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T61 Motherboard replacement questions

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:47 pm
by 996gt2
Hi,

My T61's LCD stopped working recently, and I've narrowed down the issue to the motherboard since two replacement inverters didn't do anything. The laptop still works fine when plugged into an external monitor, but the internal LCD gets no signal. I believe the problem is due to one or more blown fuses on the motherboard, since some of the lights on the inverter also do not work (even though I've tried 3 different inverters).

My machine is type 7662-CTO and has a 2.4 GHz/3MB Penryn T8300, NVidia NVS 140M graphics, Intel 4965AGN Wi-Fi.

I purchased this replacement motherboard assembly, which (according to the Thinkpad wiki site) is the motherboard that supports Penryn and has integrated Intel graphics. I didn't get a board with NV graphics because many of the NV GPUs were defective.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... OC:US:1123


So my question is, will I simply be able to move all the parts from my laptop to the new board? (CPU, wireless card, etc). Will it basically be a drop-in replacement after I swap the CPU and other parts? Is there anything I should watch out for while doing the replacement?

Thanks!

Re: T61 Motherboard replacement questions

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 5:26 am
by TuuS
I've done several of these, besides the motherboard you will need a different heatsink, and the spring loaded brackets that press the chipset and gpu extension from your nvidia headsink are different. You might be able to make something that will add a little bit of pressure on the heatsinks extension if you can't find the brackets.

Look at your nvidia heatsink, it has the main cpu section that is held down by four screws, then it has a heat tube going off to the nVidia chip, and a third going to the chipset, which has a silicone pad. Your Intel heat sink has only one extension tube.

When I do these, I have a supplier that gets me the bottom case, motherboard and heatsink as an assumbly, even with cpu, then all you have to do is transfer your cpu (optional), your screen, keyboard bezel, ram, harddrive, keyboard and palmrest and your done. I can do the conversion in less then an hour and it's far cheaper then buying a motherboard, heat sink then trying to find or adapt the heatink brackets.

I'm also working on a guide to doing the procedure, you can feel free to message me if you need any help.


TuuS

Re: T61 Motherboard replacement questions

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:27 am
by 996gt2
TuuS wrote:I've done several of these, besides the motherboard you will need a different heatsink, and the spring loaded brackets that press the chipset and gpu extension from your nvidia headsink are different. You might be able to make something that will add a little bit of pressure on the heatsinks extension if you can't find the brackets.

Look at your nvidia heatsink, it has the main cpu section that is held down by four screws, then it has a heat tube going off to the nVidia chip, and a third going to the chipset, which has a silicone pad. Your Intel heat sink has only one extension tube.

When I do these, I have a supplier that gets me the bottom case, motherboard and heatsink as an assumbly, even with cpu, then all you have to do is transfer your cpu (optional), your screen, keyboard bezel, ram, harddrive, keyboard and palmrest and your done. I can do the conversion in less then an hour and it's far cheaper then buying a motherboard, heat sink then trying to find or adapt the heatink brackets.

I'm also working on a guide to doing the procedure, you can feel free to message me if you need any help.


TuuS
Thanks! Sent you a PM