T420/T430 a list of interchangable parts?

[hitch22]

Hi,

T430 seems like a minor upgrade from T420,

and I am wondering how many parts they can share.

Specifically, I would like to know if T430 fan assembly will fit into T420.

It would be nice if T420 can be upgraded by putting improved T430 parts.

Thank you!

[mikemex]

Hi,

T430 seems like a minor upgrade from T420,
and I am wondering how many parts they can share.
Specifically, I would like to know if T430 fan assembly will fit into T420.
It would be nice if T420 can be upgraded by putting improved T430 parts.

Thank you!

I'd say, any part of the lid interchanges. From what I've seen the palmrest interchanges. The keyboard can be swapped but BIOSes lack support for different layouts (I wonder if there is anyone working on that, sounds like a minor modification to the BIOS to correct it).

Base plastics and motherboard surely don't interchange since ports are different. Optical drive is the same, just like any other Ultrabay device. Wireless devices are probably not the same and I'm not sure you can swap them around without a modified BIOS. WWAN modules in particular will probably won't interchange. CPU definitely don't interchange both ways but you can install a sandy bridge in a T430. Not sure why would you like to do that but it's possible.

I'm not quite sure if the fan is the same. I remember watching a video explaining that the fans in the 30 series use static electricity discharges to capture dust and throw it away. If so, it's probably done by the fan itself without any aid from the system. It's just a matter of checking if the heatsink fits since it likely uses the same motherboard connector. I googled and they seem different but it's probably due to switching manufacturer or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the basic design is the same.

No idea on components such as speakers but they are likely to be the same (mostly to save costs). I'm running out of ideas now, what else does a Thinkpad have inside? Ah yes, the battery. You can use newer batteries on the T420 but not the other way.

Power adapter is the same.

[hitch22]

Thank you so much for a detailed explanation!

It looks like there is a lot of parts that can be swapped.

I will probably get a T430 fan one day and try installing it into T420.

Are the T430 displays identical to the ones in T420?

The one in my T420 is so horribly bad that I feel like swapping it with a T430

display if it can improve the viewing angle.