blazin quick questions on thinkpad 600 2645 a2u

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phabeon · #1 Post by **phabeon** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:02 pm

aight i have had the laptop for the longest and now I'm getting into computers... the thang is mad slow..

i'm runnnin win 2000 on it..

i right click my computer go to properties an see this..
x86 Family 6 Model 5 Stepping 2
64,880kb of Ram
a sticker on the laptop states intel inside pent II

i take this all to mean what?

processor speed: ??
mem on hand : 64mb's.
HD : 3.84gb's.

its say i have this DVD/cd drive sanyo crd-s372b but as far as i can tell its jus a cd NOT a dvd drive, correct?

aight cooll on to the nitty gritty... i did all my research and fact findin here.....
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... WIK-3TQG38

according to that site under the mem heading I'm apparently able to up the ram to 288mb's!!!

can someone explain why it has to be pc 66 notebook ram? cuz every store i call they be laughin at me talkin bout thats too old? on this forum i see yall recommend pc100 or pc133... whats the difference? pc66 v/s pc100 or pc133?

i can't afford to be wrong.... also by me uppin the ram up to 288mb's how fast will that be? i mean this my only computer but it runs as slow as a dinasaur, i'm thinkin wit ram 288mb it should be blazin quick? then i might be able to put in win xp huh? i jus did a system backup but that used up like 2gbs of hard drive.. pointless..

aight wel i hope yall can help me clear this up as i would like to have this ordered by tommorow..

my apologiez this is not as clear and consise as it could be but i'm in a hurry as the library only allows usage of web for 10 min's..

till the next..

be eazy

oNe

p.s. will this ram work then for me? can it be cheaper? http://www.kahlon.com/itemdetailpg.asp?itemid=355050 a

BillD · #2 Post by **BillD** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:38 pm

For a TP 600 you do need PC 66,yes it's old but thats what you need.. Will 288Ram speed it up? Oh yes,but don't expect a blazing fast machine. Up the RAM,and stay with W2k.. The 600 has 32MB built-in,yours is reading 64..So yours has a stick of 32 in it besides the built-in 32... Dump that stick,buy 2 128's PC 66 and go with that..

As for your CPU speed.. Download CPUz,and run that.. It will tell you your speed..Most likely it's 266 or 300 mhz..

Good Luck

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:31 am

You can also turn on your system and continually press the F1 button and go into the BIOS. The BIOS should tell you whether you have a 233MHz, 266MHz or a 300MHz (or possibly even something else).

Can you also post your full Model/Type number (ie. 2645-4AU)? We can then help you determine what your system originally came with, in case it is still the original system. Or in the alternative, you can look up your own model here.

phabeon · #4 Post by **phabeon** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:25 am

tfflivemb2 wrote:You can also turn on your system and continually press the F1 button and go into the BIOS. The BIOS should tell you whether you have a 233MHz, 266MHz or a 300MHz (or possibly even something else).

Can you also post your full Model/Type number (ie. 2645-4AU)? We can then help you determine what your system originally came with, in case it is still the original system. Or in the alternative, you can look up your own model here.

thanks for info/time and response fella's i appreciate it..

aight, bout the model # didn't i put the FULL model # in the subject line? or did i do it wrong? i followed your link and i can't seem to find mine...

did the bios method,

system unit # (again) 2645a2u
system board serial # j189271442b
microprocessor pentium(**) II processor 266MHz

cool so i got a pent II at 266Mhz...

aight fellas so FAR as speed my only option is to put in more ram wit max of 288MB...

my BEST bet would then be to keep windows 2000, i'm not lookin for blazin quick but i jus want to know that my uppin it to 288mb vs current 64mb that i will notice a REMARKABLE difference v/s the current SLOT that it is...

like if i click on the start button it takes 2-3 seconds for it to come up.. it takes like 5 min's to load up from start.... ect, ect.

can some one on a quick level school me on the pc66 v/s PC100 v/s PC133, i jus want to understand why I MUST use PC66...

i have piece of hardware gear its sampler which requires PC133 256MB i went to circuit city where it was on sale for $10 kingston brand but dude told me it would not work on my sampler cuz this ram was at PC2700, is that true? (see how knowledge on the above request would have helped here?)

so $22 a stick for 128mb ram is cheapest huh? http://www.kahlon.com/itemdetailpg.asp?itemid=355050

aight anything else i can do or modify on my machine? hard drive max? i mean 4gb's sounds like a joke... and the system backup i did wit win 2000 used up 2.5gb's of that....

let me know as i'm mad excited at the prospect of workin on my "computer" and pretty hyped up thanks to this site on the possibilities of tinkerin wit this thinkpad 600...

thanks again for your time and responses

oNe

bosco · #5 Post by **bosco** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:55 am

You don't HAVE to use PC66. PC100 should work just fine, and possibly PC133. You may find that PC100 memory is more easily available and might be cheaper. I have two 128mb's of PC133 in my 600E and it works just fine. PC2700 definitely will not work because it's 333mhz (I think), plus it's a different number of pins (200 maybe, instead of 144 like PC66,100,133).

You may be able to put a PII 400mhz in that model. Maybe someone else can verify. That would speed things up.

As far as a hard drive, I don't think you'll have a problem unless you get something over 120gb.

Read the 600 upgrade sticky thread at the top of this forum for other ideas.

Good luck.

whizkid · #6 Post by **whizkid** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:52 pm

A newer hard drive will also make the machine MUCH faster. I'm guessing you have a 4200RPM drive. You can get a 5400RPM, 7200RPM and maybe 10,000RPM drives (OK, maybe not the last), but a new 7200RPM drive will speed up that machine a ton.

BillD · #7 Post by **BillD** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:51 pm

Yes if you want to spend some dollars a faster HDD will help a lot..

As for the memory I'd go with the PC66,PC100 MAY,and I mean MAY work,but you're taking a chance..PC133?? I never heard of that working on a 600!! A 600e or x ,sure maybe,but not a 600...

And yes you'll notice a nice difference in speed by upping the memory to 288MB...

BTW Make sure you buy LAPTOP memory,not desktop...

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:43 pm

I agree on using PC66 or PC100, preferably PC66. I have not been able to get PC133 to work on a 600, only a 600E (and only the 128mb sticks at that). If you use PC100, there is a possibility that the second slot might read ony have of the second stick (64mb, intead of 128mb).

Rob Mayercik · #9 Post by **Rob Mayercik** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:21 am

BillD wrote:Yes if you want to spend some dollars a faster HDD will help a lot..

As for the memory I'd go with the PC66,PC100 MAY,and I mean MAY work,but you're taking a chance..PC133?? I never heard of that working on a 600!! A 600e or x ,sure maybe,but not a 600...

And yes you'll notice a nice difference in speed by upping the memory to 288MB...

BTW Make sure you buy LAPTOP memory,not desktop...

Never heard of PC133 working on a 600? You must have missed my posts

I've been using PC133 in mine for nearly 2 years - seems to work fine, even though the built-in 32 is only PC66. To be honest, I'd think the PC133 is more likely to work than the PC100, but these 600-series machines seem awfully Jeep-like to me at times - different units sometimes have slightly different personalities.

I'll be the first to say that PC133 may not work for everyone - I was fortunate in that the used memory dealer at the computer show was kind enough to allow me to install the memory in my machine in front of him and fire it up to confirm it worked before we closed the deal.

Phabeon - $22/stick sounds like a smoking deal to me, but then I haven't shopped for PC100-vintage RAM in a while. It might be worth checking for a computer show or used computer parts dealer in your area, and see if you can give the memory a "test drive" like I did. I'd hate to see you order something, find out it didn't work, and then run afoul of a bad returns policy (something to check before you buy).

Rob

JHEM · #10 Post by **JHEM** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:24 am

Rob Mayercik wrote:I've been using PC133 in mine for nearly 2 years - seems to work fine, even though the built-in 32 is only PC66. To be honest, I'd think the PC133 is more likely to work than the PC100

Correct, because the 66MHz onboard memory is exactly half of the PC133 memory.

Of course, ALL of your memory is running at PC66.

Regards,

James

BillD · #11 Post by **BillD** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:27 am

I've been using PC133 in mine for nearly 2 years - seems to work fine, even though the built-in 32 is only PC66. To be honest, I'd think the PC133 is more likely to work than the PC100, but these 600-series machines seem awfully Jeep-like to me at times - different units sometimes have slightly different personalities.

You're luckier then I am..

I have PC133 in my 600x's but when I tried to get it to run in the 600 it didn't like it at all.. But your point about the 600's being 'Jeep like' is a good point..The 600 series are great machines but the different 'quirks' from machine to machine will drive you alittle crazy..

phabeon · #12 Post by **phabeon** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:24 pm

thanks felllas you have helped me alot and gave me a lot of good info.. there does however appear to be no consensus on whether pc133 should be used or not as it seems it works in some 600's but not in others..

my question to yall is this... what exactly is the difference between pc66 v/s pc133. lets forget that i have a thinkpad 600.

school me on that please.. i mean what would i gain by going wit PC133 v/s PC66? whats the plus and minus of it?

searchin for it now on this forum but based on my make and model whats the biggest HD i can go for? as i sed i'm rocking a 4.0gb hard drive now... and the restore point i created use dup 2.56MB's of that..

thanks again..

oNe

bosco · #13 Post by **bosco** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:47 pm

You wouldn't gain anything by using PC133 over PC66 because it's the front side bus speed to the cpu that's key. The 600 uses a 66mhz FSB, therefore, PC66 (66 stands for the speed) is required. Newer cpu's came with a 100mhz FSB, hence PC100, and then even newer cpu's came with a 133mhz FSB, hence PC133. However, PC100 is backwards compatible with PC66 and PC133 is backwards compatible with PC100 and PC66. That's why you should be able to use PC100, or PC133. You will not gain anything because your cpu fsb is still 66mhz. However, PC66 memory is old and may be rare and expensive. PC100 or PC133 may be easier to find and cheaper.

If you can find PC66 at a good price then get it. If you can find PC100 or PC133 that works, and it's cheaper, then get that, but you will not benefit from it.

Rob Mayercik · #14 Post by **Rob Mayercik** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:48 pm

JHEM wrote:Correct, because the 66MHz onboard memory is exactly half of the PC133 memory.

Of course, ALL of your memory is running at PC66.

Regards,

James

That's exactly what I have always suspected was the case. Of course, I also thought that 133 scaled down to 66 better than 100 did.

As far as I'm concerned, all of it running at 66 is fine - all I care about is that it's all recognized (which it is).

BillD · #15 Post by **BillD** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:23 pm

One other thing to confuse things.. No matter what speed you end up getting make sure it's LOW DENSITY!!

JHEM · #16 Post by **JHEM** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:49 pm

BillD wrote:One other thing to confuse things.. No matter what speed you end up getting make sure it's LOW DENSITY!!

Not really a problem on PC66 memory and only affects 256MB PC100 and PC133 sticks.

Regards,

James

BillD · #17 Post by **BillD** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:12 am

Not really a problem on PC66 memory and only affects 256MB PC100 and PC133 sticks.

Yeah,I don't think they make High Density PC66 memory.. I should have been clearer in my post..

phabeon · #18 Post by **phabeon** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:47 am

many thanks my newfound comrads, I appreciate NOT to mention be soakin ALL up the info and guidence yall providing me wit....

i jus ordered the sticks from the site on my original post. $22 bucks a pop jus cuz i spent an hour on the interent last night lookin for cheap pc133 or pc100 and couldn't find anything less then $22... ebay had em for like $10 bucks a stick but then they charge $9 shippin so it come out the same...

again thanks mad appreciated!!! what do yall do for living? how yall get to know this?

reason i ask is this i graduated wit minor in IT.. so i THOUGHT i was no slouch on the pc tech side but d*m n only graduated 3 years ago..... things DONE changed....

be eazy

oNe

p.s. memory should be here in a week, that should be a snap to do, next project is a bigger HD then my 4.0GB one...

phabeon · #19 Post by **phabeon** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:46 am

wattup comrads....

aight i jus popped the new memory in the laptop the sh*t is blazin QUICK now, its so dope...

its actually usable now...v/s clickin on my computer waitin a min or 2 for it it open up, ect, ect..

i'ma bit confused tho... when i turn it on and in checkin system information it pops up like this 228,720 KB...

now according to my research and this forum... the thinkpad 600 is come wit 32MB of ram built in.. and if i poppped in 2 128MB pc66 sticks shouldn't i be at like 288MB of ram?

or does this 228,720KB somehow equal 288MB's of ram?

under syst info:

Processor x86 Family 6 Model 5 Stepping 2 Genuine Intel
BIOS vers 09/25/98
TOTal phy mem 228,720 KB
total virtual mem 535,248 KB
available virtual mem 278,352 KB

can someone explain those for me and help me get this cleared up?

what am i doing wrong?

thank you all for you time and info

GREATLY appreciated

oNe

bosco · #20 Post by **bosco** » Wed May 10, 2006 9:52 am

2x128mb plus 32mb is 288mb and should read 292,XXX when booting (don't know the exact numbers).

Sounds like you're missing 64mb. Are you sure you have 2 128's and not 1 128 and 1 64?

phabeon · #21 Post by **phabeon** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:18 pm

i mean i ordered two of the same sticks off that web site in my 1st post... how can i check them?

also i think this guy might be on to something... EXCEPT i ordered PC66...

tfflivemb2 wrote:I agree on using PC66 or PC100, preferably PC66. I have not been able to get PC133 to work on a 600, only a 600E (and only the 128mb sticks at that). If you use PC100, there is a possibility that the second slot might read ony have of the second stick (64mb, intead of 128mb).

that would kinda go along wit what you saying.... what do you guys think?

hmm...... i'ma have to see....

but if you know how to check the memory that would definately answer it...

thanks again

oNe

JHEM · #22 Post by **JHEM** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:40 pm

Do you have the latest BIOS installed on your 600 Phabeon?

You should be seeing all of the 288MB of memory you have installed, but there could be a problem with that Kahlon memory.

Any labels on the sticks? What do they say?

Regards,

James

phabeon · #23 Post by **phabeon** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:29 pm

i will be checking out the mem sticks tonight..

bios states this:

BIOS part #, Date: 97h4147, 09/25/98

so i don't know where to go from there on that? how do i know if thats updated i.e. current?

i'm here now.. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... SHY-43DNQ5 seems complicated.. what if i don't have a diskette drive?

wow this is really becoming a prject huh?

again thanks for all the info guys!

oNe

p.s. aight guys playin around wit the bios stuff clicked on system config, then clicked on MEMORY and i saw this... two cheap pics of what i guess is ram...

<pic>
installed 294912 KB

<pic>
Usable 228800

what the devil does all that mean? jus clicked bios version and it says bios version 1.31... so that answers that...

my friends the PLOT THICKENS!!!! i won't be able to hit up the library again till friday so hopefully yall wil have me some good tips and info!!! sorry for wording/spelling/ ect, i have to do this quick as the library only allows use in 15 min increments.

Website · #24 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:46 pm

The latest BIOS for the 600 is: IBET54WW (1.22)

Let us know that the labels say on the ram sticks, that might help.

P.S.
Sorry to hear that the library only offers 15 minute incriments....pretty lame...they should atleast give you an hour.

phabeon · #25 Post by **phabeon** » Fri May 12, 2006 1:10 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote:The latest BIOS for the 600 is: IBET54WW (1.22)

Let us know that the labels say on the ram sticks, that might help.

P.S.
Sorry to hear that the library only offers 15 minute incriments....pretty lame...they should atleast give you an hour.

yeah i'm waitin to get this laptop runnin so i can start shoppin out my own interent connect at home..

aight got the memory out and here what it says on each stick

Kahlon
KIBM150 424436 and same thing on the other one wit 424437 being the only difference..

on each of the little black chipset it says hy57v281620at korea
this is EXACTLY what i ordered: http://www.kahlon.com/itemdetailpg.asp?itemid=355050

i shall be back again to see what yall gots to say..

1. why does bios show mem installed 288 but then shows below that mem usable 224

2. how much of a difference is 224mb of ram v/s 288mb of ram?

3. how can we resolve this?

thanks fellers!

oNe

BillD · #26 Post by **BillD** » Fri May 12, 2006 4:28 pm

Looks like the machine is reading only half of one of your sticks..Someone can correct me if I wrong but that seems to be a common problem with the 600 series.. If I am right I don't think there's much you can do about it..

But anyway 228 is better then what you had and you stated it's much quicker so I wouldn't beat yourself up over the 64 missing MB's..

phabeon · #27 Post by **phabeon** » Mon May 15, 2006 6:48 am

BillD wrote:Looks like the machine is reading only half of one of your sticks..Someone can correct me if I wrong but that seems to be a common problem with the 600 series.. If I am right I don't think there's much you can do about it..

But anyway 228 is better then what you had and you stated it's much quicker so I wouldn't beat yourself up over the 64 missing MB's..

i would think though that someone here if not being able to explain how to resolve this...would at the BARE MINIMUM be able to tell me at least why this is happening....

anyone? come on brothers.. let us share the knowledge!!

but you are right.... 224mb is a LOT better then the SLOW DINASAUR of 64mb i was runnin.... it really made a difference!!!

i was more curious as i'm reallly tryin to get into computers and such and i figured would be a good learnin experience...

thanks again for all!

i appreciate any input as always!!

till lates guys!

oNe

BillD · #28 Post by **BillD** » Mon May 15, 2006 7:20 am

This link mentions the same problem you're having...I remember having the same problem from time to time with different 600's.. But I have a few spare memory sticks lying around so i just swap sticks until I get one that works.. There really doesn't seem to be any concrete rule on these 600's memory.. Some seem to handle 66,100,and PC133..Others can't.. It'sthe nature of the beast...

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... hlight=224

blazin quick questions on thinkpad 600 2645 a2u

blazin quick questions on thinkpad 600 2645 a2u

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