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T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

T60/T61 Series
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xsixt
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T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#1 Post by xsixt » Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:10 am

As title suggests, I have a T61p, 15.4", 4gb, T8300, 1920x1200 LG screen (good).

I really like the form factor and the screen is excellent, but could do with a bit of a performance boost. Wondering if the W500 with 8GB DDR3 would give a bit of a performance boost?
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

Cigarguy
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#2 Post by Cigarguy » Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:30 am

I notice a bit of a performance boost going from a T61 to T500 but then my computing needs are not that high. A T60 is sufficient for my everyday portable computing needs. Anything requiring processing power is done on a desktop. If I were in your shoes I'd probably go to a T/W510, within reason, upgrade it to the max and call it a day.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#3 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sat Feb 03, 2018 6:38 am

A T500/W500 with T9900 CPU will beat a T61p with T8300 (although not by much).
Transfer the T61p LCD to the T/W500 (both 16:10) if you like.
The T510/W510 already has that crappy 16:9 screen.
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#4 Post by farmall » Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:36 pm

I don't see an SSD mentioned. If still using spinning rust for your operating system drive, an SSD will make your machine much nicer to use. The old spinner can be used for extra storage in a caddy. Even if you replace your T61 an SSD is a very good idea because old spinners are severe performance bottlenecks.

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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#5 Post by jaspen-meyer » Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:57 pm

The T500 can be modded to take a quad core Q9100. Can't the T61p also take a quad core?

edit: changed T81p to T61p
Last edited by jaspen-meyer on Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#6 Post by ajkula66 » Sun Feb 04, 2018 10:23 pm

farmall wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:36 pm
I don't see an SSD mentioned.
This.

Going from a spinning drive to an SSD will likely make the biggest difference in performance on an older system. If one needs more of a boost, they should start looking into a system significantly younger than a *00 ThinkPad.

This post brought to you courtesy of a T61p running a SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD... :D
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

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xsixt
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#7 Post by xsixt » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:39 am

farmall wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2018 2:36 pm
I don't see an SSD mentioned.
Folks, I've been around these forums long enough to have been educated that a SSD is a must in an old Thinkpad, so all of my thinkpads have them. I just buy used ones so I can afford more of them. :mrgreen:
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

wujstefan
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#8 Post by wujstefan » Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:46 am

jaspen-meyer wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:57 pm
The T500 can be modded to take a quad core Q9100. Can't the T81p also take a quad core?
Yes it can, unless it's the "QX" version. QX will most probably need some undervolting to get out the heat, but I did not check it yet. 15,4" seem to have better cooling system than 14,1", so it may not be an issue.

Still, you can mod it with X9100, undervolt it and stay happy. I have found out that I can easily live on T601p (with bottleneck of 128mb of VRAM!), and may give away my T70, so it can't be that bad. It all depends on what you're doing every day on your system.

W500 will not give a significant performance boost if your T61p is maxed or close-to-max spec.
Too many thinkpads not enough time!
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ac12
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#9 Post by ac12 » Mon Feb 05, 2018 7:17 pm

jaspen-meyer wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:57 pm
The T500 can be modded to take a quad core Q9100. Can't the T61p also take a quad core?

edit: changed T81p to T61p
Not that I know of.
At least without major surgery.

wujstefan
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#10 Post by wujstefan » Tue Feb 06, 2018 2:22 am

ac12 wrote:
Mon Feb 05, 2018 7:17 pm
At least without major surgery.
It's not very difficult, but needs some skill, knowledge, and hands that do not shake much :D
Too many thinkpads not enough time!
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#11 Post by storm-chaser » Sun May 06, 2018 1:14 pm

I plan on keeping my T61p for many years to come. It will be my main laptop going forward.
I paid $85 for this laptop on eBay and I was pleasantly surprised as it has a build date of 7/10 and arrived in mint condition.
Nobody has mentioned the elephant in the room, known as the Core 2 Extreme X9000 CPU. This is the best "drop in" CPU available for the T61 and speaking from personal experience, this is a great $44 upgrade, second only an SSD drive. Many people would prefer not to modify the motherboard as required to reach up to a quad core or X9100.

As far as cooling system capabilities, I havent seen much of a difference between the 14.1" T61 and the 15.4" T61p. I also have a 14.1" Lenovo T61 and I've done extensive benchmark testing with both rigs, yet they seem to idle and load up in similar fashion. They both have a very similar CPU cooler and fan. From my experience temps are nearly identical between both models.
AMD Phenom II 965 @ 4.1Ghz, 8GB DDR3 1600, SSD
AMD Phenom II 960T @ 4.1Ghz, 8GB DDR3 1600, SSD
Lenovo T61p 15.4" - Core 2 extreme X9000 CPU @ 3.4Ghz, SSD
Toshiba Satellite A505D - 2.5Ghz, 4GB RAM, 80GB SSD

xsixt
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Re: T61p 15.4 - Keep or ditch for W500

#12 Post by xsixt » Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:49 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:
Sat Feb 03, 2018 6:38 am
A T500/W500 with T9900 CPU will beat a T61p with T8300 (although not by much).
Transfer the T61p LCD to the T/W500 (both 16:10) if you like.
The T510/W510 already has that crappy 16:9 screen.
The ergonomics of the T61p/W500 form factor are just so good.

Someone needs to fit a W520/W530 motherboard into that said case.

Macbook 15 still uses the 16:10 form factor, with an awesome panel, but the rest is horrible: ergos, thermals, making it unreliable (cooked gpus).

T61p case / MBP retina panel / W530 i7 motherboard = best frankenpad.. :mrgreen:
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

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