X31 Useful memory / hard drive upgrade

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ExJxC · #1 Post by **ExJxC** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:38 pm

I just purchased an X31 which is in the mail and was wondering what would be the best/most useful upgrade for the system.

X31 P M 1.4GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB 4200rpm HDD, 12.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), IBM 802.11a/b wireless(MPCI), Secure chip, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

Other then the graphics card which cannot be upgraded where would be my bottleneck and what would be the most useful level to upgrade to? My concern is speed. Hardrive storage capacity is fine at 40GB.

Thanks!

tvi55 · #2 Post by **tvi55** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:01 am

ExJxC wrote:I just purchased an X31 which is in the mail and was wondering what would be the best/most useful upgrade for the system.

X31 P M 1.4GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB 4200rpm HDD, 12.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), IBM 802.11a/b wireless(MPCI), Secure chip, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

Other then the graphics card which cannot be upgraded where would be my bottleneck and what would be the most useful level to upgrade to? My concern is speed. Hardrive storage capacity is fine at 40GB.

Thanks!

I would guess that adding more RAM (512 MB or 1 GB) would be the best and easiest choice for an upgrade, because that would reduce the need for memory swapping to the slow hard drive.

jcrkelly · #3 Post by **jcrkelly** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:42 pm

I concur w/ the RAM... one point of note -- I think your X31 (like mine) will only support a max of 1GB of RAM. I reserve the right to be wrong on this.

ExJxC · #4 Post by **ExJxC** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 4:03 pm

jcrkelly wrote:I concur w/ the RAM... one point of note -- I think your X31 (like mine) will only support a max of 1GB of RAM. I reserve the right to be wrong on this.

From a quick search of the archives it looks like they can handel 1GB in each slot and there are 2 slots avaliable. I see people are running over 1GB in their X31.

And like you said I could also be wrong.

ExJxC · #5 Post by **ExJxC** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 4:07 pm

I just searched for my model info on Lenovo website and found it can handel 2mb max

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46475

jcrkelly · #6 Post by **jcrkelly** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 4:25 pm

Excellent! I love when I'm wrong like that. Wonder how I got the 1gb max in my head. Oh well... maybe I'll pick up a 1gb stick to upgrade mine (currently have a 256 & 512 module in there)

[edit]
Just found my source... (for the 1gb limit):
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55644
[/edit]

kevinc · #7 Post by **kevinc** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:04 pm

I have the same machine with 1.5 GB RAM...overkill I know, but I got a good deal on a 1GB chip. I also swapped the 40 GB 5400 RPM HDD for a 7200 RPM Hitachi 7K80. That and the RAM really speeded up the X31. No heat or vibration issues. I cloned the original drive to the Hitachi with Acronis. I had no problem moving XP Pro to the new drive.

ExJxC · #8 Post by **ExJxC** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:19 pm

I have a Thinkpad 512mb PC2-4200 CL4 NP DDR2 SDRAM SODIMM laying around will this be compatable?

kevinc · #9 Post by **kevinc** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:47 pm

Check the memory selector at www.crucial.com. That will identify the memory spec you'll need. As I recall, my X31, Type 2673, took PC 2700.

ExJxC · #10 Post by **ExJxC** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:42 am

kevinc wrote:Check the memory selector at www.crucial.com. That will identify the memory spec you'll need. As I recall, my X31, Type 2673, took PC 2700.

That website shows model
2672 and 2884 take PC2100

2673 and 2885 take PC2700

I thougt all X31 were the same when it came to RAM?

ExJxC · #11 Post by **ExJxC** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:48 am

IBM site says-

The PC2700 CL2.5 Non-ParityDDR SDRAM SODIMM Memory is supported on any ThinkPad systems that support PC2100 memory and the following systems:
Description

Machine Model

Machine Type
Visit the ThinkPad systems memory compatibility document to see a complete list of systems that support PC2100 and PC2700 memory.
NOTE: PC2100 memory option parts are no longer available. Please substitute the corresponding PC2700 memory option parts.
ThinkPad X31, X40 Series 2369, 2370, 2371, 2372, 2382, 2386, 2672, 2673, 2884, 2885, 2890, 2891 All
ThinkPad T41, T42 Series 2373, 2374, 2376, 2378, 2379 All
ThinkPad R50, R51 Series 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1836 All

http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-53094

jcrkelly · #12 Post by **jcrkelly** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:52 am

They are .... but IBM stopped using PC2100 RAM in favor of the more plentiful (and therefore cheaper) PC2700 RAM. If you read the link I posted above, it mentions that PC2100 is not longer available (untrue in general sense) and that 2700 can be used. Your system will just run the 2700 memory at the slower 2100 speeds.

This same sort of thing happened w/ PC100 & PC133 RAM on the desktop side. It's very hard to buy TRUE PC100 RAM these days, most is just PC133 that's being sold under two diff. SKU's, or a 'blended' SKU.

I still don't know if my system will support >1GB... gonna have to call or email IBM/Lenovo to clear that up. Curiosity has gotten the best of me.

oh - I'm using a 2672 model X31

ExJxC · #13 Post by **ExJxC** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:13 am

jcrkelly-

Thats what I thought but that one website seemed to be indicating other wise.

So far everything I have seen from IBM shows the X31 can handel 2mb. If you do call please post your findings. I have the same model as you so you will be saving me a phone call.

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