Best upgrade options on the T60p 2623-DDU

[73PopTop]

I was about to invest in an SSD (Crucial M4 or Intel) to replace my original HDD for performance reasons. Nothing wrong with the current HDD.

My question is which upgrade do I make first. SSD makes sense. Also, I have 2GB memory..can that be upgraded to 4GB? (I saw that T60 users are limited to 3GB..probably because of Windows) I run Ubuntu 10.10 and will move to 12.04 once I confirm things work (Ubuntu 10.10 is no longer being updated.) I have the 2GHz processor, but not sure if a processor upgrade will "buy" me more time with the T60p.

Thanks! The old ThinkPads are great and I don't know if the current line of ThinkPad are as great..?

T60p 2623-DDU

[ZaZ]

Your T60p should have the T2500, which is now six years old. The best CPU you can put in there is the T7600, which is also six years old. I don't see it offering much of an upgrade. The 3GB memory limit is due to a chipset limitation. I don't really see the install order having much an effect. I'm running 12.04 on my R60e, which would be similar to your T60p. It runs great and is still a very good machine for every day usage.

[ThinkPadophile]

ZaZ is right, almost. It is true that installing an SSD will provide the greatest pickup in performance, and upgrading the CPU to a Core 2 Duo such as the T7600 makes a negligible difference ... usually. However, there is a noticeable performance gain to be had in certain applications by upgrading to a Core 2 Duo CPU. Read the recent thread "Best way to accelerate graphics display performance on T60p?" in the T6X forum. Scott Witte noted a 25% performance gain on a particular video application by upgrading to a T7600, installing Windows 7 64-bit, and maxing out his memory. He seemed pleased. You certainly will not enjoy similar performance gains with all applications, and whether or not it is worth the expense is up to you. Note that a T7200 is far cheaper than a T7600 and also allows the installation of a 64-bit OS, which made the greatest difference in Scott's case.

Upgrading the CPU provides the perfect time to improve your laptop's cooling through a few simple measures. First, change out the cooling fan for one from a T61p. It's a one-for-one swap that makes a significant improvement. Also, lower your GPU temperatures by approximately 20 degrees F by either (a) replacing the thermal conductive pad between the GPU and the heat pipe with a copper shim, or else (b) removing the thermal conductive pad altogether and carefully bending the heat pipe so that it makes direct contact with the GPU. Of course, use a thermal compound such as Arctic Silver. Finally, undervolt the CPU through software.

Finally, you can replace the wireless card to improve wireless performance.

But, back to ZaZ's comments. He is absolutely right: you can make all of these upgrades but in the end you still have a 6 year old computer with 6 year old technology that cannot access more than 3GB of RAM. But, your laptop's UXGA Flexview screen is unsurpassed and T60s are solidly built. I love mine!

[73PopTop]

Thanks ZaZ and ThinkPadophile.

Got a SSD (Intel 520 - 120GB.) We'll see what that does. I have 15 days to return in case things don't work out. The Intel has a 5-year warranty. I wonder, between linux and hardware upgrades, if the TP will last another 5 years. I'm betting it will..

>> Zaz --> The 3GB memory limit is due to a chipset limitation. <<
Interesting that the specs said 4GB for the T60p. An additional 1GB from 2GB will most likely help either way.

>> ThinkPadophile--> Upgrading the CPU.. <<
I don't know if I want to go that route right now in terms of time to upgrade (and maybe cost too.) I'll take a closer look at the posting you mentioned. Thanks!

Thanks again. Will post more as I get further along with the SSD.

[ThinkPadophile]

Upgrading the CPU, cooling, and wireless card should only take around 15 minutes. You have to remove the palm rest, keyboard, and cooling fan in order to get at the CPU. This job is easy and straightforward and requires no particular skills. Since you would have already removed the cooling fan with its attached heat pipe, removing or replacing the thermal cooling pad takes only a few extra seconds. Moreover, removing the keyboard exposes the wireless card, so swapping it out for a new one should take less than a minute.

[StevenD]

My recommendation, fwiw, is to install that SSD and don't worry about a new processor.

I've got a 2623-DDU that I've had since they came out. I never upgraded beyond that because the screens were always unacceptable.

I put an SSD in mine, and it was like quadrupling the speed of the processor!!! Just unbelievable, right off the bat. You'll be very pleased.

Seems to me if you had two 2623's, and you put an SSD in one, and an SSD AND a cpu upgrade in the other, it wouldn't seem like the extra bit of the new cpu was worth the effort and cost -- mostly because the improvement from the SSD alone is so astonishing.

I'm eyeing the W530, though, because I don't know how long I can hold out here with my beloved T60p!

--Steve D.

[ajkula66]

I'd suggest an upgrade to T7200 or above, not for the sake of performance gain, but to obtain a cooler-running machine with better battery life as well.

A newer fan, including ones from nVidia-based T61/p units also helps...

My $0.02 only...

[73PopTop]

Thanks ajkula66 and StevenD.

>> I'm eyeing the W530, though, because I don't know how long I can hold out here with my beloved T60p! <<
Do the W530's have as nice a screen as the T60p? Keyboard too? Since I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 now and the performance is good (not as good as my 10.10 install..I blinked and almost missed the startup it was so fast with the SSD!), I hope to find a suitable replacement over the next couple of years. I'll check out the W350 too..

>> I'd suggest an upgrade to T7200 or above, not for the sake of performance gain, but to obtain a cooler-running machine with better battery life as well. <<
Yeah, I had an over-heating issue upgrading to 12.04, but things are now normal. The blazingly fast SSD moved the performance bottleneck right to the CPU. I wonder if I apply some thermal paste to the GPU and CPU, blow out the fan (it's noisy) if things stay cooler and potentially quieter.

Anyway, I want to config my new Unity interface similar to my 10.10 Gnome desktop and will explore my next H/W options a bit later. If anyone wants see performance data (linux sar -d command) from the old Hitachi spindle drive versus the Intel SSD, I could post that next time since I'm on another PC at the moment. The read times were exceptionally good (20 to 30X ..if I am not mistaken.)