Thinkpads Forum

Anyone tried?? I'm thinking to upgrade my L2400 x60s as it is getting slower... installed 3GB RAM and changed to 7200rpm harddisk last year already. hope to do something more...

Thank you!

Switch motherboard from x61 to x60?
Are x60 and x61 parts compatible?

Yes, you can.
I did exactly that only about a month ago.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Yes, you can.
I did exactly that only about a month ago.

Cool and thanks for the good news! Do I need to change other things other than the motherboard? Some shops sold the motherboard without fan. Can I keep the fan of x60s?

Yup

Cool! Do you feel a significant improvement after the upgrade?

RealBlackStuff wrote:Yup

Has any one tried installing X61 T8100 mainboard into X60s? Won't it run too hot?

There was one post on another thread (can't remember which one) that claimed a T8100 will be fine on a X60s/61s chassis when undervolted.

From my experience though, I don't believe that claim. I've seen my X61 T8100 (undervolted) go up to 87c after a few minutes of 100% CPU utilization. On the other hand, I'm on a tropical country with ambient temperatures in the low 30s.

Take note that a T8100 is a 35w TDP processor with a maximum power consumption/heat output of around 50 watts. an L7xxx series is a 17w TDP CPU with a max output of around 27 watts.

It's unlikely that the power consumption can be lowered that much through undervolting (via software).
It doesn't help that my X61 T8100 can't go lower than 0.95v VCore, while the same CPU on a T61 can go down to 0.90v.

I decided to try on my own... Just ordered X61 T8100 mainboard (~50USD delivered) and Intel 6205 WLAN (~20 USD delivered). I am going to put them into 1702-W5S with 4 GB RAM and F3507g HSDPA WWAN.

axur-delmeria wrote:There was one post on another thread (can't remember which one) that claimed a T8100 will be fine on a X60s/61s chassis when undervolted.

From my experience though, I don't believe that claim.

I have done this mod and it works without a problem. Believe it or not, it even worked at 2.3 GHz (with Dual-IDA enabled) and max temps peaked at ~80C on constant max load. Usual temps were in the region of 50-60 C (idle 47-49 C).

What are the ambient temps in your area? It may be the important difference between your experience and mine. Like I said, I'm in a tropical region where ambients above 30c are common.

Raceboy wrote:

axur-delmeria wrote:There was one post on another thread (can't remember which one) that claimed a T8100 will be fine on a X60s/61s chassis when undervolted.

From my experience though, I don't believe that claim.

I have done this mod and it works without a problem. Believe it or not, it even worked at 2.3 GHz (with Dual-IDA enabled) and max temps peaked at ~80C on constant max load. Usual temps were in the region of 50-60 C (idle 47-49 C).

Thank you for your input Raceboy.

axur-delmeria wrote:What are the ambient temps in your area? It may be the important difference between your experience and mine. Like I said, I'm in a tropical region where ambients above 30c are common.

Raceboy is living in area with much colder climate (quite similar to climate where I live) so it might work for us.

Yeah, in summer it really doesn't matter where you live, we still get 35C days, doesn't mean that I will stop using the laptop then

I have a spare heatsink from an X61T. Maybe I should try swapping it and see how far the temps will go.

Unfortunately did not manage to swap the mainboard
I faced silly problem - my X60s cooling system has 4 pin connector (with just 3 pins used) while X61 T8100 mainboard I got accepts 3 pin connectors only. Then I bought 42X3805 (non low voltage) fan which has proper connector because I hoped I can use it on my X60s radiator. Unfortunately it was not possible. Next I bought whole non low voltage radiator with fan which perfectly suites my new X61 mainboard but does not work with X60s lower case assembly (it is too big to put into assembly). I would replace just the fan connector on X60s radiator but first I have to buy spare X60s cooling system (not available here in Poland right now) so I can switch back to X60s mainboard if the new system would run too hot. I am searching for not working (or just cheap) X61 to put the mainboard with all goodies I have.

The only thing I did to my X60s was replacing stock Intel WLAN with Intel 6205 Advanced-N and 5400 RPM Samsung HDD with Hitachi HTS725050A7E630 (7200RPM, FRU 42T1223).

axur-delmeria wrote:I have a spare heatsink from an X61T. Maybe I should try swapping it and see how far the temps will go.

IMHO will not give you any difference as tablets are using low voltage CPUs just as X60/X61s models.