Is middleton BIOS compatible with my setup?

[vroomZOOM]

Hello

I have this super old t61 that everyone makes fun of running windows 10 x64 pretty well. I would like to put a better processor in it, so far it seems like a QX9300 has the same socket, but from what i have read I need middleton BIOS to make it work. I have a merom board with a T7700 currently. I also put the wifi card into it from a t60 b/c my old one burned out, but the new one doesnt seem to be working. The wifi card is recognized, but the wifi will not turn on worth a can of beans. I have a 1680x1050 display. Will the middleton bios make all this work? I am currently running an 850 evo ssd I found in my basement and put in after my old WD blew up. As far as I know the sata speed will go up with the new bios as well?

Thanks

[theterminator93]

Welcome to the forums. There is a lot of good info here with lots of detail specific to your questions. In a nutshell, however, T61 uses 800 MHz FSB Core 2s. All the Core 2 Quads are 1066 FSB and the fastest CPU that will work without modification is the X9000. However...

QX9300 can work on the T61, however it requires CPU/CPU socket modification, soldering jumper wires to the motherboard, cutting traces on the motherboard, flashing the BIOS with one from Highsun, and flashing the SPD of your memory. Thermal management will be a problem and two of the cores will always be running at the lowest frequency without third party software to handle SpeedStep. Read all about the 1066/Quad mod in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=110620

You can do the 1066 mod without doing the quad mod (avoid having to drill out/modify the CPU or socket and a little less soldering) and get T9900 support - the fastest dual core Core 2 - while maintaining reasonable (factory) TDP levels.

The Middleton (and highsun) BIOS will remove the wifi card whitelist, unlock SATA-II speed, enable Penryn support and update SLIC code to 2.1 (for OEM Windows 7 activation). There are a few other minor things it will do as well. It does not support the 1066 FSB CPUs.

[vroomZOOM]

hmmm... cpu world said that the qx9300 was also a socket p 478 pin, just like my current one. I am planning on buying a new computer sooner or later so I might as well mod the hell out of this one, idk they have sleeper cars, make a sleeper computer! Is there any better parts in the t60 that I could pop into the t61 as well?

Thank you

[ajkula66]

hmmm... cpu world said that the qx9300 was also a socket p 478 pin, just like my current one.

That's completely irrelevant for this particular discussion.

I am planning on buying a new computer sooner or later so I might as well mod the hell out of this one, idk they have sleeper cars, make a sleeper computer!

It all depends on your skillset and your budget.

Is there any better parts in the t60 that I could pop into the t61 as well?

Not really. You can use the keyboard, wireless card and RAM, but none of that qualifies as "better", just as compatible.

[RealBlackStuff]

After installing Middleton's BIOS, I suggest you put in the Intel T9300 CPU, best bang for your buck.