Thinkpads Forum

Just looked at the tabook, and found this:
T61p 6460-DVU T9300 2.50Ghz 2GB 15.4WSXGA+, available Jan. 2008

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitu ... tabook.pdf

According to the review on Anandtech.com, Penryn has better performance and draws less power comparing to Merom. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/in ... spx?i=3195

i wish they'd hurry up and update their site for purchase... :p

hmmm.. interesting

Gonna read that anandtech thingy now

(side note - i just noticed we got the same system I see you upgraded yours too... interesting )

samson wrote:i wish they'd hurry up and update their site for puchase... :p

any idea what the price differences will be?

Intel's price for T9300 is $316, which is about the same as the current price for T7700. But I suspect Lenovo will put a higher pricetag for Penryn until they clean up the T7700 they have instock right now.

SHoTTa35 wrote: (side note - i just noticed we got the same system I see you upgraded yours too... interesting )

Haven't updated my signature for a while. I did upgrade my T60 with a T7400, but it caused some overheating problem, and at the end I just sold both the T7400 and the T60, and got a T61p. But I am thinking if I need to upgrade the cpu again since Penryn is out.

Will a Penryn T9300 CPU drop right into an existing T61/P with a Mermon? From 2.0 to 2.5 would be a nice upgrade for me ...

harry; yes, it will.

Nice! I wonder if the T9300 Penryn needs a different fan/heatsink ...

Should require LESS of a fan/heatsink, since the power consumption is lower and less heat generated. The question will be if the package is similar, and the cooling will mount on the top the same - The existing stuff should be more than enough cooling, though.. Seems like this release obsoletes mobile versions of Xtreme Duo completely. The only difference was that Xtreme had an 800 FSB (compared to 667 for the T7800), and now, the Penryn also has an 800 FSB. In the desktop, however, the Xtreme has 4 cores (sweet!) and a 1330 FSB. Lenovo was smart not to waste time on the Xtreme mobile chip.

Well, actually, only the power consumption is less, the heat generated is roughly the same.
If you check TDP for T9300, it is 35W, while TDP for T7300, T7500 is 37W.

Thanks for the power info. These just came out .... are they available anywhere? $316 would be surprisingly low compared to recent higher end C2D Intel pricing

I don't think so but you can check Newegg regularly. It should come out about the same time when Lenovo starts offering Penryn.
They also stock OEM and retailed box laptop CPU.

Will a BIOS update be needed for installation into a T61?

should work fine since its just a dye shrink

It is not. Penryn has a whole bunch of new instructions (SSE4) and new cache sizes. It almost definitely needs different microcode downloaded from the BIOS.

You should follow roughly the same procedure for the upgrade from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo done on T60 and T60p.

will Penryn work on a T60p.

thanks

rnsolo wrote:will Penryn work on a T60p.

thanks

Another good question. Can you go from a Core Duo to a Penryn ... what about a Celeron to a Penryn.

Harryc wrote:Another good question. Can you go from a Core Duo to a Penryn ... what about a Celeron to a Penryn.

the penryn processor will work with intel socket P systems but not socket M.   the T60p is socket M where the T61p is socket P.   celeron systems, afaik, are not socket P.

Besides socket compatibility problem, the chipset of T60/p does not support Santa Rosa platform FSB 800MHz CPU.
t may not run in the reduced 667MHz FSB mode.

erik wrote:harry; yes, it will.

Do we know this for certain?

I can tell you for FACT it will require a BIOS update.




Now, in THEORY the VRM spec didn't change for Penryn vs. Meron (both are Intel VRM spec 11.1), so the boards should be fully compatible ELECTRICALLY. But without a microcode updated included in the BIOS, they won't boot on the new chips b/c they can't identify them.

brentpresley wrote:

erik wrote:harry; yes, it will.

Do we know this for certain?

I can tell you for FACT it will require a BIOS update.




Now, in THEORY the VRM spec didn't change for Penryn vs. Meron (both are Intel VRM spec 11.1), so the boards should be fully compatible ELECTRICALLY. But without a microcode updated included in the BIOS, they won't boot on the new chips b/c they can't identify them.

Yes but even if it did require a new BIOS we're talking about the same model machine here...T61/P, albeit the new one with a Penryn CPU. I really doubt that Lenovo would release different BIOS's for the same machine, hence a new BIOS update would have to be made available to accommodate Penryn in any T61/P.

physically the chip will fit, electrically it will be compatible, and the BIOS will work as soon as an updated T61 BIOS is posted for public consumption.   the BIOS that ships with the new models will be posted to the driver matrix as an update, even if the only new feature is penryn chipset support.

Penryn equipped thinkpads are available in Canada now.

The only concern I am having right now is the compatibility between the old HSF and the new Penryn die. I was able to do an upgrade from T2500 to T7400 on my T60 before, but because the different die orientation between the two chips, the old HSF doesn't work very well with the T7400 processor (basically there is a rectangle-shape cut on the HSF surface that causes some bad contact between the T7400 die and the HSF, applying AS5 did not help much).

I am wondering if there will be a similar problem when upgrading from Merom to Penryn. Usually it is more difficult to buy a specific model of HSF than buying the Penryn processor.

The released T8 and T9 Mobile Penryns are already compatible with the most current T61 BIOS, microcode updates are usually released significantly before CPUs actually appear in the market. Without going into too many details- Socket P Penryns are electrically and mechanically compatible and the microcode will recognize the current releases- drop and replace, it has been tested with the early ES review samples in the wild.

T9300 is $316 in quantity of 1000, not a single CPU ....
LD

dickeywang wrote:

samson wrote:i wish they'd hurry up and update their site for puchase... :p

any idea what the price differences will be?

Intel's price for T9300 is $316, which is about the same as the current price for T7700. But I suspect Lenovo will put a higher pricetag for Penryn until they clean up the T7700 they have instock right now.

ludu35 wrote:T9300 is $316 in quantity of 1000, not a single CPU

just order 1000 using an amex centurion card and send back 999.   simple.

Where and when can I order these? I can't see them on the main lenovo site. I prefer to buy it there since I can choose components I want.

Thanks.

The T9300's while still scarce seem to be dropping into Retailers in Canada at $370 CDN. So I'd expect them to be in the $350 to $370 range in the US. Just my opinion.

https://www.frontierpc.com/ProductDetai ... =950025667