Upgrading the hardware on a T400 (2767-CP6): questions

[MartinBrice]

I have a 2.5 year old T400 that I barely ever used. I would very much like to upgrade it significantly and use it for RAW photo processing, video editing, and digital audio work.

The specs according to Lenovo's site are:

Based 2767-CTO: T9400(2.53GHz), 2GB RAM, 160GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1440x900 LCD, 256MB ATI Radeon HD3470, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11agn, WWAN option, Modem, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, FPR, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

I would like to upgrade - and max out (to the extent that it is possible):
Memory
CPU
HDD

I also plan to upgrade if possible - the CDRW/DVD to a CDRW/DVDRW

Furthermore, after upgrading the hardware, I plan to upgrade the OS to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

My questions are:

1. How much memory will the motherboard support with Win7 (I see 2 DIMM slots)? What memory is recommended for maximum speed and compatibility? I didn't see what type of memory it takes. Lenovo's upgrade site lists PC3-8500 DDR3-1066. Is this accurate? Also, is this set up as a dual-channel memory setup? In other words, do I need to find a matched set?

2. What is the fastest CPU I can upgrade to? The Intel T9900? Is that compatible? (I realize the marginal benefit would be slim upgrading the CPU, but would like to do so anyways). Do I need a new heatsink/fan, or will the existing one be sufficient? Also, what thermal grease should I use when installing? Artic Silver 5?

3. As far as HDD, please recommend the largest, fastest, most reliable and compatible drive I can purchase and install.

I have followed the maintenance instructions and have opened the unit gaining access to the Memory and CPU. I now need to purchase the upgrades so that I can install them.

Any help and recommendations as to what hardware to purchase would be appreciated. Also, any other suggestions for recommended upgrades would be welcome. I realize some might say I should just buy a new laptop, but I would really prefer to just upgrade the T400 to the furthest extent that I can.

Thanks!

[MartinBrice]

I've done some research and decided I want to go with a Solid State hdd.

Also, I looked on Lenovo.com, and my only option for an alternative to the CDRW/DVD is a DVD burner with no CD-ROM/CDRW capabilities?

That can't be right can it?

Lastly, what upgrades are there for the screen? I'm not sure I care to upgrade it, but if there is something better suited for photo and video editing (particularly working with RAW photos and seeing the purest representation of what I can expect when I send it to the professional printer.) - I'm interested in learning about those options.

It furthers the case for just getting a new laptop instead, but for various reasons I like the idea of just upgrading.

[ZaZ]

I say do the memory and hard drive first before thinking about the CPU. The T9900 is probably going to cost you at least $300 for a small performanc bump.

8GB is the max for the T400.

Since you're planning to keep your optical drive probably the best drive option for you is the Seagate Momentus XT. It's a hard drive with a flash drive attached. Once it figures your usage patterns, it gives near SSD performance and they go up to 750GB. SSDs are really fast, but expensive per GB and limit capacity. If you can forgo the optical drive a smaller SSD as the boot drive and then a larger drive in the modular bay for storage might be an option.

There's DVDRWs for the T400. Just go on eBay and search for one.

The best screen offered on the T400 quality wise was the 680 nit outdoor screen, but it's only WXGA and hard to find.

[MartinBrice]

But the T9900 - that is the fastest processor the T400 will accept right?

[LegendaryKA8]

But the T9900 - that is the fastest processor the T400 will accept right?

Yes.

[TTY]

Also, I looked on Lenovo.com, and my only option for an alternative to the CDRW/DVD is a DVD burner with no CD-ROM/CDRW capabilities?

DVD burners can read from CD[-R(W)]s and write to CD-R(W)s.

Lastly, what upgrades are there for the screen?

Most laptop display panels have six bits per color. Most external screens have at least eight bits per color, some have ten bits per color. There might be external screens with even more bits per color. So color representation should be better on an external screen. You could get a high quality monitor and connect it to the ThinkPad. If i would need to buy a good stand-alone monitor, i would look into Eizo and NEC.

[MartinBrice]

A recommendation for what memory to purchase (brand, model) would be appreciated.

[richk]

I want to make something clear that I couldn't find mentioned above. If you want to use more than about 3GB of memory, you need to be running a 64-bit operating system. This has nothing to do with the kind of machine. As far as memory brands, I buy whatever is cheapest.

[MartinBrice]

I want to make something clear that I couldn't find mentioned above. If you want to use more than about 3GB of memory, you need to be running a 64-bit operating system. This has nothing to do with the kind of machine. As far as memory brands, I buy whatever is cheapest.

I am aware of the limitations imposed if I were to install a 32-bit OS. No worries. From my original post:

Furthermore, after upgrading the hardware, I plan to upgrade the OS to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

No worries.

As far as the memory though, what I'm really asking is in regards to timings, etc. I don't know memory timings still are even a consideration, or if I'm 4 years in the technology past. I remember the last computer I built from scratch, I had to get a matched set of memory so it could run dual-channel. I have no idea if the T400 has a similar setup or requirement. I don't even know what kind of PC-XXXX memory it takes! I never got any specs with the computer. Just the unit and the charger. I wasn't the person who actually ordered the thing, so I have no knowledge of what's inside other than what the Lenovo site tells me, and it isn't telling me as much detail as I would like.

[MartinBrice]

So, here's a concern:

Check out this spec page: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... D=PD005598

Hopefully that works. If not, what I'm worried about is the following:

Processor

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology
Available processors are:
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7370 (2.0 GHz)
3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8400 (2.26 GHz)
3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8600 (2.40 GHz)
3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8700 (2.53 GHz)
3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P9500 (2.53 GHz)
3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor P9600 (2.66 GHz)
6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5670 (1.8 GHz)
2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5870 (2.0 GHz)
2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6570 (2.1 GHz)
2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53 GHz)
6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9550 (2.66 GHz)
6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9600 (2.80 GHz)
6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9800 (2.93 GHz)
6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front-side bus
Intel Celeron M processor 575 (2.0 GHz)
1-MB L2 cache, 667 MHz front-side bus
Intel Celeron M processor 585 (2.16 GHz)
1-MB L2 cache, 667 MHz front-side bus
Intel Celeron Dual Core processor T1600 (1.66 GHz)
1-MB L2 cache, 667 MHz front-side bus
Intel Celeron Dual Core processor T1700 (1.83 GHz)
1-MB L2 cache, 667 MHz front-side bus

No T9900 listed?

and while I finally found the memory spec, it says only 4GB?

Memory

PC3-8500 Non-Parity (NP) Double Data Rate Three (DDR3) Technology
Two SO-DIMM Slots
The use of 1067 MHz SO DIMM memory is recommended for this system.
512 MB, 1 GB, 2GB, or 4GB memory
Supports up to 4GB maximum memory
Note: Only 64-bit operating systems support more than 3GB of system memory (RAM).

Why 4GB instead of 8GB?

Does this mean a t9900 CPU and 8GB of memory is not compatible with my system? Or is this just outdated information?

[LegendaryKA8]

That simply means that the T400 wasn't originally configured with the T9900 when it came from the factory, as it was a higher end CPU Lenovo used in the W500/W700 models. As I've heard of the T9900 working in a T500 with no fuss I'm sure the T400 will also take it with no problems either. There are also plenty of people using T400/T500 systems with 8GB of RAM; provided you install an x64 OS.

[MartinBrice]

Just checking:

http://amzn.com/B001UNI80A

and

http://amzn.com/B0030C7DUA

Correct products? Looks right, but I want to check before ordering. Thanks!

[ZaZ]

The memory looks correct. If you don't mind used you might want to check on eBay. You could probably get one for less there. CPU failure rates are extremely low and as long as you've got some kind of DOA warranty, you should be good.

[MartinBrice]

I'll check. The link I provided is for the correct T9900 - right? My searches for Intel T9900 have brought up all kinds of slightly different descriptions, leading me to wonder if the descriptions are different, or the products are different. I also noticed differing photos, and had to wonder if it was just a matter of using the wrong stock CPU photo, or something else.

For example, this looks wrong:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... 0711368159

First image:

This looks right:



Is it possible that they're both T9900 CPU's, or just the wrong photo?

[MartinBrice]

And this just confuses the heck out of me:

http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdeta ... &rid=fd_10

Regular Price: $1,090.96
Discounted Price: $763.67

huh?

Why 2x more than everywhere else? Not the same processor?

This is the image from that site:



If I'm not mistaken, according to the code on the side, that's a T7500 processor?

[MartinBrice]

Any help is appreciated.

I also have to get working on a screen.

[MartinBrice]

Nevermind on the screen - got it covered. Just need to confirm the CPU is correct.

Also, any info on docking bays would be appreciated. Recommendations for particular ones, etc.

[MartinBrice]

The link I provided is for the correct T9900 - right?

Hey folks. I'm just waiting on an answer to this question (in one of my posts above) before I place an order.

The link is:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030C7DUA/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

thanks.

[mariol90]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-T9900-3-0 ... 1161wt_952

I would not spend $400 on a processor, personally. especially considering a T400 is less than that. the T9900 in the auction above is what you should be looking for.

[MartinBrice]

Thanks. I'll do that.

[jayton4]

2. What is the fastest CPU I can upgrade to? The Intel T9900? Is that compatible? (I realize the marginal benefit would be slim upgrading the CPU, but would like to do so anyways).

Thanks. I'll do that.

Wow. In the other post you said that you could not justify the cost of an SSD, yet you decide to go with this? If it is "money is no object" when it comes to CPU but an SSD can't be justified, then wherever you are getting advice from is giving you bad information. You even recognized the fact that the new CPU will make very little difference.

For the RAM, you are not going to see any difference in any benchmark by looking for some certain timings over another. Any of the 8GB (4GBx2) 1333 kits will do as good as any other, and can be had for around $40-50.

And this just confuses the heck out of me:

http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdeta ... &rid=fd_10

Regular Price: $1,090.96
Discounted Price: $763.67

huh?

Why 2x more than everywhere else? Not the same processor?

Yes, electronics retailing can be confusing. Retailers will do this when they do not have the item in stock. Basically it means that if they actually come across someone that does buy it, they will scramble one up from somewhere, hence the status of "Available to Order" listed on their site. That means the same as "Out of stock." Nearly ALL electronics retailers do this. For example, if you try to find a part for a TV, such as an inverter board, they are all listed at the price of a replacing the TV.