Quick review of my new T61

[thomas@schenkman.com]

I suppose a lot of people come to the forum to help deicide on a purchase. I was considering the Dell D630 against the T61. I finally chose the T61 because the specs we so similar that I simply stayed with the brand I have been lucky with for my last 4 laptops.

OK. Some things I wanted to share. The option for 4 gigs ram on lenovo's web site was an additional $890.00 for 667. I picked 512mb, and bought 800 sims from Crucial for around $550.00. I couldn't justifiy giving an extra $340.00 for equiptment which wasn't as good.

The hard drives on Lenovo are priced at 3 x that of the same size, speed, and manufacturer on newegg, so....I bought the extra drives at newegg.com.

Ok, despite these prices differences, I am extremely happy with this machine. It is solid, I haven't had any Windows Vista related problems and I love the new form factor. Yes, the wide-screen isn't perfectly centered but this isn't an issue for me.

The built-in EVDO Rev A card is faster and the new design for the wireless antennas is obviously effective as side by side with my T60p, this machine ha smuch better connectivity.

All in all, I have no regrets as all about this machine. Performance is terrific and the machine is solid.

T

[Redmumba]

I'm curious; is the faster bus speed noticable over the "included" 667 RAM? I ask because, I also ordered the minimum amount of RAM with the intention of just replacing it, but at the time of the order, the lowest available was 1GB of DDR2 667, and I'm wondering if its worth completely replacing it with 2x 1GB DDR2-800. Can you comment on any of this? Is it noticeable in everyday activity, or is it more of a "benchmark" improvement?

[sugo]

I wonder how are cpu/gpu temperature and fan noise?

[XIII]

I have a chance to test Kingston DDR2-6400 on my T61. T61 will NOT run them at 800Mhz so don't keep your hope up. I did some benchmark and the result comes out to be roughly the same as the cheapo ValueSelect Corsair PC2-5300.

[thomas@schenkman.com]

I suppose regardless of the memory speed, its a better deal to by 4 gig at $550.00 rather than Lenovo's price of $890.00.

The machine overall appears to be slightly faster than the T60p I have but I haven't had the time to do serious benchmarks just yet.

To answer regarding the CPU and GPU temps, I couldn't tell you. My machine is used for making virtual envirnoments with VMWare and apparently the GPU isn't something that gets taxed much with my use cases.

I can tell you this, the machine is so ugly that I like it!

[shuffle2]

i wonder if you could run CPU-Z for us, to report on the memory speed (note: they will be running as fast as the slowest module allows). Or: XIII, could you tell me why it won't run at 800MHz? Just curious.

Also, what screen do you have (size, res.)?

futhermore, VMWare won't support 3d acceleration through your graphics card for some time, but it is planned sometime in the 6.x version of VMWare Workstation.....bummer that we have to wait.

last question: by "so....I bought the extra drives at newegg.com. ", what do you mean? you bought the cheapest one with your laptop, then got some more, and swap them around? or do you use the ultrabay adapter?

thanks!

[thomas@schenkman.com]

Certainly, I can run whatever tests you guys would like.

The screen I went with is 1440 x 900 - 14.1 Wide Screen.

I'm not even remotely interested in 3D VMs as I spend most of my time on Windows, Solaris, and Linux server VMs.

I wanted 2 drives. The first would be a 7200 RPMs 100g and the second one would be mostly for storage so I got the T61 with the 160 5200 drive and bought 2 7200 rpms from Newegg. I promptly put the OS and apps on the 7200 and am formating this 160 for data.

Additionally, I expect a hybrid drive to show up on Tuesday. I bought a 5400 Hybrid just to see what its worth.

[tfflivemb2]

I wonder how are cpu/gpu temperature and fan noise?

If it helps, I too have a T61...

The fan isn't even audible...and I have used it in an empty room.

I can try to load a program to test the heat of the CPU, but I really don't use it for anything too CPU intensive. Maybe I will load a game on to it....like WoW! (great...all I need is another addiction...as if this forum and Youtube weren't enough)

[thomas@schenkman.com]

So what do you guys think about these hybrid drives? I am not sure what to expect so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.....

[shuffle2]

I can try to load a program to test the heat of the CPU, but I really don't use it for anything too CPU intensive. Maybe I will load a game on to it....like WoW! (great...all I need is another addiction...as if this forum and Youtube weren't enough)

no need to get addicted to anything, just check out something like prime95. You can even run two instances of it (one on each core), for major cpu-intensive-ness

haven't really heard about hybrid drives....sorry

p.s.- check out rthdribl for a nice gpu stress test program. note that it doesn't use DX10....but it should do the job anyways.

[thomas@schenkman.com]

Ran CPU-Z

332.Mhz........

[StevenD]

I got the T61 with the 160 5200 drive and bought 2 7200 rpms from Newegg. I promptly put the OS and apps on the 7200 and am formating this 160 for data.

Hi, I've got a T43p that I'll upgrade to a T61, and I like your idea. The two times that I upgraded my hard drive, however, were a total nightmare. May I ask exactly how you transfered the OS to the new drive so that it could be your internal primary?

--Steve

[shuffle2]

Ran CPU-Z

332.Mhz........

x2=664MHz...do you hace your original 512MB in with your new stuff?

[thomas@schenkman.com]

Only have 2 x 2 gig crucial 800's

[SLoweCSL]

One thing to keep in mind regarding the T61, is that I don't believe all the Vista drivers are quite ready for prime time. I have had multiple Blue Screens pointing to the Intel iastor.sys driver. I have redone the OS 2 times now and have used the latest drivers from Intel, but I still receive random Blue Screens during IO intensive operations.

I am currently in the process of exchanging it for a new one as IBM tech wasn't much help even though I offered them the crash dumps pointing to the driver problem.

Otherwise I like the system. I chose it over the Dell D630 since Dell only was offering the integrated Intel graphics. the system is quite peppy compared to the slightly faster clocked D620 it replaced.

[Redmumba]

I'm curious; why won't the RAM run at the full speed? Is this something to be enabled in a future BIOS update, or what?

[XIII]

i wonder if you could run CPU-Z for us, to report on the memory speed (note: they will be running as fast as the slowest module allows). Or: XIII, could you tell me why it won't run at 800MHz? Just curious.

Also, what screen do you have (size, res.)?

futhermore, VMWare won't support 3d acceleration through your graphics card for some time, but it is planned sometime in the 6.x version of VMWare Workstation.....bummer that we have to wait.

last question: by "so....I bought the extra drives at newegg.com. ", what do you mean? you bought the cheapest one with your laptop, then got some more, and swap them around? or do you use the ultrabay adapter?

thanks!

I no longer have the RAM sticks because I returned them to Newegg in disappointment.
And the CPU-z reports it the RAM is running at 333Mhz, multiplied by 2 for Double Data Rate give it 667Mhz. Despite running at lower speed, the timing is not improved at all. Still same old 5-5-5-15 as the cheapo ValueSelect Corsair PC2-5300.
When I checked on Intel website for more information regarding the RAM Speed support on new Santa Rosa Platform, to my horror, it says DDR2 -667Mhz max only.

[XIII]

Here is the Intel website for anyone interested:
http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart. ... ture=en-US
Notice that 4GB RAM can only be run at speed of 533Mhz.

[shuffle2]

good find. I'm guessing you can't change RAM timings in TP BIOS? too bad...

[wallybear]

I'm curious; is the faster bus speed noticable over the "included" 667 RAM? I ask because, I also ordered the minimum amount of RAM with the intention of just replacing it, but at the time of the order, the lowest available was 1GB of DDR2 667, and I'm wondering if its worth completely replacing it with 2x 1GB DDR2-800. Can you comment on any of this? Is it noticeable in everyday activity, or is it more of a "benchmark" improvement?

In response to this question and others like it I wish to point out that the "Santa Rosa" motherboard in the T61 series has a fixed memory speed maximum of 667MHz, not 800. Putting 800-qualified RAM into these machines will have no effect (that is, they won't run at 800 because the motherboard is not designed to support that speed). FSB (front-side-bus) speed and memory interface speed are not the same thing....it's nice when they match (as they do in the Napa motherboard) but not necessary or mandatory that they do.

This is just one of the reasons (e.g., the issues with the lame Intel Turbo Memory being another) why the "upgrade" from Napa to Santa Rosa isn't that much of an upgrade (in terms of raw performance increases). Next year's motherboard (code name "Montevina") will bring support for DDR3 (not the 667 DDR2) RAM and with it higher memory interface speeds.

I hope this helps. Questions? Write to me....

[imataqito]

I'm curious; is the faster bus speed noticable over the "included" 667 RAM? I ask because, I also ordered the minimum amount of RAM with the intention of just replacing it, but at the time of the order, the lowest available was 1GB of DDR2 667, and I'm wondering if its worth completely replacing it with 2x 1GB DDR2-800. Can you comment on any of this? Is it noticeable in everyday activity, or is it more of a "benchmark" improvement?

In response to this question and others like it I wish to point out that the "Santa Rosa" motherboard in the T61 series has a fixed memory speed maximum of 667MHz, not 800. Putting 800-qualified RAM into these machines will have no effect (that is, they won't run at 800 because the motherboard is not designed to support that speed). FSB (front-side-bus) speed and memory interface speed are not the same thing....it's nice when they match (as they do in the Napa motherboard) but not necessary or mandatory that they do.

This is just one of the reasons (e.g., the issues with the lame Intel Turbo Memory being another) why the "upgrade" from Napa to Santa Rosa isn't that much of an upgrade (in terms of raw performance increases). Next year's motherboard (code name "Montevina") will bring support for DDR3 (not the 667 DDR2) RAM and with it higher memory interface speeds.

I hope this helps. Questions? Write to me....

May I ask for a source for this information? I was under the impression that FSB:Mem Clock was 1:1 capable.

[rukiri]

that's really interesting.. indeed on intel's own chipset information page is shows the max ddr2 speed being 667. I too was under the impression that 800mhz memory was supported since they were upping the fsb to 800...

This makes me think of some of the previous discussions on this forum where people were claiming performance improvements going to 800mhz ram on their t61's..

[wallybear]

May I ask for a source for this information? I was under the impression that FSB:Mem Clock was 1:1 capable.

Ah, well, for a source on this information how about Lenovo's specifications sheet for the T61 series (easily found on their website).

If that won't do, how about the review on AnandTech on the Santa Rosa motherboard? (Also easily found.)

Trust me, there is no support on the Santa Rosa for 800MHz RAM. Not now, not gonna be. The next generation of mobile chipset will support DDR3 RAM and consequently higher read/write cycles. Lenovo isn't shipping 667MHz RAM in these machines simply to be "cheap". That's what's shipping because that's what's supported. Installing RAM qualified at 800MHz in a T61 will result in it running at the 667 speed because that's what the chipset is designed to do.

Hope this helps....