Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone!

I have the option to get a T60 relatively cheap and would like to replace the built-in Intel Core Solo T1300 processor with a Core 2 Duo T7200. Now, I've read that peole either had success in replacing the CPUs on this laptop or had problems afterwards, I've also read that a revision 3 motherboard was necessary for this swap.

Since I can't return this laptop to the seller unfortunately, I would like to know for sure that the upgrade will work (except if the processor is defective or something gets damaged while swapping the CPU, of course, which I hope will not happen).

I had the chance to look at the machine and take a few screenshots of the hardware specs, which I posted down below. Now, I am unsure if this is considered a revision 2 or 3 motherboard and if all parts would be compatible, but what are the chances that this particular machine will take a Core 2 Duo besides being fitted with only a Core Solo at this point?


Kind regards!


https://i.imgur.com/qNNjLOw.png
https://i.imgur.com/ybLm1AI.png

Welcome to the forum!

There's one way to find out whether the intended upgrade will work or not, and that's to actually perform it. Having said that, there are two things that one should bear in mind:

1) Upgrading the BIOS to the latest one (2.27 I believe) with the current CPU in place would be advised and

2) Even if the upgrade to T7200 fails, you can always upgrade to a Core Duo CPU such as T2500 which will provide a reasonable boost in performance compared to your current one.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi ajkula66,

thank you for your quick reply! I will make sure to update the BIOS before replacing the CPU.

May I ask why you suggest that an upgrade to a T2500 would work, even if a T7200 doesn't? Is this because of the architecture? Are some motherboards only usable with 32-bit processors? Or does it have something to do with the cache or TDP?

Is there any way to find out more about potential compatibility issues before actually replacing the processor?

Tr0n6 wrote:May I ask why you suggest that an upgrade to a T2500 would work, even if a T7200 doesn't? Is this because of the architecture? Are some motherboards only usable with 32-bit processors? Or does it have something to do with the cache or TDP?

Is there any way to find out more about potential compatibility issues before actually replacing the processor?

Reply: Because of the revision of your motherboard!

Recommendation: See this post!

Johan

Hey guys,

so I got the laptop and the CPU at a venture because most reports seemed to be quite positive and I suspected defective CPUs to be the cause of failure.

After updating the BIOS from the Lenovo Website with the ISO, I threw out the T1300 installed the T7200 and everything worked perfectly from the get-go! So I can say that a laptop with these specs is in fact able to run that processor.

Unfortunately, I just ran Memtest86+ and got an error on the second pass. I have to run more tests with different configurations, but I suspect a damaged RAM module, rather than issues with the CPU or anything else, since it's probably as old as the machine. It's not too bad though, since I planned on upgrading the RAM anyway.

After that's done I'm gonna slap Libreboot onto it and see how it fares, but I expect no further issues from this point on.

Thanks again for your help.

I got a few T60 running a T7200 and I like it. Good balance of power and battery consumption. Sounds like you have a bad RAM module.