Thinkpads Forum

Okay so for those who have actually done this already, I've got a few questions. I understand that I can watch the movies and remove the palmrest and keyboard.

But when it comes to actually replacing the T2600 with a T7600 there are no real instructions. In theory I remove the heatsink and fan assembly, clean the heatsink, and apply new Arctic Silver 5 and I'm done. But the T60p has a Northbridge and a GPU that I understand have pads, and there is a difference in hight as well...

So in theory if I'm careful, can these pads be reused? Do I need to order new pads? Should they be replaced with Arctic Silver 5 as well? What have other users who have gone before me done? And how well has it worked for you?

Thanks for reading this, and anything you would care to share about your experience.

The pads can be reused without problems yes, the material is pretty much like blu-tac.

I have not upgraded the CPU myself, but i modified the heatsink with aluminium plates to replace the pads. Works nicely, and lowered my idle GPU temps by 11 degrees (C) to 64 degrees and maxes out at 81 now, whereas it was 96 before.
I initally bought a T61p HSF for the project since the fan was supposedly was improved. However, i forgot to order the part that holds the heatsink part down.
So i ripped the fan out of the T61p assembly and remounted it in the T60p assembly and improved the heatsink with the aluminium pads and arctic silver adhesive.
By that experienc i saw that the T60p fan and T61p fan blades are completely identical. All the speak of owl fin design is one big hoax.

I had no issues when I upgraded my CPU. I have done this twice now and it is as simple as unlocking your old CPU and locking down your new one.

I noticed if the heat sink fan is new and clean it cools much better. At idle I could get as high as 175 F but with the new heat sink fan it stays lower than 130 F. So if there is anything I can add is that if your fan is older than a year or so you may has well replace it.

Brad

As far as I know I do not think the "thermal pads" are available from Lenovo as a separate FRU but is an integral part of the Heatsink/Fan assembly and the pads themselves make up the gap between the heatsink & GPU (and Northbridge) - According to Hardware Maintenance Manual you do not need to apply any heatsink compound to the thermal pads (I assume this may impair their thermal qualities???).

Do make sure you remove the old heatsink compound residue, before you apply the new heaksink compound (Isopropanol is pretty good).

Take a look at this post from December 2007, if you decide to mod the heaksink/fan assembly at the same time as your CPU upgrade for cooler running.

You may want to try OCZ Freeze Extreme Thermal Compound as your thermal transfer compound. In a recent Thermal Paste Shootout (May2008) test, it recently came out on top over a leading Silver paste thermal compound (Not Arctic Silver 5).