Thinkpads Forum

Is it possible to upgrade the video card in a T60? If not, what about the video memory?

You could replace the system board. If you've got the X1300 with a X1400 board, which would be an upgrade, but you can't pull the card out and replace it with another, not without some serious skills.

How difficult would it be to replace the system board? I have experience replacing motherboards in desktop computers, but have never opened up a laptop. Is a screwdriver the only tool necessary?

Just my own personal opinion here, the X1300 to X1400 isn't a huge upgrade, unless you want to go the V5200 system board. The V5200 is equivalent to the X1600, but not really a gaming card. The board is easier to replace than the screen, my opinion of course. If you want some good graphics performance, you night want to sell what you've got now get the T500. I've seen the T500 with the 3650 in the Lenovo Outlet in the $700 range. By the time you acquire a board, they're kind of expensive, and put it in, it's not much of a jump performance wise. You're also not spending much less than selling yours and getting the T500. The only downside would be if you've got the IPS screen, it'll be a downgrade image wise, but the WSXGA+ LCD on the T500 isn't too bad by today's standards.

X1300 --> X1400 really isn't that big of an upgrade, I agree, although there have been some claims that, whereas the X1400 is somewhat suitable for less demanding games or games from a few years back, the X1300 is downright slow (closer in performance to the Radeon 9600/X300 in the T4x series, than to the X1400).

X1300 --> V5200/V5250 will be a noticeable upgrade, but the downside is that these chips run h-o-t . The X1400 is nice and cool. Roughly on par (and possibly even slightly better) with the V3200/X600 in the T43p/Z60m.

Right now I'm playing Stalker, Call of Cthulu, Chronicles of Riddick, Syberia and Mafia on my X1300. While some of those are older, Stalker and Cthulu are fairly recent, 2007 and 2006 respectively. They aren't the highest settings, but definitely playable. Someone over on Notebook Review said they played Crysis on their X1300. The settings were the very lowest, but the frame rates were playable.

So what would be a good upgrade for a 15" T60 with Intel graphics (945 chipset)?

The only practical upgrade for a laptop's graphics is to get a new laptop.

I'm aware of that.

I was just asking out of curiosities sake.

Thanks.

From integrated graphics?

Anything will be a huge upgrade. And, that chassis family is the last 15.0" 4:3 ThinkPad chassis, so if that's your thing, here are your options. All of these are from 14.1" or 15.0" 4:3 models.

1. T60 X1300 motherboard
2. T60 X1400 motherboard
3. T60p V5200 motherboard
4. T60p V5250 motherboard

The following will require a new CPU, as they use a different socket, but faster CPUs are allowed (2.6 GHz instead of 2.33 GHz,) as well as much more RAM (8 GiB instead of 3.) They may also require an OS reinstall, I'm not sure.

5. T61 integrated graphics motherboard - not much of an upgrade, but it is one.
6. T61 NVS 140M motherboard - huge performance upgrade, but possibly a major reliability downgrade.
7. T61p FX 570M motherboard - massive performance upgrade, but possibly a major reliability downgrade.

I'm of the opinion that a motherboard upgrade is fairly involved. Yes, whoever said that a monitor swap is harder... it is harder if you're doing it by the book. You don't have to do an LCD replacement by the book at all, though, at least on a non-WWAN machine. I'd rather do LCD swaps than mobo swaps on these things any day, especially with how fiddly the palmrest is.

bhtooefr: that's good info about the motherboards, in case I ever want to upgrade the CPU.

I did open up my T60 to look at the RAM, and yeah that palmrest was tough to get back into place!

Interesting how the LCD doesn't need to be by the book - do you have a link to an easier way? The LCD on mine has a stuck red pixel (I've tried the software color flashers and tapping methods and it won't go away), and I may get a replacement LCD panel. When you say WWAN, do you mean Wifi or something else?

By WWAN, I mean the cellular broadband cards. The antenna looks like a growth coming out of the lower right side of the LCD.

Here's my writeup on doing a QXGA screen upgrade, which includes the screen replacement instructions: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=77733

Ignore step 1, don't fold the cable in 10 (and it'll be less fiddly,) and ignore step 12. Unless, of course, you want to do QXGA.

Thanks. So those instructions also apply to SXGA+ screens, I assume?

Yep. If you're upgrading to an SXGA+ screen, you'll need the upgraded inverter.

Is the v5250 the top of the line?

For the T60/p line, yes.

bhtooefr wrote:Yep. If you're upgrading to an SXGA+ screen, you'll need the upgraded inverter.

I already have a SXGA+ screen, so I assume the inverter will work with whatever brand of replacement SXGA+ screen I get - LG or Boe-Hydis?

Ignore step 1, don't fold the cable in 10 (and it'll be less fiddly,) and ignore step 12. Unless, of course, you want to do QXGA.

So a SXGA+ panel doesn't need to have the cable folded, and doesn't need to have the EDID reflashed?

Those instructions definitely seem easier, I checked the official IBM HMM, and it seems like they want you to actually separate the cover from the rest of the laptop before changing the panel.

As long as it's a Lenovo original SXGA+ (or UXGA, for that matter) panel, correct - no EDID reflash, no cable folding. The cable folding is because the connector on the QXGA panel is lower than the stock panels.

And, yes, that inverter is for all SXGA+ and UXGA screens.

(That said, I didn't see whether your machine was 14.1" or 15". If it's 14.1", obviously, SXGA+ is the main option. There is a UXGA panel from the Inspiron 4100, but I'm not sure that it even HAS an EDID ROM, let alone able to be reflashed, and the display is much lower quality than any ThinkPad LCD.)

I'll assume that a LG or Boe-Hydis is a "Lenovo original". And I have a 15". I guess I could do a UXGA, but I think 1600x1200 would render text too small, so I'll stay with SXGA+. Thanks.

Lenovo originals are either LG or Boe-Hydis, but not all LG or Boe-Hydis panels are Lenovo original.

To work without reflashing, the panel must be Lenovo FRU 13N7078 (LG) or 13N7176 (Boe-Hydis.)

Thanks for that info. I saw one on ebay with a picture showing a sticker that said "LG.Philips LP150E05" and "P/N: 42T0324" and "FRU: 42T0325". Could that be a Lenovo original with an updated P/N and FRU? Here it is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 3D1&_rdc=1

Also, if I have to do a reflash, is there a sxga+.dat file?

Huh. Looks like that's a valid part number that Lenovo neglected to put in the Hardware Maintenance Manual, there's a thread on it here.

No reflashing would be necessary.

There are three ways of changing the gpu that outputs a signal to an external video:

1. change your internal gpu by replacing your motherboard. There are detailled informations on how to do that. I did that and it does not take too much time.
2. use the Advanced Docking Station and put a dedicated graphic card inside it.
3. use a usb connector which provides you with an integrated gpu. These gpus are largely inferior to the already build in gpus from your thinkpad.

I'd take a look into (2) if you most likely need gpu power when at home/work.