Thinkpads Forum

hello people
it is my intention of using this weekend to upgrade my X9000 T601 Frankenpad from W7 to W10
i know i can install W10 on it , since I already upgraded a low spec T60 to W10, but that was not my machine, so I didnt have much time to spend and tweak it , so all I know is that the system was booting all fine and dandy, but I did install the vantage software and it didnt find any drivers for the machine, which was not a surprise since w10 is not supported on that machine. so I am expecting the same problem with the T601, no drivers to be found with the vantage app.

did anyone else upgrade its frankenpad to W10? which is the best driver route to go, sources etc, what are the must haves and what is not important?

EDIT: in built my Frankie with the intel video card, not the nvidia, so i dont need nvidia drivers., albeit some people might be interested in that too.

thanks in advance

UPDATE, in order to prep myself to transition my T601 to W10 i used the test bed the T60 low spec to do the same, w10 installed and most things work fine, I also installed thinkvantage but the green battery gauge doest appear, no matter what driver I use, it will not install the green gauge. The thing is I have a P1 and a W530 with Win 10 installed and both of them have the green battery gauge functional, on clicking on it , it opens a small window where i can either click to see battery details or i can set setting for camera, microphone , eye care mode or simply go directly to vantage to access all settings. so the P1 and W530 works fine, However on the X230 I didnt manage to install it either, just like the T60, the T60 may not be supported by lenovo for win 10, but the X230 is supported, and its from same generation as is the W530.

I dont understand what is going on, and what im doing wrong.

Your Frankie is no longer a T60, it is now a T61 with a T60 dress.
So expect different when you go down the W10 path.

Probably a bit late to help but I find that W10 loads its own drivers and that is all that is necessary. I steer clear of ThinkVantage bloatware and use iobit's DriverBooster if I want to check for later drivers. I have loaded the W7 video drivers in the past to try and improve the VGA resolution and this does help a bit. TPFanControl is a must as well.

JBUK wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:56 pm

Probably a bit late to help but I find that W10 loads its own drivers and that is all that is necessary. I steer clear of ThinkVantage bloatware and use iobit's DriverBooster if I want to check for later drivers. I have loaded the W7 video drivers in the past to try and improve the VGA resolution and this does help a bit. TPFanControl is a must as well.

my main problem right now is the battery gauge, no matter what I do, I cant install it. weird, since 2 other thinkpad machines have it in W10

TinkerMan wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:21 pm

my main problem right now is the battery gauge, no matter what I do, I cant install it. weird, since 2 other thinkpad machines have it in W10

W10 does not support the chip installed in T60 or T61; I'm not sure about T500/W500/R500 but would expect it not to work as well. Not every thinkpad is the same after all.

wujstefan wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:13 am

TinkerMan wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:21 pm

my main problem right now is the battery gauge, no matter what I do, I cant install it. weird, since 2 other thinkpad machines have it in W10

W10 does not support the chip installed in T60 or T61; I'm not sure about T500/W500/R500 but would expect it not to work as well. Not every thinkpad is the same after all.

i dont think the chip or the generation is the problem, my W530 has the gauge, the X230 (same generation as the W530) does not, but the older X201 has it. we are missing something.

Just install Lenovo Vantage, and let it bring whatever system foundation package it needs. After that, enable Battery Bar through Lenovo Vantage, make sure it works, then, if you want, uninstall Lenovo Vantage. The gauge will remain, although you won't be able to tweak/access certain settings.

wujstefan wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:13 am

TinkerMan wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:21 pm

my main problem right now is the battery gauge, no matter what I do, I cant install it. weird, since 2 other thinkpad machines have it in W10

W10 does not support the chip installed in T60 or T61; I'm not sure about T500/W500/R500 but would expect it not to work as well. Not every thinkpad is the same after all.

What exactly do you mean? One should have no problems running an x9000 on windows 10. Matter of fact I've done that install on a number of T61s w/ x9000s without issue so it seems windows 10 has no problem with the chip, at least from my perspective.

In reference to the x9000 and T61... Not a match made in heaven, that's for sure. I used to have a T61p running the (X9000) and I found it difficult to keep the temps down despite a brand new cooler, high quality thermal paste, and fan control software (tpfancontrol). `

Sometimes just lite browsing or lite gaming makes it go nuclear, even with the fan at full throttle. The reality of the situation is that the X9000 is a voltage hungry / hotter running CPU and has a much higher TDP (45W IIRC?) relative to the T9300/T9500. And you can't just drop voltage and expect manageable temps. Because even undervolted to 1.0500 volts it can still fry an egg. The T61p's cooler was only designed to handle 35 watts, like a T9500 at the maximum. SO anything over 35W TDP should be avoided. If you are hellbent on keeping it, the only alternative would require extensive CPU cooler upgrades, and that would be basically impossible given the space constraints under the hood of a T61p.. You must also keep in mind the stock CPU cooler also has to deal with a power hungry and hot running GPU, so adding more heat to the mix is not a good idea. The only remaining option would be a laptop cooler and that can be cumbersome. It's just a band aid.

Sure the X9000 is cool for bragging rights, but you really should be running a T9300 or T9500. Using throttle stop and dual IDA mode you can get a slight overclock to 2.7Ghz and 2.8Ghz, respectively. Undervolting is also possible with both of these chips and they will perform flawlessly even at much lower voltages.

Night_Ranger wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:45 pm

What exactly do you mean?

Battery control via power manager was not possible in those systems under W10 as far as I recall. This is just something out of the head, kind of hint, I'm not 100% sure.

Night_Ranger wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:45 pm

The T61p's cooler was only designed to handle 35 watts, like a T9500 at the maximum.

Not quite. Take note that just the fx570m generates 35W.

Night_Ranger wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:45 pm

Sure the X9000 is cool for bragging rights, but you really should be running a T9300 or T9500. Using throttle stop and dual IDA mode you can get a slight overclock to 2.7Ghz and 2.8Ghz, respectively. Undervolting is also possible with both of these chips and they will perform flawlessly even at much lower voltages.

Well I was able to tune my cooling system to work with X9000 (15,4" fx570m unit), and under load high 70s/low 80s were typical. After OC up to 3.4GHz (can't remind exact voltage) it ran in the mid-to-high 80s. All that in synthetical test (Furmark + Orthos CPU loader). Penryn, post-0808 board. Try to check for another heatsink. Swap fan with the one from T500 if this one is too loud. Use top thermal compound. Check whether the bracket generates enough pressure to keep heatsink pressed-on the CPU.

wujstefan wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 7:48 am

Well I was able to tune my cooling system to work with X9000 (15,4" fx570m unit), and under load high 70s/low 80s were typical. After OC up to 3.4GHz (can't remind exact voltage) it ran in the mid-to-high 80s. All that in synthetical test (Furmark + Orthos CPU loader). Penryn, post-0808 board. Try to check for another heatsink. Swap fan with the one from T500 if this one is too loud. Use top thermal compound. Check whether the bracket generates enough pressure to keep heatsink pressed-on the CPU.

I have an X9000 at 3.4Ghz (Multiplier 17) as well, my voltage is 1.2625V (any lower it would crash eventually). It's on a Dell but I assume on T61 the voltage required won't be any different.
In fact, I have two X9000 chips and both run fine at 3.4Ghz and 1.2625V.