FS: [OFFICIAL CONTACT] 51nb's 4th Batch X210 [*PIC*]

[jeffbaichina]

This post was made with Bill's approval.
Note: I am posting this pre-order announcement on behalf of Jacky from 51nb.com, a.k.a. "lcdfans"... I have attached below Jacky's original commission request on Tencent QQ, with screenshots, and also a translation of this request below.


ThinkPad X210 - Left (source: 51nb.com)

----

In response to the continued demand for X210 motherboards, 51nb.com has decided to launch another batch of these motherboards. The 4th batch motherboards will come with identical specifications (save for some minor tweaks and upgrades) as the 3rd batch.

This pre-order is for bare X210 motherboards, i.e. you will need to prepare your own X200(s)/201(s) and all the necessary tools (I will translate the original X210 product guide/review on 51nb.com, and compile a new assembly guide shortly). Custom coolers, MyLar films, and 3D-printed port spacers (ExpressCard and UltraBase support will be removed) are available for purchase separately.


Specifications

• 8th Gen Intel Processor: all motherboards from this batch will come with i7-8650U processors (tested engineering samples).

• Panel Support: 12.6-inch 2880x1920 and 12.2-inch 1920x1200 IPS panels (both with 90% or higher sRGB, and 70% or higher AdobeRGB gamuts), and of course the original LVDS panels, if you so desire.

• External I/O:
  • Data I/O: USB 3.0 * 2 (one always-on), USB 2.0 * 1 (original hardware), GbE ethernet (10/100/1000Mbps), 56k Modem (original hardware).
  • A/V I/O: VGA, Mini DisplayPort (taking place of the original ExpressCard slot), 3.5mm In/Out (original hardware).
  • Human Input Devices: original keyboard and/or touchpad.
  • Miscellaneous: Kensington Lock (original hardware).

• Internal I/O (for end-users):
  • RAM: 2 * SODIMM, DDR4 2133/2400MHz.
  • Expansions: NVMe on M.2 2280 * 1, mPCIe * 2 (one USB/SATA only, the other is full-featured), uSIM for 3G/LTE (WWAN card ready).
  • Storage: M.2 2280 (NVMe only) * 1 (original space for ExpressCard), mSATA * 1 (original slot space), and SATA * 1 (original slot space).

Pricing and Order Information

There are multiple purchase options available...

• $800 for the bare X210 motherboard.

• $260 extra if you would like a pre-modded "upper body" (lid and bezel CNC modded to fit the larger panel).

• $1280 if you would like to purchase an "all-new" X210, with new lid, bezels, palm rest, chassis, and keyboard. This pre-assembled option will also bundle a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler.

Accessories...

• $10 for MyLar films which insulate the motherboard from the chassis.

• $10 for 3-D printed port spacers which cover up the original ExpressCard slot and the docking port, which are removed in this mod.

• $65 for a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler, this will provide sufficient cooling for the i7-8650U on the motherboard (even on 35W cTDP!).

$55 global shipping will be applied to all purchases. With the worsening of the on-going Sino-United States trade conflicts, payments are only accepted via Western Union.


Western Union Information

• First Name: Yongtao

• Last Name: Zhang

• Country: China

• City: Zhengzhou

• Address: No. 270 Jinshui Road, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

• Phone: +86 18603051110

**Please do e-mail Jacky with your MTCN code after the payment is made.**


Pre-and-Post Order Contact (or for pre-assembled X210's)

• Jacky "lcdfans" Zhang, lcdfans@qq.com, or myhomenet@163.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lcdfans.

• Jacky is also known as “lcdfans” on WeChat, where he is more likely to respond promptly - this is recommended.

• Any communication or ordering difficulties, questions, and complaints may be posted below.

• Alternatively, you may contact me directly...
  • P.M. user jeffbaichina at forum.thinkpads.com, or /u/JeffBai on Reddit.
  • E-mail at jeffbaichina@gmail.com, or mbai8@wisc.edu if I did not reply within 12 hours.
  • Facebook Messenger at Mingcong Bai.
  • Or any X210-related posts I have made or will make on Reddit or forum.thinkpads.com.

Post-sale Support

Drivers and BIOS updates are available on www.cnmod.cn.


Warranty and RMA information

Each motherboard are covered under a 6-month manufacturer warranty plan, any accidental damage are covered with paid service. RMA contacts are the same as the ones above (Jacky or me).


Q&A

1. How much does it cost to ship to Germany/Poland/South Africa/...? International shipping will cost 55 USD regardless of the country you're in.
2. Can I purchase an X210 pre-assembled? Absolutely! If that's what you need, please contact Jacky with the contact information provided above (and contact me as a backup, should Jacky be unresponsive). You are also free to make requests about screen customisation, as mentioned above, 3:2 panels are also available - at an extra cost.
3. What if Jacky doesn't reply to my e-mails? You've got several options: reply and complain below, DM me, and I will poke Jacky right away. Alternatively you may try and contact Jacky via WeChat, he is known to be more responsive there.
4. Is it possible to dock the X210 (UltraBase, Mini Docks, etc.)? Unfortunately, as the docking port is highly complex electrically and is still patented, this is unlikely to happen in the near future. But as Lenovo have already dropped this port in newer models, there might be some possibilities later.
5. Does the $800 price include a screen? No, the price is for a motherboard only. Multiple people have asked about this in the past day, I am currently contacting Jacky for a quote. For now, please contact Jacky for an exact quote on any bundle or custom builds.
6. Can I use an X201s instead of an X201? Yes, however, there is one consideration: cooler. There is a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler. With this cooler, you will be able to sufficiently cool the 8650U processor, with 35W cTDP set in the BIOS. I would personally consider this an essential mod, and especially when the X201s is not significantly lighter in the grand scheme of things...
7. What are the purposes of the MyLar films and 3-D printed port spacers? The MyLar films are for insulation from the metal casing of the laptop, and the port spacers closes the gaps of the removed ExpressCard slot and the docking port.
8. Are the webcam and ThinkLight retained with the 12.6-inch 3:2 panel mod? Yes and no. With the 12.6 inch panel you do sacrifice the webcam, but everything else will be left intact.
9. Is the 12.6-inch, 3:2 panel glossy or matte? It's glossy, but Jacky should be able to install a matte film on top upon your request. The panel is a BOE NV126A1M-N52, and here is a picture of it installed.
10. Is the X210 still water-proof (i.e. is the drainage hole still functional)? So far it seems that it won't be, as the motherboard will block off the hole. I am currently contacting Jacky to get a definitive answer.
11. Can X210, or any other 51nb ThinkPad mods have (capacitive) touch screens? Not officially, but it should be possible with hardware mods. Do note however this will void your warranty.
12. Can I ship my own X200(s)/201(s) to Jacky and have him mod the laptop for me? Absolutely! For instance, if you would like to send over an X201 and have it modded with an X210 motherboard and 3:2 screen, you would need to pay for the shipping, $800 for the motherboard, and $260 for the screen mod.
13. Will the $1280 pre-assembled option come with all the MyLar films and port spacers? Yes.
14. Is the 13-inch, 3000x2000 screen mod available from Jacky? Unfortunately, Jacky has indicated that there are structural and signal integrity concerns with this mod, and will not provide this mod at present.
15. Should I buy or should I wait? Emm... I mean, I am working on behalf of a seller here - INSERT UNCONVINCING ARGUMENTS HERE. However, 51nb have received legal letters from Lenovo in recent months and as far as I know, one of which targets these modded motherboards. This batch of X210 motherboards being launched is already against the odds, so I wouldn't bank on another run in the future.

----

Original commissioning request from Jacky "lcdfans" Zhang, who makes these motherboards.

Proof of Commission by Jacky

Hi,


My name is Jacky, I am from China.

First, please allow me to express my gratitude for your continued support for our motherboard modding projects. Thanks to your support, we have successfully sold over a thousand X62, X63, T70, and X210 motherboards. With continued demand from 51nb and beyond, we have decided to produce a 4th batch of X210 motherboards.

Due to heavy Internet censorship by the Chinese government, it is difficult for us (51nb.com employees) to access GMail, Facebook, and also Reddit/Thinkpad.com forums (where this is posted). I, Jacky, have commissioned my friend in the United States (me, /u/JeffBai, or JeffBaiCHINA on forum.thinkpads.com) for announcements and pre-and-post-sale communications.

Again, thank you for your continued attention and support. With the current Sino-U.S. trade conflicts continuing to gain severity, we ask for your forgiveness and understanding, that we are still unable to accept payments via PayPal (since July 1st of 2018, Chinese PayPal users are no longer able to transfer any funds to bank accounts received on PayPal).

We understand that there have been difficulties regarding order placing and post-sales support, and we ask for your forgiveness and understanding - considering the aforementioned issues with Internet access and funds. We are making our utmost effort to overcome these issues, and to provide these DIY products for your needs.

If you have any further questions, please post them below and my friend (/u/JeffBai on Reddit or JeffBaiCHINA on the forums) will be happy to assist. Thank you!

[jeffbaichina]

- Updated 2:27 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to add more purchase options and pricing details.
- Updated 3:06 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to add instructions for sending own X200/201 for modding.
- Updated 3:44 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to resize post image to 1000px wide.
- Updated 4:08 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to add more Q&A entries (from Reddit questions).
- Updated 4:42 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to fix a typo.
- Updated 4:47 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to clarify that the $1280 pre-assembled option will bundle a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler.
- Updated 4:52 P.M., May 31st (UTC +8) to add pricing information for motherboard accessories, and rename all "TDP" to the appropriate "cTDP" nomination.
- Updated 1:16 P.M., June 4th (UTC +8) to add address information to Western Union instructions, as this is required.

[dr_st]

Could you please resize the image or make a thumbnail? Unfortunately the forum software does not auto-resize images and at 1500 pixels wide is stretches out the page on resolutions of 1920x and below.

[jeffbaichina]

Could you please resize the image or make a thumbnail? Unfortunately the forum software does not auto-resize images and at 1500 pixels wide is stretches out the page on resolutions of 1920x and below.

Resized to 1000px wide, is that better?

[verynice]

>bundle or custom builds.
>Can I use an X201s instead of an X201? Yes, however, there is one consideration: cooler. There is a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler. With this cooler, you will be able to sufficiently cool the 8650U processor, with 35W TDP set in the BIOS. I would personally consider this an essential mod, and especially when the X201s is not significantly lighter in the grand scheme of things...

Hello, can I order this fan (cooler) from you?
I have the laptop, but it overheats.
I bought it from you.

[jeffbaichina]

>bundle or custom builds.
>Can I use an X201s instead of an X201? Yes, however, there is one consideration: cooler. There is a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler. With this cooler, you will be able to sufficiently cool the 8650U processor, with 35W TDP set in the BIOS. I would personally consider this an essential mod, and especially when the X201s is not significantly lighter in the grand scheme of things...

Hello, can I order this fan (cooler) from you?
I have the laptop, but it overheats.
I bought it from you.

Yep, please contact Jacky via lcdfans@qq.com for more information. I have notified him about this request.

[dr_st]

Resized to 1000px wide, is that better?

Works for me. Thanks. I just added a *PIC* warning in the title, so it should be OK.

[jeffbaichina]

>bundle or custom builds.
>Can I use an X201s instead of an X201? Yes, however, there is one consideration: cooler. There is a cooler by a 51nb forum member "17m19" which adds two extra heat pipes to the original X201 cooler. With this cooler, you will be able to sufficiently cool the 8650U processor, with 35W TDP set in the BIOS. I would personally consider this an essential mod, and especially when the X201s is not significantly lighter in the grand scheme of things...

Hello, can I order this fan (cooler) from you?
I have the laptop, but it overheats.
I bought it from you.

Yep, please contact Jacky via lcdfans@qq.com for more information. I have notified him about this request.

The cooler will cost $65, I have added prices of motherboard accessories to the original post.

[L29Ah]

How much power does the modded cooler dissipate compared to the original one?

[jeffbaichina]

How much power does the modded cooler dissipate compared to the original one?

I can't really quantify this for you, but I have compiled the Q&A with the information that I've seen on the 51nb forum - and compared with Notebookcheck's reviews. Specifically, if we look at the Cinebench R15 multi-core scores...

On an X210 with the i7-8650U processor, you are looking at 800-850cb.¹ While according to Notebookcheck, the highest i7-8650U score they've clocked is 675cb, with a median score of 605.² The X210 is achieving this score at a power draw of 35W (35W cTDP, so to speak).³

1. https://forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=vi ... id=1875633
2. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Cor ... 726.0.html
3. https://forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=vi ... id=1871059 (here you can see a lot more scores with the same processor, or with 8550U, which is similar)

[L29Ah]

It must be easy to quantify, since Intel CPUs report their power dissipation to the software. It can be displayed by tools like `throttled --monitor`. For instance, my X210 with i7-8550U CPU at 92°C with a stock X201 cooler at 25°C ambient temperature during `sysbench cpu run --threads=9` load dissipates around 21W.

[jeffbaichina]

It must be easy to quantify, since Intel CPUs report their power dissipation to the software. It can be displayed by tools like `throttled --monitor`. For instance, my X210 with i7-8550U CPU at 92°C with a stock X201 cooler at 25°C ambient temperature during `sysbench cpu run --threads=9` load dissipates around 21W.

Thing is I don’t have one of these on hand, so I could only infer from the information gathered. The 51nb threads have indicated that 35W is sustainable with the modded cooler, and the temperatures seemed lower than what you’ve posted.

[verynice]

I have more questions:
1. will there be usb-c option sometimes or is it possible to replace stock chargger with the type-c one? (There was a twitter post with type-c charging port on x210)
2. As thunderbolt-3 now is royalty-free will there be an option with a thunderbolt port?

[verynice]

It must be easy to quantify, since Intel CPUs report their power dissipation to the software. It can be displayed by tools like `throttled --monitor`. For instance, my X210 with i7-8550U CPU at 92°C with a stock X201 cooler at 25°C ambient temperature during `sysbench cpu run --threads=9` load dissipates around 21W.

Max load 36W, avg 30, I think that in order to have the full "blasting performance" fan-control should be fixed + disengaged mode.
max freq is 3600

[jeffbaichina]

I have more questions:
1. will there be usb-c option sometimes or is it possible to replace stock chargger with the type-c one? (There was a twitter post with type-c charging port on x210)
2. As thunderbolt-3 now is royalty-free will there be an option with a thunderbolt port?

1. There is no plan at present, I doubt this will be added on the 4th batch boards. However, there are 3rd party projects which turned the Kensington lock hole into a Type C port.
2. No, the issue really is in board design.

[verynice]

I have more questions:
1. will there be usb-c option sometimes or is it possible to replace stock chargger with the type-c one? (There was a twitter post with type-c charging port on x210)
2. As thunderbolt-3 now is royalty-free will there be an option with a thunderbolt port?

1. There is no plan at present, I doubt this will be added on the 4th batch boards. However, there are 3rd party projects which turned the Kensington lock hole into a Type C port.
2. No, the issue really is in board design.

1. Could you share those projects link, please?

[jeffbaichina]

1. Could you share those projects link, please?

Yep. Here’s one done with an X230 - but I’d imagine that is could be done with an X201/210.

[jeffbaichina]

Bump, orders are accepted until late July (and probably beyond, if demand holds).

[verynice]

I want to report two more things:
1. It seems that I can't change the pwm frequency neither in windows using this http://tomeko.net/software/IntelPWMControl/ nor in Linux using intel registers.
2. I don't really understand whether TDP-UP is working or not, as in Cinebench-R15 I have less performance than in the review (i have i7-8650, in the review was i5).
2.1. some of the bios settings are obscure and it is difficult to understand whether they are working or not (for example, fan control is not working).

[jeffbaichina]

I want to report two more things:
1. It seems that I can't change the pwm frequency neither in windows using this http://tomeko.net/software/IntelPWMControl/ nor in Linux using intel registers.
2. I don't really understand whether TDP-UP is working or not, as in Cinebench-R15 I have less performance than in the review (i have i7-8650, in the review was i5).
2.1. some of the bios settings are obscure and it is difficult to understand whether they are working or not (for example, fan control is not working).

1. I'm not familiar with this issue, but what is the model of the display panel that you are using?
2. First thing to check is the frequency and temperature at which the processor cores are running at.
3. I will have to check with Jacky on this. But could you name the ones that you find to be not functioning/confusing?

[verynice]

I want to report two more things:
1. It seems that I can't change the pwm frequency neither in windows using this http://tomeko.net/software/IntelPWMControl/ nor in Linux using intel registers.
2. I don't really understand whether TDP-UP is working or not, as in Cinebench-R15 I have less performance than in the review (i have i7-8650, in the review was i5).
2.1. some of the bios settings are obscure and it is difficult to understand whether they are working or not (for example, fan control is not working).

1. I'm not familiar with this issue, but what is the model of the display panel that you are using?
2. First thing to check is the frequency and temperature at which the processor cores are running at.
3. I will have to check with Jacky on this. But could you name the ones that you find to be not functioning/confusing?

1. 2880x1920
3. Will do this later

[jeffbaichina]

1. 2880x1920
3. Will do this later

1. I have relayed this information to Jacky, thanks.
3. Thank you.

[jeffbaichina]

In a surprising turn of event (I was also caught off guard waking up this morning), Jacky is no longer allowed to sell these boards. He has also announced on 51nb that he will do no more dealings with the said forum.

The announcement can be read here, and my posts here and on Reddit are also considered off-limits. And therefore I would have to lock this topic.

Please allow me to express my sincerest apologies, and to request that you guys assist and show understanding to Jacky, if you have paid for these X210 motherboards, accessories, or pre-built laptops. He will get in touch with you guys today and offer you a refund

Future ordering are to made from 51nb directly at their crowdfunding thread. They have also stated that they will seek other overseas reseller, if one would pay for 10 or more X210 boards in advance.

I will make no more comment on this situation, but to apologise once again for all the trouble.