Thinkpads Forum

I know that the BIOS will need to be flashed, hopefully Zender would be kind enough to supply it.

I also know that I'll need to add antenna support, I was thinking of using FRU# 93P4386 as my third antenna. I've seen lots of posts where people have put the third under the palm rest, but has anyone had any success running one along the side of the LCD like the stock setup?

Other that those two issues, can anyone tell me if there will be other issues with using a 5350?

I was all set to order the 5300 this afternoon, and while I was trying to find the FRU for it....I saw that the 5350 is out. I travel to Chicago quite often and the WiMax would come in handy.

One more quick question:
I have a 2623DDU, which has the 945PM chipset. I'm running Vista64. I have upgraded the CPU to the C2D T7400. Does anyone know if I can increase my Ram to 8GB using two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148220
or is my motherboard going to limit me to 4Gb?

Thank you all very much, this board has been an invaluable resource for me!!

bmark314 wrote:I know that the BIOS will need to be flashed, hopefully Zender would be kind enough to supply it.

I also know that I'll need to add antenna support, I was thinking of using FRU# 93P4386 as my third antenna. I've seen lots of posts where people have put the third under the palm rest, but has anyone had any success running one along the side of the LCD like the stock setup?

Other that those two issues, can anyone tell me if there will be other issues with using a 5350?

I was all set to order the 5300 this afternoon, and while I was trying to find the FRU for it....I saw that the 5350 is out. I travel to Chicago quite often and the WiMax would come in handy.

One more quick question:
I have a 2623DDU, which has the 945PM chipset. I'm running Vista64. I have upgraded the CPU to the C2D T7400. Does anyone know if I can increase my Ram to 8GB using two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148220
or is my motherboard going to limit me to 4Gb?

Thank you all very much, this board has been an invaluable resource for me!!

In a T60P you won't be able to break past 3GB, no matter what... BIOS limitation... unless Zender's bios can unlock that and you have a 64bit(Like a Core 2 Duo) processor.

Your chipset, regardless of BIOS version, will not tolerate more than 4GB installed.

ajkula66 wrote:Your chipset, regardless of BIOS version, will not tolerate more than 4GB installed.

I thought the 945/T60 only uses 3GB?

You can install 4GB and the machine will boot. However, the chipset won't be able to address more than 3GB.

If you try installing more than 4GB, the machine will not boot.

ajkula66 wrote:You can install 4GB and the machine will boot. However, the chipset won't be able to address more than 3GB.

If you try installing more than 4GB, the machine will not boot.

Alright, so you were correct, 'tolerate' is a good choice of word.

bmark314 wrote:Other that those two issues, can anyone tell me if there will be other issues with using a 5350?

The WiMax band supported by the 5350 is in the 2.5-2.7 GHz range and there are no antennas tuned to this band available for a T60.

Exactly what antenna arrangement is required for WiMax support on a 5350 is not particularly evident at present, though I presume Intel has briefed Notebook manufacturers about it!?!

Cheers,

Bill B.

ajkula66 wrote:You can install 4GB and the machine will boot. However, the chipset won't be able to address more than 3GB.

If you try installing more than 4GB, the machine will not boot.

With the upgraded CPU running Vista64, I am able to address and the OS sees all 4Gb. The processor supports a 36-bit address space, I just couldn't find any info on the chipset. Thanks for the info!!! Saves me about $600

Bill, thanks for the info on the 5350..... I wasn't sure about the antenna either. I guess I'll stick with ordering a 5300.

Anyone have a FRU number for the 5300? Can I use any mini PCI-e 5300?

Thanks again

Make no mistake: the ability of the system to "see" the full 4GB does not equal addressing it...that's up to the chipset, and you're not going past 3GB there...

bmark314 wrote:Anyone have a FRU number for the 5300? Can I use any mini PCI-e 5300?

What about Atheros AR5008E-3NX ?
I personally would not even think about Intel 5300 ...

WojtekJ wrote:

bmark314 wrote:Anyone have a FRU number for the 5300? Can I use any mini PCI-e 5300?

What about Atheros AR5008E-3NX ?
I personally would not even think about Intel 5300 ...

Has anyone else had better quality, distance, transfer rates, etc with the Atheros chipset than the Intel? I know for the older cards, Atheros seemed to be better....but what about the newer Intels?
Is there a better manufacturer using these chipsets? Gigabyte vs Sparklan vs something else?
Sparklan:
http://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p126/SparkL ... _info.html
Gigabyte:
http://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p125/GIGABY ... _info.html

Once again, I do thank everyone for their input!

bmark314 wrote:

WojtekJ wrote: What about Atheros AR5008E-3NX ?
I personally would not even think about Intel 5300 ...

Has anyone else had better quality, distance, transfer rates, etc with the Atheros chipset than the Intel? I know for the older cards, Atheros seemed to be better....but what about the newer Intels?
Is there a better manufacturer using these chipsets? Gigabyte vs Sparklan vs something else?
Sparklan:
http://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p126/SparkL ... _info.html
Gigabyte:
http://www.oxfordtec.com/us/p125/GIGABY ... _info.html

Once again, I do thank everyone for their input!

In Linux I get better throughput with my Intel, but the ath9k driver has come a far way and is catching up to the intel driver. Hardware wise I think the Atheros chipset might be superior, but I can't find anything on the specs sheet to confirm. Also easier to use wireless with the Atheros if you dual boot Mac OS X.

bmark314 wrote:[...]
I saw that the 5350 is out.

Where did you see the 5350? Do you have a URL for me? I like to order one as well.

Hey...I thought I read that these new Intel cards will only work with the current chipsets in the new T/W/R models regardless of whitelists. Are you certain they would work in a T61?

If so, Atheros is traditionally better per user experiences (with a few dissenters like Bill). That said, I'd like to know too.

Radioguy wrote:If so, Atheros is traditionally better per user experiences (with a few dissenters like Bill).

My commentry has always been that wireless is an essentially problematic connection medium (and remains so), so changing cards in expectation of a silver bullet solution to any WiFi issue is a poor way of solving connectivity problems, as at best it simply masks an underlying problem which will almost certainly reappear if circumstances (such as local WiFi traffic density) change.

In terms of your few dissenters comment, Atheros has been widely savaged in a wide variety of forums for the performance of their 802.11n products.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Firstly, I see your previous post has been edited, so I'll return to my corner as well on making any blanket statements.

As for the critical Atheros reviews, feel free to point those out. I'm genuinely interested, and haven't seen those accounts. I was specific to say that traditionally Atheros has been widely reported to outperform Intel for many years, but obviously 802.11n is not ratified yet, and draft chipsets are still an unknown quantity insofar as being "future-proof". It may be that Atheros has not committed itself to any draft N standards, but I don't want to make excuses for them. I have no idea what their plans are.

bmark314 wrote:Anyone have a FRU number for the 5300? Can I use any mini PCI-e 5300?

the FRU# is 43Y6495 and it retails for $89.50.   if you're just wanting a 5300 and don't care about it being original lenovo, intel sells a generic card through amazon for $34 shipped.