Thinkpads Forum

i'm interested in a 650mhz 600X - question is, is there something different about a 650mhz model (as opposed to models with lower mhz rating)? or is the cpu speed the only difference?

alfio

Besides using a different motherboard than the 450/500Mhz versions, there's no other significant functional difference, as far as I know. And since the 650Mhz is a SpeedStep enabled processor then it supports the lowering of the CPU speed for power savings.

The 650MHz and higher units can have the processors swapped amongst themselves, but the 450 and 500Mhz models can only be swapped with themselves.

EDIT: Whizkid is correct. I mis-spoke...they will run at the lower speeds, without a hack.

You can put the faster CPUs with SpeedStep on the slower system board. It will run at 150MHz under its rated speed unless you hack the hardware.

That is, if you buy an 850MHz PIII (the fastest available), it will run at 700MHz in the slower/older system board, but at 850MHz in the SpeedStep system board.

Upgrade to the latest BIOS BEFORE you swap CPUs.

whizkid's post ontradicts the earlier one by tfflivemb2 - which is it?

also, all else performance-wise (i.e RAM, bus speed, eyc) and keyboard is the same?

alfio

All 600Xs can accept MMC-2 Pentium 3 CPUs. The early 600xs did not support SpeedStep, so those will run upgraded CPUs 150 Mhz below their designed speed. You 600X is a SpeedStep model, so upgraded CPUs will run at their full speed. All other specifications (including the keyboard) are all the same. The 600X front side bus runs at 100 Mhz. The maximum ram is 576 MB (2 x 256Mb PC-100 low density ram chips + 64Mb on board). In case you are wondering, the fastest CPU you can install is 850 Mhz MMC-2 Pentium 3. MMC-2 is simply the type of socket the CPU uses.

thanks stargate, very concise!

for the record, i don't yet have a 600X but i am looking for one.

alfio

i finally got my 600X running.. i used XP pro restore disks from an X30 and all seems to be working well (go figure). now i need a wireless card, any ideas/recommendations?

i've only had one PCMCIA card (netgear) and i did not enjoy it. i'd like to get something that will not cause headaches.

alfio

edit: a/b/g would be nice but b/g will work just fine

little a wrote:i finally got my 600X running.. i used XP pro restore disks from an X30 and all seems to be working well (go figure). now i need a wireless card, any ideas/recommendations?

If you don't use the modem why not remove it and install a atheros a/b/g card in the slot and some internal or even better external antenna.

cmarti wrote:If you don't use the modem why not remove it and install a atheros a/b/g card in the slot and some internal or even better external antenna.

well, my only hesitation with that idea is that this is supposed to be a work machine for me (i.e. no web surfing) and the PCMCIA card would make it easier to be off line without distractions.

also, price is an issue. as my TP stable grows, i'm spending more and more. how much will your set-up cost vs. a PCMCIA card?

alfio

little a wrote:
also, price is an issue. as my TP stable grows, i'm spending more and more. how much will your set-up cost vs. a PCMCIA card?

alfio

Well you can get the mini pci card for around $16.00 from undercloker and the antennas would be $13.00 and can be found on ebay.

how would one locate such an atenna? do you have a part/fru number? thanks cmarti!

alfio

depends on if you want to try internal antenna (seems hasslesome vs. the lcd, and I've heard it doesn't have such good reception) or external.

external you need something like this http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php ... cts_id=398 and then the actual rp-sma antenna of course. like rkawakami did
http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_600x/mini_pci_wireless/

or you could find some dead wireless router (e.g. motorola 850) that will have the detachable antenna and the u.fl/hirose<->rp-sma pigtail, but the wire probably not long enough.

I have the parts, will get around to it eventually. just that my 600X has a 600E bottom chassis and is annoying to get to the minipci and I am lazy heh.

I like ralink chipset, works great in bsd and linux as well as windows.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833158015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833173005
(I have the msi one and it has worked great so far in appliances like WRAP box, toshiba magnia sg20, ...)

atheros is good too, also nice support in bsd and linux. not sure who the fsck uses a anymore tho ^_^ it's all g 'round here.

oops the pigtail I listed says non-bulkhead (altho the pic sure looks like one)

something like this maybe simpler
http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php ... cts_id=189
but still need to go thru the lcd, and kinda ugly in my opinion.

little a wrote:i finally got my 600X running [...]now i need a wireless card, any ideas/recommendations?

Well, if you decide to go the PC Card route, instead of the mini-PCI with hardware mods, then I can tell you that I've been happy with 3COM X-Jack PC Cards because the retractable antenna allows me to keep it inserted in the machine all the time without worrying about bumping things.

The reception I get is not so great compared to the reception in a new laptop with an antenna built into the LCD lid, but it is good enough for me -- I receive a signal from an old D-Link wireless router through several interior walls, and am also able to receive it through one brick/external wall (i.e. on the back patio).

My current model is a 3Com 11a/b/g Wireless PC Card with XJACK® Antenna (Product #: 3CRPAG175).

It is compatible with XP's (SP2) built-in wireless networking configuration, which some people despise, but which I am happy using. You can use the 3COM drivers instead, and they will give you a couple additional options and a bit of added control, but this card is so old that the drivers are actually older than the SP2 updates. There are probably newer X-Jack cards with better drivers, but I'm not sure how much better the reception will be unless you go with a hardware mod, or an external antenna.

Phil.

for the moment, i'm leaning towards the PCMCIA card.

i'd appreciate recommendations and/or i'll consider sales offers for cards known to work well with 600Xs (running XP pro)

TIA

alfio

little a wrote:<snip>.. known to work well with 600Xs (running XP pro)

My daughter uses her 600X running WinXP (can't remember if it's Home or Pro) with a Netgear MA401 802.11b card. It's rarely ever powered off and only has a problem when the Netgear access point decides to go AWOL or the DSL connection drops. I also am using several D-Link DWL-650 (not the "+" versions) cards on my other 600X systems, both XP and 2000. If you do consider the D-Link 650 card, be aware that there are at least 3 revision levels in common use (each with different drivers) that look very similar to each other. Go to the DWL-650 Support Page at D-Link.com for details.

I had the same decision point as to which PCMCIA cards to buy and whether to go internal wireless a while ago.

Although I like the thought of internal wireless or the nice retracting attenna xjack card, I decided to go cheap and found the older Dlink DWL 630 cards (wirelessl B/G) to work fine. My primary use was linux so I made sure I got something well supported like the Atheros based versions of these cards with the right hardware and firmware revisions.

I also found out that their latest Windows 2000 drivers come with a proper WPA/WPA2 supplicant. I've had good results with these cards on a 600x and 240, but I've never tried them under XP.

The last DWL 630 I bought was $15 CDN off the local craigslist.... so cheap (as well as reliable) was a overwhelming factor.

Not sure if this post was that useful... but I thought I'd share my experience.
-Norm

not quite up to date but still useful...
http://ralink.rapla.net/
http://atheros.rapla.net/

(hm they used to have all on one huge page, easy to search. now it is subcategory by vendor... meh)
http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility

go with atheros chipsets,use less battery,and no dertiment to hdd performance whilst on high speed wlan in xp or vista.