Z61t: supported and unsupported CPUs, T2x50 do not run?

[BigCatAndy]

Hello,
recently I upgraded- just for fun - my Z61t by replacing its original T2300 with T2450. Everything ran smoothly, BIOS recognized the CPU immediately, I installed XUbuntu, everybody is happy.

Today I found T7200 for 2€ and thought about upgrading now T2450 to T7200. As far as I know, this should work. But! Occasionally I found this web-page / LENOVO forum, claiming that CPUs of T2x50 are not supported by the Z61t motherboard:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T ... a-p/404017
The author of this post says:
"The Z61t motherboard DOES NOT support T2x50 series of Core Duo CPU, if you use such CPU it will cause unexplained shutdown and data loss."
Can anyone confirm it? I always thought, the BIOS would check, if installed CPU compatible, or not. In my case BIOS said nothing.

And another question: will an upgrade T2450 -> T7200 bring anything?

Thanks,
Andrey

[dr_st]

"The Z61t motherboard DOES NOT support T2x50 series of Core Duo CPU, if you use such CPU it will cause unexplained shutdown and data loss."

Normally, if it works, it works. It may recognize it as a different CPU, or run at a wrong clock speed, but if there were hard incompatibilities, you would hit them by now.

And another question: will an upgrade T2450 -> T7200 bring anything?

Double the cache, faster FSB, 64-bit support. Slightly faster probably, but still hopelessly outdated by today's standards.

[RealBlackStuff]

Why don't you search this forum for using a T7200 in a Z61t?
Someone did it already in 2008...

And if you would do your homework and e.g. Google for CPU comparisons, such as "T2450 vs T7200" or even "T2450 vs T2300" you would see why T2x50 and/or T7200 are a good or bad choice.

[BigCatAndy]

Why don't you search this forum for using a T7200 in a Z61t?
Someone did it already in 2008...

And if you would do your homework and e.g. Google for CPU comparisons, such as "T2450 vs T7200" or even "T2450 vs T2300" you would see why T2x50 and/or T7200 are a good or bad choice.

(1) I searched already this forum, and I knew, that someone did it in the past. Actually, I didn't ask if it would work. I know, it will. My question was - will the benefit be noticeable.
(2) I did already my homework and I searched for the different Options. This is how I found the post I mention above. And I know that T7200 is better (technically seen) than T2xxx. I wanted to clarify the notice with incompatibility (if anyone has a bad experience with it) and generally just to hear on opinion of others about such an upgrade.

Usually I try to find answers by myself, and also try to avoid questions which were already asked in the past.

[BigCatAndy]

Double the cache, faster FSB, 64-bit support. Slightly faster probably, but still hopelessly outdated by today's standards.

Thanks.

This Z61t ist just my "playground" / "internet-capable typing machine", that's why I'm still thinking about going to T7200... If the affort worth it... Actually, I ran it with T2300 last 6-7 months without any pain, so - objectively - there are no reasons to make an upgrade...

[wujstefan]

Double the cache, faster FSB, 64-bit support. Slightly faster probably, but still hopelessly outdated by today's standards.

Hotter

This Z61t ist just my "playground" / "internet-capable typing machine", that's why I'm still thinking about going to T7200... If the affort worth it... Actually, I ran it with T2300 last 6-7 months without any pain, so - objectively - there are no reasons to make an upgrade...

You won't see much of a difference really. I personally run T2600 in my Z61m for lower temps; 64-bit operations commanded by 3 gigs of ram do not change the world nowadays Still, one of my absolutely favourite machines.

[BigCatAndy]

And if you would do your homework and e.g. Google for CPU comparisons, such as "T2450 vs T7200" or even "T2450 vs T2300" you would see why T2x50 and/or T7200 are a good or bad choice.

I compared T2500 and T2450. They have different bus frequency: 533 MGhz (T2450) vs. 667 MGhz (T2500). Actually, replacing T2300 in Z61t with T2450 I even "downgraded" the laptop. Not really clever...

[ajkula66]

Since you already have a T7200, there's no reason not to install it. Just make sure that the machine has a recent BIOS and all should be well.

[BigCatAndy]

Since you already have a T7200, there's no reason not to install it. Just make sure that the machine has a recent BIOS and all should be well.

Hello, I don't have it yet. And I decided to keep everything as it is. I just realistically estimated an effort and gain - in the last 7 months (using Z61t some hours / week) I was satisfied with T2300, and I suppose, I will be another couple of years.

[ajkula66]

Since you already have a T7200, there's no reason not to install it. Just make sure that the machine has a recent BIOS and all should be well.

Hello, I don't have it yet. And I decided to keep everything as it is. I just realistically estimated an effort and gain - in the last 7 months (using Z61t some hours / week) I was satisfied with T2300, and I suppose, I will be another couple of years.

Apologies for misunderstanding your initial post.

[BigCatAndy]

Apologies for misunderstanding your initial post.

No problems.