New T400 - RAM and XP Pro Questions

[S23]

Hello,

I am the owner of a new thinkpad T400. I am pretty excited to get it up and running, but I want to do a few things to get the system situated to my liking.

I have been trying my best to search for threads already related to my questions as I know repeated questions can be annoying. I wasn't able to find related threads, so I'm hoping to get some insight from experienced folks already in tune with the Thinkpad as the T400 is my first thinkpad experience - and I don't want to get off to a bad start .

RAM Upgrade

I bought my T400 from Lenovo with 1 GB RAM with the intention of upgrading to 2 2GB chips = 4 GM RAM. I have tried to do some research regarding the best RAM manufacturers, and I've gotten differing opinions depending on who you talk to. I know the specifications required for the RAM I need to get (1066 MHz, 204-pin, DDR3, etc), but as it relates to performance I've found that CAS latency seems to be one of the bigger points of judgement. Some of the brands I've looked at include MICRON, Crucial, G.Skill, Kingston, Corsair, and Patriot. What is the general consensus from people who've done RAM upgrades about what works best with thinkpads, and T400 to be specific? What latency have most people who upgraded gone with? It seems 5 is not as easy to find, with the most common being 7 or 8. I'm sure many will say the difference between manufacturers is negligible, but I really am trying to get the best performance and value (much like my decision to get the T400).

Aside from these RAM manufacturers, Lenovo has 2 2GB RAM chips that look identical (one is a topseller?) for sale on their website, both claimed to have a latency of 5, and both are said to be manufactured by Lenovo. Lenovo obviously recommends these for Thinkpads. Can anyone vouch for the performance of these chips as compared with the others I mentioned above, even confirming that they do actually have a latency of 5? The price does not seem to align with the capability (usually latency = 5 is higher in price than these). There are no reviews online for these Lenovo chips that I have been able to find to date. These are the links:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... TDF43R2046&
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... 1EB4929BF6

XP Pro Downgrade from Visa Home Basic

I have decided to go with the Windows XP Pro OS. My system has come pre-loaded with Visa Home Basic - I'm sure with a lot of pre-installed software I don't want. I've seen a couple of threads related to reverting to a factory installation, and others it seems like mentioned reverting back to a Custom Factory installation, or something along those lines.

Essentially what I'd like to do is get rid of Vista and the pre-installed software I don't want, install a fresh version of Windows XP Pro without any pre-installed software. I'd like to keep all Lenovo recovery tools and any other Lenovo components important to system recovery and maintenance (like the functionality associated with the one-button system restore), but the commercial software that comes with computers these days I am not interested in keeping. Does anyone have information or tutorials on how to go about this most efficiently?

I have read threads where people who have done such an exercise talk about Devices in the Device Manager being unrecognized by the system after their new OS installation - I'd like to avoid any such complications if possible. Else, if this is inevitable, I'm looking to get some information on the best way to go about addressing any such potential issues as they arise.

Sorry this turned out to be a long post, but as you can see I am axious to get started with my machine and want to make sure I do what I can to ensure smooth and optimal performance.

Thanks in advance for any help from the group. Cheers!

[Harryc]

I just bought this RAM for my personal T400, which now has 4GB RAM -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148192

[S23]

Hey, thanks for the response.

Yes, I've come across that RAM, but I'm still wondering if anyone on here can provide helpful info related to my original post/questions about RAM manufacturers and the XP Pro downgrade..?

Anybody..? Nobody has gone through this?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[bill bolton]

Posting an identical message on several different forums across the web is not the way to encourage responses.

[joncnca]

i've just gone through the process of backing up/removing vista basic/installing fresh winxp pro.

still testing out the system for quirks before i start customizing it, and i've run into a few. i don't know if this is related, and i've posted in the forum (hoping to get some replies), but my keyboard and touchpad seem to be giving some unreliable performance. sometimes when i boot up, one or both do not respond until i either log off or reboot. i'm still trying to figure out exactly what's behind this, because as you can imagine, it's pretty frustrating.

otherwise, i only installed enough from the lenovo site to get rid of the question marks in device manager. these include:

card reader ricoh 4in1
conexant
ethernet
intel chipset
intel integrated tpm
intel display
lcd monitor
lenovo system interface driver
local manageability service
management engine interface
modem driver
power management
ultranav
wireless lan

this oughta get rid of the question marks, and notice i didn't install much of the thinkvantage suite. everything seems to be working, except for that keyboard thing. so you should be able to get away with a pretty minimal install. watch out for the keyboard thing and let us know if it happens to you too

[S23]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

That keyboard/touchpad performance issue doesn't sound fun - I hope it's not a byproduct of the XP install. I've asked someone who is familiar with the XP install if they have encountered the issue or know anyone else who has, so hopefully I'll get more info on that.

I have a question regarding your T400. Did you get the switchable graphics (discrete) option? Turbo memory? I'm assuming you didn't get the turbo memory since it only works with Vista - which isn't what you'll be using....is that right? Also let me know if you got the discrete (switchable) graphics option, and if so, how you dealt with it on the fresh install. Is it just like the other drivers you can get from the lenovo site?

Thanks in advance and let's stay in contact.

[joncnca]

this touchpad/keyboard thing is really pissing me off. i'm writing on my 3 year old compaq presario...it may not have as nice 'build quality' as this lenovo, but i sure as heck never had any problems with the KEYBOARD or TOUCHPAD. it's like buying a new car and having problems with the doors, right after driving it off the lot.....

anyway, yes, i got the t400 with switchable graphics. before you install winxp, go into the bios and change the graphics display to either integrated, or discrete, but don't leave it on auto. also, there's the option to let the OS automatically detect for switchable graphics, change that to disabled because winxp can't do switchable graphics on the fly.

after winxp is installed, if you had set the graphics to discrete, xp will only recognize your intel card. so install the intel drivers. then go back into your bios, change setting to discrete graphics, and windows will boot up recognizing only the ATI card, so install the ATI drivers. if you forget to change your bios before installing winxp, windows will initially choose the discrete graphics and your bios will be changed for you, you should do it manually yourself. the important thing is to disable OS detection of switchable graphics.

i downloaded the intel drivers from lenovo. but the ati drivers are old, so i downloaded the reference 8.12 catalyst that was released a few days ago from ATI, used Mobility Modder to patch it (requires dot net, etc), and installed.

and no, i didn't get the turbo memory. i actually downloaded a patch from the lenovo site to disable support for turbo memory.

if you're doing a fresh install, you're gonna have a truckload of question marks in the device manager. i suggest you reboot a couple times after installing each driver (not just restart, but also "shut down", then start up again). see if this affects your keyboard/trackpad. there must be something that's conflicting, i just don't know what. i might have to reinstall windows and do what i just said to figure it out, because this lack of keyboard/trackpad is making the system unusable, but i seem to recall it wasn't so unusable when i first instaled windows and didn't have any drivers.

also, i played around with the win vista basic that the laptop came with, and everything was fine, including function keys (right now, my F5 isn't working), trackpad and keyboard were fine, so i guess it means if you install all of the thinkvantage stuff, it'll work fine. but we're trying to avoid that, now aren't we?

[Brad]

I have a T400 with a 2gb Samsung M471B5673DZ1-CF8 0835 which has a Lenovo FRU of 43R1959. This matches neither of your Lenovo links. It could be the same though because figuring FRU's numbers does not appear to be an exact science. I would be happy to run a benchmark if this information would help.

I did a Vista Ultimate 32 recovery and would be interested in working with XP also. Right now though there is a problem with my T400 because the discrete GPU does not appear to be working properly and probably needs to have the motherboard replaced.

Brad

[S23]

Brad, thanks for the reply. Are you running your T400 with 2 GB RAM? If you have time to run a benchmark that would be great. I am very skeptical about lenovo's claim on their 2 GB RAM chips having a latency of 5, as I have heard the best latency for DDR3 RAM at this point is 7.

Any help you can provide would be great. Thanks in advance.

[Brad]

Yes I am running 2gb with the Samsung memory I noted above.

I can run a benchmark. Which benchmark is your benchmark.

Brad

[S23]

Brad,

I'm looking to verify that the 2 GB DDR3 ram has a latency of 5. I'm not sure if the 2 GB stick in your machine is the same which Lenovo is advertising on it's website, but even after talking with a Lenovo rep, he even claimed that he was surprised to see them marketing it as having a latency of 5. Smells like false advertisement to me.

[Brad]

According to the Samsung data sheet for my 2gb chip found here the latency rate is 7.

If there is a benchmark you prefer please let me know.

Brad