Got free A31...need suggestions.

[ken3983]

Yep...got a free A31 from a friend who was doing a dual core system. This has no memory...no hard drive...no problem! It has a DVD drive so I'm good to go on that. Its also a 2652-P3U model and spec'd at a 1.9 processor. Soooo.....what are my hard drive options and what speed/brand memory is compatible with this system to achieve 2gb memory? Hard to find PC2100, so maybe I'm looking at PC2700. I know I'm getting a 802.11g card for it so I can find me some hotspots. Any advice to save me some pain in the upgrades? Maybe a processor swap as well.

Ken

[Harryc]

Do a forum search on PC2700, it's all the same specs/compatibility for the various models that use it. It's going to be pricey for 2GB of it though. Hard drives ... the sky is the limit on capacity as long as it's a 2.5" (9.5mm) PATA laptop hard drive. Newegg.com usually has some nice deals. Processor, I'll let the A31 experts comment, but my understanding is that heat becomes an issue over 2.0MHz on the Pentium 4-M's. Since you are at 1.9MHz already, any proc upgrade is going to produce marginal gains.

[ajkula66]

These are fine machines. I've had a few A31s with 1.9 processors and they run very sweet-not slow and not hot. The only weak spot of your new toy is only 16Mb video which will be a headache if you're intent on playing games. If not, disregard this remark entirely.

When it comes to RAM start with 2x512Mb PC2700 which is dirt cheap these days...

HDD...I love a good Seagate 7200rpm, but that's me. A nice fast drive is a must in that machine for optimizing the performance, one place where you shouldn't spare expense.

Wireless card...technology has moved so far that almost any card you pick these days will work just fine. But do you really want to be dragging an 8lb laptop to different hotspots?

Once you've completed your ThinkPad, drop me a PM and I'll be glad to burn you a set of recovery disks for it.

Any further questions-just let us know.

[ken3983]

You guys are too awesome! I'd gladly pay you for a set of recovery CDs. That is a very generous offer and I thank you. I was reading post how the Radeon video card is a weak point in these A31s due to them getting hot and failing. If they fail, you're off to get another motherboard, right? Those m/b are expensive. You can probably get another used A31 by the time you bought a m/b. It would seem you could heatsink the graphics cpu to keep it cool.

Ken

[BuddhaNature]

Have used a A31-2652 for years and it's still going strong (though maintained).

When bought it was new with factory fitted 40GB HDD and slooooow rotation speed. As mentioned by others this is the real easily addressable bottle-neck on the system. Get a high capacity drive with high rotation speed. Overall performance of system rose mightily after that - more so even than when I increased the capacity of RAM. I use the Hitachi TravelStar drives - would recommend them.

http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/e ... 0eac4f0a0/

If going down this route forget about heat issues; my higher capacity faster rotation drives (have fitted two) run at temperatures lower than the original 40GB drive. Nice little free app. to get to monitor temperatures is here:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/

With respect to processor speed. My own 2652 originally came with 2.00GHz CPU. It would speed-step its way all the time between 2.00 and 1.20GHz - this occurring as a 'thermal protection' issue. I thought this was normal (it was, on my system and I was new to laptops when I bought it so didn't know any better). Eventually I got a second-hand 2.50GHz processor and fitted it. This meant I had to deal with doing the thermal compound on the head of the processor die (I cleaned out the fan at the same time).

I fitted the 2.50GHz CPU though when doing the thermal compound I just replicated what had been done to the factory fit of the 2.00GHz CPU. Result of that was a 2.50GHz processor that speed-stepped all that time as well. Again I didn't see this as an issue as I didn't know any better.

Long story, but eventually I decided to re-do the thermal compound thing. This time the result was a 2.50GHz machine that ran at 2.50GHz all the time even under sustained max load on the CPU. When first fitted it ran a 24 hour test on it with CPU usage at 100%. It didn't waver once from 2.50GHz. And, at that the average difference on operating temperature of the CPU, idle or any load, showed a drop of around 20oC (!) as against the originally fitted 2.00GHz CPU and my first attempt at fitting the 2.50GHz CPU. It was like getting a new machine. I have had no issues with 'thermal protection' of the CPU since - no speed-stepping at all while on AC power. So my experience is that 2.50GHz CPU does not over-heat so long as:

1. The thermal compound is correctly applied. (On my original CPU seems that the factory applied compound was not applied correctly.)
2. The fan is clean and operates without issues.

My understanding is that the max rating for a CPU on this machine is 2.60GHz but don't know if the above would apply to that rating. Can't think of reason why it wouldn't though.

If you are new to ThinkPads then would recommend this site, though aimed at Linux much of the inf is of general use:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

Hope this helps. You have the basis of a good machine there.

[ken3983]

Well... I'm new to this speed of laptop. I have always owned IBM Thinkpads and loved 'em. My first was a 760ED that I had years ago and it even had video capture. Later, around 2 years ago, I owned a T20 and it did what I needed. IBM has always been great with tech support and customer service. I personally would'nt own any other laptop. I think I'm going to get on the 7200 rpm bandwagon. Then I'll get me some CL2.5 2700 to boot.

Ken

[proaudioguy]

You guys are too awesome! I'd gladly pay you for a set of recovery CDs. That is a very generous offer and I thank you. I was reading post how the Radeon video card is a weak point in these A31s due to them getting hot and failing. If they fail, you're off to get another motherboard, right? Those m/b are expensive. You can probably get another used A31 by the time you bought a m/b. It would seem you could heatsink the graphics cpu to keep it cool.

Ken

It's not so much that they get too hot. Heat can be an issue, but it's not likely. The board flexes and the BGA fails. Basically the solder near the edge of the GPU fails, loosing contact. There is no solution except to stiffen up the whole assembly. My suggestion is to always use 2 hands, and make sure the machine is on a flat surface when you use it. That being said I got about 3 years of use before my first issue. I think the plastic was breaking down allowing more flexing of the board. I've replaced 2 motherboards for the same issue so far and repaired one, which lasted about a year and may have lasted longer had I left well enough alone.

[ken3983]

Well... I got a couple of choices when it comes to memory. I have seen where pc2700 is pretty cheap and abundant. However, I ran across some original new IBM 10k0033 512mb pc 2100 memory for around $28 after s/h. So, I can go with the pc2700 which may not be any performance change due to the bottleneck of the FSB of 133Mhz on the A31. I do know that the deal on the IBM memory is too good to pass up. What is better? The pc2700 or the IBM pc2100 which I know will work. Decisions, decisions.

Ken

[ajkula66]

There will be no difference in performance between PC2100 and 2700....but for 2 sticks of that 2100 RAM you could get 1Gb stick of PC2700 which is a better deal in the long run...my $0.02 only...

[mediasponge]

I'm quite happy with a Fujitsu MHV2120AH in my A31p. Shop around. They can be had for well under $100. I ordered some 1GB PC2700 sticks made by PNY at $50/ea. Will report back if they work OK.

[ken3983]

I found an original IBM 1gb memory stick for $62 after s/h. It said the latency was CL2.5 So let me get this right, I can put this 1gb board in my A31 and update the bios and controller and then be able to run 2gb after the bios and embedder controller update. I was just wondering if the A31 would recognize a single 1gb board. I hope I would'nt have to fill both memory slots in order for it to boot. I've built desktops for 14 years and they seem much more simpler than laptops.LOL!!!

Ken

[ajkula66]

It will see that 1Gb chip with no problems.