD, RAM, battery, CPU and memory to the next one and carry on. Number 1 of 4 have is still going strong after 2 years of weekly use.

These are the two (below) I know I have coming in the mail. I have another one coming that is probably Nvidia graphics with a Penryn motherboard from 2008 and a T9300 processor. I don't have the complete specs on that machine because it's a CTO model #. All 3 are 15.4" widescreen. My other T61 is a 14" widescreen with integrated graphics.

6457-6NU T7300(2GHz), 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1680x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11agn(n-disabled), Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, WinXP Pro

6457-4UU T7300(2GHz), 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1680x1050 LCD, 128MB nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11agn(n-disabled), Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business

I needed a couple of Lenovo chargers and some DDR2 ram for a future T42/T43p project thinkpads. So I picked up the two above because they came with power supplies.

I have a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. Perhaps I will put that on one of these T61 systems. I will probably upgrade the CPU's at a later date and time. I simply wanted backup machines should the graphics cards fail.

It seems the T61p uses the nVIDIA Quadro FX 570M GPU. My question is the failure rate equal between the T61 and T61p or about equal on these Nvidia GPU's?

Hans Gruber wrote:I needed a couple of Lenovo chargers and some DDR2 ram for a future T42/T43p project thinkpads. So I picked up the two above because they came with power supplies.

The T4x series and T6x series don't use the same power supply, FYI.

theterminator93 wrote:

Hans Gruber wrote:I needed a couple of Lenovo chargers and some DDR2 ram for a future T42/T43p project thinkpads. So I picked up the two above because they came with power supplies.

The T4x series and T6x series don't use the same power supply, FYI.

I have 3 IBM power supplies for T43's. I have a 4th somewhere in boxes that I have yet to find. I needed a few extra power supplies for T61/T500/T410/T410s models. The ram is the same on the T43 and T61.

Ah, very good. The way I read what you posted made it sound like you needed the extra power supplies from the T6x for the T4x.

T43 was the first to use DDR2; PC2-4200 I believe. T60/T61 were the other DDR2 T-series ThinkPads.

Hans Gruber wrote:My question is the failure rate equal between the T61 and T61p or about equal on these Nvidia GPU's?

Yes, seems to be. Doesn't matter whether it's a ThinkPad or some other manufacturer...all those chips from before 08/08 were defective, and thus can fail.

Neil wrote:

Hans Gruber wrote:My question is the failure rate equal between the T61 and T61p or about equal on these Nvidia GPU's?

Yes, seems to be. Doesn't matter whether it's a ThinkPad or some other manufacturer...all those chips from before 08/08 were defective, and thus can fail.

A $50 for a running Penryn system in reasonable shape is something I'd pay any day of the week.

Lenovo started applying "new" chips in February of 2008, but was also putting in the "old" ones until August.

I don't think that anyone knows what the real failure rates of these machines were. With that being said *61 series are still extremely usable daily drivers...at pennies for dollar...

The T61 architecture is so old at this point, why not just put any money you were going to spend towards a t520?

These have just come off lease and you can get a good deal on one. You can get the high gamut 1080p LCD for any T510/T520/T530 and while viewing angles are not as good as the flexview on the

t60s the brightness is far superior and it is LED so it will not fade much over time.

I think that the modern intel integrated graphics, i.e. HD3000 and HD4000 surpass those old nvidia chips anyway.