Thinkpad R61 cpu upgrade

[shaneblack]

Hello, I've been browsing the forums on cpu upgrades and reading alot, doing research and watching videos on upgrading processors. I want to put a duel-core 2ghz into my thinkpad r61 which you'd think would already have one but this model is different and they put in a celeron m 540 1.8ghz cpu. The gpu is intel x3100 which I run xp to reach its full power of 384mb of graphics that meets alot of games minum requerments like resident evil 4 and gta sa. Driver 3 asks for a 2ghz cpu, so I'm thinking 2ghz duel-core would push these games along much as I have good graphics for these games from around 2002 - 2008. Of course newer games wont run but thats fine. Anyways just wanted to know what my laptop could handle ? Its gm965 chipset, whats the limit ? Can I do 3ghz or qued core, or just duel-core? I did my research and found out celeron m 540 is socket P. I found alot of good processors for very cheap and need to know what it can handle and what FSB speed would be best for best performance.

I found my system board FRU number, Now a 42W7872 is Penryn and no bios mod is needed. My board number is 42W7825 and is gm965 chipset. Serial code was dated 07/09 in the that order. Which my model is 8935 a47. And L3-B9173. With this information can anyone make the statement that T7300 will work with just installing it and having no mods on the bios ?

I wasn't sure, I thought as long as I stayed in the T series and have socket P then I'd be okay.

I really would like to put in Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile T3400 CPU SLB3P Socket P 2.16GHz 667MHz 1MB. It sounds good but theres a few others I have seen that does not cost alot of cash, INTEL CORE 2 DUO T5900 SLB6D 2.2GHZ 800MHZ 2MB SOCKET P....... Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile 2ghz SLGJN Laptop CPU Socket P 2.0GHz 800MHz 1MB..... Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile T2330 Laptop CPU SLA4K 1.6GHz 533 1M Socket P ........... Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300 Laptop CPU SLGJM Socket P 2.1Ghz 800MHz 1MB .......

Thats T3400, T5900, T2330, and T4300.

But in another forum someone said the best bet was T7300. If anyone can help I'd really be happy.

Here is the link for another forum I asked this question to.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardwar ... e-cpu.html

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.
Yours is a Merom-designed board.
If you upgrade your CPU, skip the Core Duo altogether, your best bet is indeed a C2D T7300.
You can do so without modding the BIOS.
But applying the Middleton BIOS will let your HD or SSD run at SATA-II speed and offer a few other goodies.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo- ... ost6501443

[ZaZ]

The quad core is a no-go on the R61. The T2330 and T3400 will probably not work as they've got the wrong FSB speed. I can't say about the others. I wouldn't be surprised if they worked, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't either. The fact they were released after the T7300 and the other earlier CPUs that came in the R61 with your board probably increases the chances that they won't work. The T7300 will work and it's cheap. 99% of the time you probably can't tell the difference anyway.

[shaneblack]

Thanks so much, Its great to have everything confirmed to work. And if I havent put all this time into researching and finding the right cpu I probably would of regreted it. I was leaning towards penryn and could of made a big mistake. And I also searched all over and could not find the middleton bios anywhere but now with you guy's help I'm all set to install T7300
Thanks you guys are pros, I didnt think I'd get answers so quick lol.

[shaneblack]

By the way, can anyone tell me how the intel celeron m 540 1.8ghz stacks up against the intel core 2 duel T7300. Is there a big or small performance increase ?

[ZaZ]

It depends on what you're doing. For light usage like Office and Internet, there's probably not much of a difference, but anything processor intensive like coding video for example, having an extra core will offer a significant advantage.

[shaneblack]

I'm looking for a processor to run pc games, like Grand theft auto San Andreas, Resident Evil 4 and Driver 3 (Driv3r). San Andreas runs abit better with Middleton's bios, I dont get alot of framerate drops like I did before, but I know Resident Evil 4 and Driv3r require 2ghz to run decent. I tested these games, Graphics are good and the x3100 offers pixel shading and some other good 3d options which makes games very playable at 800x600 resolution which is good enough for me. I tried Scarface:The world is yours, but it lagged after I got out of the mansion. Retried it on my dad's desktop pc with gforce 256mb graphics and 2.4ghz P4 processor only to find it too lagged. So I gave up on that game, its ok. That desktop has less graphics then my thinkpad r61 but runs Resident Evil 4 great, this makes me think that his pc has 2.4ghz so I need to step up to that speed to push processing data faster to make it run good. And with the celeron 1.8ghz I now have it is not enough and a duel-core 2ghz would be just the speed to make it very much playable. Its a fun game and that and San Andrea is all I really play. I still play N64 games and playstation ones on here via emulators but they are not at all cpu intensive.

[shaneblack]

I have Middletons bios, and I was wondering what all features it has to it because someone else mentioned it has other goodies to it. I notice a performance increase and wondered what benifited from the bios.

[shaneblack]

I just installed the t7300 core 2 duo and it is working great, games run alot better. I can get 30fps instead of 15fps average. Which is very playable. CPU temps are far lower then with the celeron m 540 1.8ghz single core. I stay between 80*F - 130*F. I used the DOT method to apply the thermal paste, everything went very easy. Thanks to everyone who helped me find the right processor, I really am happy with this laptop now and can't thank everyone enough. I'm going to get some gaming and work done alot better now

[MaxRoy77]

Speaking of R61 CPU Upgrade ...

I found out tonite, with my S/N + Model #, that my R61 have this planar/system board #42W7791 but can't find anywhere wheter it's supports Penryn (T9300, T9500) or not.

I want to upgrade from T7300 to T9300 and also MAX OUT Ram to 8GB.

Anyone can confirm or not this upgrade ? Thanks

[RealBlackStuff]

AFAIK that's a Merom mobo (most start P/N or FRU with 42W76xx or 42W77xx)
Most Penryn mobos (nVidia GPU, as well as some Intel GPU) start P/N or FRU with 42W78xx.
However, with a Middleton BIOS you should be able to run a Penryn without the Thermal Error in any T61/R61 mobo.
To use 8GB RAM, you will need to run any 64-bit OS or 32-bit Windows Server 2008.

[MaxRoy77]

Thanks !

With the Middleton Bios, what are the limitations , compare to the 'official' Lenovo's ?

[ajkula66]

Thanks !

With the Middleton Bios, what are the limitations , compare to the 'official' Lenovo's ?

You get full SATA II (3.0) transfer speed support as opposed to Lenovo's SATA I (1.5). on R61/T61/X61.

Support for all non-whitelisted wireless cards is included as well.

[MaxRoy77]

^ Cool, thanks.

So only PROS no CONS ?

[shaneblack]

With the T7300 things are great for merom, what if I wanted a penryn cpu that was better then t7300. What would I be looking for ? I cant do quad core someone said, so is there a better dual core then the one i have that will work ?

[MaxRoy77]

I've finally installed Middleton Bios for my R61 (not Penryn compatible) , 8GB Ram and a new 500GB Seagate Momentus XT 500GB.

It's seem that the R61 does not like the T9300 'Penryn' even with the Middleton Bios, the original T7300 runs perfectly.

I have BSOD's and instant shut-downs while booting Win7 with the T9300.

Anyone know why ?

Thanks

[RealBlackStuff]

Is that 32- or 64-bit W7?
If the mobo is not playing 'nice', I'd go back to the T7300.

[underclocker]

Not sure if you've applied the thermal compound and secured the fan or not, but I've had similar issues during testing before buttoning everything up.

The CPUs heat up very quickly and the mobo detects the overheating.

[MaxRoy77]

Win7-x64
No I did not put Thermal paste, I will and post a reply with the result.

Thanks !

[MaxRoy77]

My other ongoing project is to install Middleton Bios on my T61p (main) - to get the same WEI of others with same config, but everytime I boot the BIOS update CD to FLASH it, I get this message (see screenshot).



FLASH over LAN is 'disabled' on this client.


WTF ?

[MaxRoy77]

About the T9300 reboots and shutdowns, I applied Artic 5 and problem is solved, many thanks

[RealBlackStuff]

Go into your BIOS, then select Config/Network/Flash over LAN and set it to Enabled.
Then flash the BIOS.

[MaxRoy77]

Thanks, Middleton is now installed on my T61p !!!
But, only the GRAPHICS increased AERO (5.3 -> 5.7) GAMING (5.9 -> 6.1) .

I was hoping to achive sames WEI as this guy http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 35#p665035 for the CPU and RAM, I have 6.1 with same setup T9300, 8GB RAM.

;-(

[RealBlackStuff]

They are only arbitrary figures (after all, it's M$ that programmed this toy-stuff!).
Check in a few days and the figures will be different...