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R51e CPU upgrade

R30/R40, A30/A31, G40/G50 and Z60/Z61 Series. NOT for AMD-Ryzen.
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lukee
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R51e CPU upgrade

#1 Post by lukee » Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:48 am

Hi guys,
recently, I have acquired really nice, near mint R51e - no scratches, no shines on the keyboard etc. It runs pretty nice with Alpine Linux and I found it only has a Celeron CPU which of course lacks SpeedStep, has a half of L2 cache compared to the proper Pentium etc. Now I have the opportunity to get Pentium M 780 (2.26GHz - top of the Pentium M line) for almost free and I am curious if the R51e's standard cooler will be able to cool this CPU properly? According to ThinkWiki, R51e can accept Pentium M 780, but I'm not sure if the Celeron's heatsink cooler P/N is same for both CPUs? The CPU's TDP difference is 6 Watts (Celeron 21 Watts, Pentium M 27 Watts). Thanks.
Current: R51e, X240
Previous: T420, T400, T43p Flexview, T40, R52, T43p 14"
My first ThinkPad was 570

axur-delmeria
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#2 Post by axur-delmeria » Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:14 am

It'll be fine. It will run cooler than the Celeron M at idle and probably up to light CPU load, simply due to the fact that the Pentium M has SpeedStep and the Celeron M doesn't.

If it runs hot, just undervolt the CPU.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

lukee
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#3 Post by lukee » Tue Aug 13, 2019 7:15 am

Thanks, I'll give it a try. Just a side note: R51e, although being a 533MHz FSB Centrino ThinkPad, is not suffering from HDD error 2010 when using non-IBM's hard drive, is it?
Current: R51e, X240
Previous: T420, T400, T43p Flexview, T40, R52, T43p 14"
My first ThinkPad was 570

dr_st
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#4 Post by dr_st » Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:28 am

lukee wrote:
Tue Aug 13, 2019 7:15 am
Just a side note: R51e, although being a 533MHz FSB Centrino ThinkPad, is not suffering from HDD error 2010 when using non-IBM's hard drive, is it?
I agree with you. That error was due to a SATA-PATA bridge that IBM used on its Intel ICH6-M laptops to connect an IDE(PATA) drive to a SATA port on the chipset (because ICH6-M only had one PATA channel which was used for the Ultrabay). Apparently, IBM could only verify it works 100% correct with specific drives and wanted to give a warning to the user when a different drive was used.

The R51e uses an ATI chipset (RC410MD with SB400 southbridge) which still has two IDE channels, so no need for bridge, and no need for whitelisting specific drives).
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

lukee
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#5 Post by lukee » Fri Aug 16, 2019 2:23 am

Thanks dr_st, yes, I know about that design flaw in T43/R52/X41 series which are using Marvell SATA/ATA converter chip, but was not sure about R51e. Now it's clear for me, thanks.
I also plan to do a further upgrades of this nice ThinkPad (I really love the TrackPoint-only palmrest it has by the way :D), especially:

- Max the RAM out to 2GB
- Remove DVD-RAM unit it has and install an UltraBay HDD adapter to use it for a CompactFlash card which will serve as an SSD so I can implement following setup in my Linux filesystem: Main HDD will be used to store

Code: Select all

/home
,

Code: Select all

/var
and

Code: Select all

/tmp
directories while the CompactFlash card will be loaded with the rest of Linux standard directories. For me it seems promising that I will get improved system responsiveness, faster boot etc. when using the system from CF card, while the main HDD will be used for large data in my home folder and data which is changing frequently (logs, temps etc.).
- Eventually use my PCMCIA SD card reader as the "holder" for an SD card which will have a swap partition on it - this could add an additional performance gain, and although swap requires very frequent I/O operation, SD cards are cheap nowadays and I wouldn't be unhappy if the card fails every year or so...

So I think after above upgrades I will get a pretty decent setup with my R51e, and still pretty usable with my Alpine Linux distro on the classic, TrackPoint-only ThinkPad with greeaaat keyboard (I am missing these keyboards on the newer models) :lol:
Current: R51e, X240
Previous: T420, T400, T43p Flexview, T40, R52, T43p 14"
My first ThinkPad was 570

lukee
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#6 Post by lukee » Sun Sep 08, 2019 1:06 pm

New donor has arrived on my shelf - very hybrid ThinkPad IMO:

- 15" version in a good shape, LCD label says T42p, but:
- Motherboard is T43 with an ATI X300 GPU
- LCD is not UXGA typical for 15" T42p/T43p units, but SXGA+ and definitely is a FlexView screen
- CPU is 2.13GHz Dothan but heatsink/cooler is the one with thinner heatpipes (common for T42 series, it definitely isn't an M24 cooler)

Issues:
- Screen shows some artifacts, even in BIOS - most likely lose GPU issue.
- LCD backlit shows magneta and then green cast approx 2 minutes after power on, then it goes to normal - most likely bad CCFL.

Positives:
- 9-cells Panasonic battery still gives approx 2 hours of battery life :shock:

For my R51e project I am considering to take some parts from this hybrid ThinkPad, since the investment to repair it would probably reach significantly beyond a price of nice T60p. I will take the battery for sure, maybe the modem/Bluetooth module, CPU/RAM/WiFi as spare, Ultrabay SATA adapter, but not sure about below parts' compatibility with my R51e:

- Palmrest with Touchpad?
- Keyboard?
- Heatsink/cooler?
- LCD - this is very dilemma for me since I have owned FlexViews before and I don't want to throw this screen away just because of bad CCFL. This can be easily repaired at home using an LED set, correct? What's the approx cost for that?

I can eventually also try to reflow the mobo knowing I will lose nothing if that goes wrong or ship it for professional reball + eventually SATA mod. What's the approx cost of doing that? I live in Europe so the repair cost will be approx equivalent to the shipping cost to U.S. and back. :|

Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Current: R51e, X240
Previous: T420, T400, T43p Flexview, T40, R52, T43p 14"
My first ThinkPad was 570

ajkula66
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#7 Post by ajkula66 » Sun Sep 08, 2019 1:19 pm

lukee wrote:
Sun Sep 08, 2019 1:06 pm
For my R51e project I am considering to take some parts from this hybrid ThinkPad, since the investment to repair it would probably reach significantly beyond a price of nice T60p. I will take the battery for sure, maybe the modem/Bluetooth module, CPU/RAM/WiFi as spare, Ultrabay SATA adapter, but not sure about below parts' compatibility with my R51e:

- Palmrest with Touchpad?
- Keyboard?
- Heatsink/cooler?
If your "new" ThinkPad is a T4x shell, the palmrest is different from R5x and won't fit. The keyboard will fit. Can't say much about the heatsink but it won't hurt to try.

As for reballing/SATA-modding...you're pretty much on your own. I don't believe that anyone offers either of these as service on regular basis anymore.

Good luck.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

lukee
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Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#8 Post by lukee » Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:54 am

Thanks for your quick reply, George. Is any hack out there how to make the FlexView screen run on ATI Radeon 200M-based R51e board? As I understood by searching this forum, this might be some firmware/BIOS limitation only. Even the Radeon driver for T43p (FireGL V3200) is exactly the same installation file as for this 200M graphics in R51e. Thanks.
Current: R51e, X240
Previous: T420, T400, T43p Flexview, T40, R52, T43p 14"
My first ThinkPad was 570

ajkula66
SuperUserGeorge
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Posts: 17303
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:28 am
Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: R51e CPU upgrade

#9 Post by ajkula66 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:43 am

lukee wrote:
Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:54 am
Thanks for your quick reply, George. Is any hack out there how to make the FlexView screen run on ATI Radeon 200M-based R51e board? As I understood by searching this forum, this might be some firmware/BIOS limitation only. Even the Radeon driver for T43p (FireGL V3200) is exactly the same installation file as for this 200M graphics in R51e. Thanks.
I don't know the answer to your question. Nothing to lose by trying I guess...

Good luck.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

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