Became an X60 owner! Yuhuuuu!!! *PICS*

[Tasurinchi]

Hi guys!

Finally I could not resist and found an excuse to buy an X60 in Ebay from an UK seller! Got it quite cheap, it's used with minor plastic damage in the bezel, something I don't really care much as I'm planning to buy an X61 bezel to do the (in)famous anti-heat mod I read so much here.

I was updating WinXP for a while and the right side of the palm rest did not get that hot as many users claim, nevertheless I'm planning to:

-Undervolt the CPU
-Max out the RAM to 3GB (current 1GB)
-Put a 500 Samsung HD (reusing the one from my HP NC4400 that will soon go)
-Change the bezel (as mentioned above)
-Long term project: replace the screen lid which has minor abrasions (not that urgent for the moment)

So, for the many TP experts here, did I forgot anything important?

Thanks in advance for the input!

Cheers!

[Harryc]

Good luck with your new X60!. The only other upgrades I can think of are a larger battery, X6 Ultrabase with DVDRW drive, and an SSD.

[Tasurinchi]

Thanks Harry! SATA SSDs are really getting so cheap that I will really consider that. I just got en email ad about a hybrid Seagate drive. Looks also interesting... Does anybody have experience with that?

I forgot to mention that the keyboard could also get a swap. I have to say that after a while using my HP NC4400 I almost forgot how great the IBM/Lenovo keyboards are!

Edit: I'm using the HD with multiboot Win7/Linux from my HP, I've just inserted the drive and booted with Linux and everything works! But I won't try the same with Win7

[Harryc]

Thanks Harry! SATA SSDs are really getting so cheap that I will really consider that.

It's true. You could do what I did with my X200. Put a 2nd hard drive adapter in an Ultrabse, install your current hard drive in it (or the 500GB Samsung), and run an SSD. I picked up a 64GB SATA SSD for $85 after rebate. It's the best of both worlds ... lightning fast boot-ups and key program operation with cheap second drive storage in the adapter. I also opted to boot OpenSuse in the second hard drive adapter with this result -
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 60#p593460

[Tasurinchi]

$85 for a 64GB SSD is really cheap (and that desktop is great btw!) We can only dream about those prices here in Switzerland

I'm getting a T61 soon so I was also thinking to use an SSD as boot drive and put a SATA adapter instead of the optical drive. This could be a hybrid or a "standard" HD, let's see. I have to wait first...

[Harryc]

This is the SSD I bought. It's now $100 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

[IvanAndreevich]

My vote goes to the SSD as well

[ZaZ]

You could consider a laptop skin, which would add a bit of style if that floats your boat. The Momentus XT might be worth a look for a drive. It has a 4GB flash drive attached to a platter based drive. It can boost performance for app loads and boot times. Congrats on the machine.

[Tasurinchi]

Looks like an SSD buy will be imminent, but for the moment I will keep my 500GB drive and made a final decision when the T61 arrives.

Tonight I'm planning to buy a new screw set and the FRU 42x3801 bezel. Yesterday, after being around 3 hours online I've noticed the heat in the palmrest, but it's nothing unbearable as some were claiming here and other forums... Maybe I'm lucky or my hands are heat-proof

[JeffDeWitt]

Congrats on the X60, they are wonderful little machines.

I work in a plant where we deal with IBM's end of lease equipment and see LOTS of laptops... have an X61 tablet sitting on my desk right now getting it set up.

The X60 is my favorite laptop, I've got one of my own, and they will support up to 4GB of RAM, although of course you have to go to a 64 bit OS to take full advantage of the memory.

[Tasurinchi]

Congrats on the X60, they are wonderful little machines.

Yes, they are! And with the proper software set up still very responsive machines despite the age.

and they will support up to 4GB of RAM

I thought the chipset limits the max RAM to 3GB only, being the X61 models the ones breaking this barrier...

[Kyocera]

Lovely machine, rugged and comfortable. Check the lenovo web site and see if your machine qualifies for the free battery due to the recall of some lenovo batteries. I bought mine off ebay a little over a year ago and got a brand new 9 cell shipped from lenovo and all is was doing was trying to download the battery software. I have purchased a lid cover and 6 cell battery from China and have had zero problems with that battery. There are some dealers on ebay for very cheap parts if BobA does not have it.
Good luck with that machine.

[SteveDC]

Undervolting the Wi-Fi card? That's new to me. I have to check that out.

[Tasurinchi]

Check the lenovo web site and see if your machine qualifies for the free battery due to the recall of some lenovo batteries

Thanks Kyocera for the hint! I did not check if the battery is a genuine one. I'll do it as next step!

The screw set and the X61 bezel are already bought and I have to wait for them to arrive from China.

Undervolting the Wi-Fi card? That's new to me. I have to check that out.

There are some threads in the forum. I haven't done it yet as I'm not ready with the Win7 clean install, yesterday night I've installed all updates and the last thing I did was installing Lenovo System update. It took me a while to make it install in english, the software was recognizing my english version of Win7, but got confused with my regional settings (Switzerland) and was installing it in german language

I would also like to buy a thermometer to measure the difference in temperatures between the two palm rests

I'll keep my results posted!

Cheers

[IvanAndreevich]

Any links to WIFI undervolting threads? Couldn't find them through search for some reason.

[Tasurinchi]

Any links to WIFI undervolting threads? Couldn't find them through search for some reason

I think I misread some threads here sorry, my bad. I was also checking this and other forums and most of them speak about undervolting the CPU only using NHC or RMCLock. I've edited my OP, will correct it if I find the thread later.

[tcone]

Hi Tasurinchi,

go for a full-size Atheros AR928X that works in your X60 with zender bios. I bought this one and i love it. Fn+F5 and leds are working out of the box, no driver fiddling needed unter win/linux/osx and my palmrest has never been cooler (had the standard Intel 3945 and AR5BXB6/AR5008). This card has very low power consumption due to efficient sleep modes and is perfect for X6x with its two antennas (2x2 MIMO).

[paul*robertson]

When i got my used X61, i bought a new keyboard off ebay. Very easy to change and although mainly cosmetic, its nice to have a near perfect machine. I also bought some new Vista and Intel stickers.

[Tasurinchi]

and my palmrest has never been cooler (had the standard Intel 3945 and AR5BXB6/AR5008

Thanks for the hint! Are those ones the ones mentioned in the HMM? Do they also get hot?

When i got my used X61, i bought a new keyboard off ebay. Very easy to change and although mainly cosmetic, its nice to have a near perfect machine. I also bought some new Vista and Intel stickers

I also need a new keyboard, but it's no prio #1 yet. It will be nice to get the Intel sticker but there's no way I'm buying a Vista one

[IvanAndreevich]

Hi Tasurinchi,

go for a full-size Atheros AR928X that works in your X60 with zender bios. I bought this one and i love it. Fn+F5 and leds are working out of the box, no driver fiddling needed unter win/linux/osx and my palmrest has never been cooler (had the standard Intel 3945 and AR5BXB6/AR5008). This card has very low power consumption due to efficient sleep modes and is perfect for X6x with its two antennas (2x2 MIMO).

Have you actually measured the power consumption of that card vs the 3945? I'm curious.

[tcone]

Thanks for the hint! Are those ones the ones mentioned in the HMM? Do they also get hot?

The AR5BXB6 is also known as IBM 11a/b/g and gets a little hotter if has some work todo. But this one is a lot stronger than the Intel and works nice on osx. The AR5008 I am using is Apple branded and gets really hot under heavy network load. Might be that this card is even stronger than the AR9280, but that's just a guess. You will need three antennas and a zender bios for this one. Also a great card for the forthcoming winter.

Huh, my intention was always to get those IBM Stickers

Have you actually measured the power consumption of that card vs the 3945? I'm curious.

Sorry, I didn't, but I can feel the difference. With the help of an SSD my cpu temp drops easily below 40 degrees celsius in idle or while surfing. screenshot (screen dimmed to max, bt+wwan off)

This one is also an Apple card. lspci says:

Code: Select all

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:002a] (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Apple Computer Inc. Device [106b:008f]
    Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
    Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
    Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
    Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
    Region 0: Memory at edf00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: ath9k
    Kernel modules: ath9k

[Tasurinchi]

Finally I bought an Atheros AR5BXB72, originally thought for one of the T6*s machines I bougth recently. But if the power consumption is better than the one in my X60 I may swap them. Do you have any experience with that model?

Cheers!

[tcone]

The AR5BXB72 is an AR5418/AR5008 based card so expect a hotter palmrest and huge performance gain. I didn't measure its power consumption, but from the performance point I would say it needs more (802.11n, 3 antennas, higher sensitivity, hotter). This card makes a really big difference compared to the 3945 if you compare their signal strengths. If you can live with the hotter palmrest then this is a nice card.

[Tasurinchi]

If you can live with the hotter palmrest then this is a nice card

Well, the performance of the actual one is ok for what I need, I basically have the X60 in my couch about 3 meters away from the router. I can't think of places where I will be so far away from routers and I prefer to keep the palmrest cool.

My new palmrest arrived this morning. Did not check it yet, but if after applying new thermal paste and installing the new bezel temperatures drop down, I may try changing the card.

[Tasurinchi]

The bezel arrived today. I'll see when I have time to install it, I thought there should be some shielding on the right side, where the wi-fi card is, but there is only some tape applied.



Silly question. Do I have to remove this foam before installing the new bezel?



Thanks in advance!

[tcone]

I assume the foam is for better airflow in the X61/s with second fan. You can leave it on the bezel.

[codek]

Congrats on the X60, they are wonderful little machines.

I work in a plant where we deal with IBM's end of lease equipment and see LOTS of laptops... have an X61 tablet sitting on my desk right now getting it set up.

The X60 is my favorite laptop, I've got one of my own, and they will support up to 4GB of RAM, although of course you have to go to a 64 bit OS to take full advantage of the memory.

I have xp pro 64 bit. Are the drivers hard to find?

[codek]

Hi Tasurinchi,

go for a full-size Atheros AR928X that works in your X60 with zender bios. I bought this one and i love it. Fn+F5 and leds are working out of the box, no driver fiddling needed unter win/linux/osx and my palmrest has never been cooler (had the standard Intel 3945 and AR5BXB6/AR5008). This card has very low power consumption due to efficient sleep modes and is perfect for X6x with its two antennas (2x2 MIMO).

Where can i find these AR928X? There are none on ebay.

[Tasurinchi]

Where can i find these AR928X? There are none on ebay

If you're looking for a draft N card you can check this one here. I think it's the same card but this one has an IBM FRU number, that's how I've found it in Ebay.

[tcone]

@codek:
This is the one i have: click. You will need a zender bios to use it.