Thinkpads Forum

I have layed my hands on long desired cheapo t61. it is t7100 2,5ram, onboard vga and 80gb hdd.
Just wanted an advice which way would be better to upgrade it- put all bucks in SSD(intel x25-m) or buy another 2gb stick and Hitachi 7k500/320? hdd capacity is not primary here, but performance. would i benefit more from just ssd or a little faster hdd+ram?
if i go SSD way i need to upgrade to middleton bios, right? no problems here?

also in tech specs it says max 4gb ram, but i see people using 8, do i just stick 2x4 ram in, or theres more to know?

thanks in advance!

First, I would need more info to answer. As far as memory, it depends on what OS you are running. If you are running XP, 1 - 2 GB should be plenty. Vista or Win 7 prefer more. To use more than 3GB, you need to be running a 64-bit OD. If you are running 32-bit-anything, memory beyond 3GB is extra. An SSD always improves throughput, but how much depends on how you use the machine.

sorry i did not provide enough info- i will definately switch to 64-bit WIN7 in near future. as for applications- mostly acad, Adobe- PS, LR and AI, internet, word, movies, some older games

The older games will have trouble running on 64-bit anything. Photoshop is a real memory hog and certainly works (better) under 64-bit. The SSD gives you a real boost for disk-intensive applications (not the games and not photoshop). An SSD also speeds startup.

richk wrote:The older games will have trouble running on 64-bit anything.

Well, only if they are 16bit applications (DOS). And even then, it is possible to use DOSBox. Older Windows games typically run fine.

The Momentus XT might be worth a look if you want more drive space.

Having a similar T61 as yours I would say an SSD as first step wouldn't be a good idea. You can max out the memory to 8GB as well, but that cost some money (at least here).

I was using my Intel X25-M SSD with the "standard" BIOS until yesterday. After applying the new BIOS mod to enable SATA-II speeds (which is really easy) I'm not experiencing huge changes in performance, but I'm just using it for web browsing, watching videos and basic office tasks.

Start with a new CPU such as the T8300. It is very noticeably faster, cooler, and power efficient. If you are running Vista or 7, upgrade to 4GB RAM next. Otherwise, a SSD is the ideal next step.