My New T61p arrived today . . . .

[DaElderGeek]

The T61p showed up today and I have to say it's tank compared to my old T60p. If it's half as reliable I'll be thrilled. I haven't cracked it open yet but what I'd like to know is how can I tell whether I have a Merom or Penryn compatible mobo? In Device Manager the computer is identified as "Lenonvo-21EC5F6D. Does that tell me anything useful? Or will I have to look for something when I crack it open? The specs are:

Lenovo T61p:
Core2Duo 2Ghz (T7300)
15.4" TFT display with 1920x1200 (WUXGA)
100Gb SATA HDD
nVidia Quadro FX 570M (256 MB)
3 GB PC2-5300
Bluetooth BioMetric
Fingerprint Reader
SD Card Reader
Intel 802.1 A/B/G Wireless Card
CDRW/DVD Drive in Ultra Bay
9 Cell Battery (not OEM
6457-AM1

I stole another one off fleeceBay that had the identical configuration except for:
1680 x 1050 (WSXGA I'm guessing?)
4GB Memory
Nvidia 512mb
802.11n
and 2504 docking station

I'll keep whichever is best and pass the other off to my daughter who needs one.

[Thinkpad Lover]

1680 x 1050 (WSXGA I'm guessing?)

WSXGA+ 16:10 aspect ratio 1680 x 1050 resolution

Handy chart of common display resolutions here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

Daniel.

[DaElderGeek]

1680 x 1050 (WSXGA I'm guessing?)

WSXGA+ 16:10 aspect ratio 1680 x 1050 resolution

Handy chart of common display resolutions here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

Daniel.

Thanx Daniel:

That's really cool!

[ajkula66]

On a different note...none of the nVidia GPUs on T61/p were 512MB...128 and 256 were the real figures.

What's the production date on the unit that you've received?

[RealBlackStuff]

If you remove the battery, you might see a small white label with the motherboard's P/N or FRU.
If not there, remove palmrest and RAM modules, to find another label under the RAM slots.
if 42W7653 Merom
if 42W7877 Penryn

[Backslashnl1]

With the Middleton bios it will accept a Penryn cpu regardless it is "factory Penryn supported" motherboard.

[DaElderGeek]

Thanx folks for all your replies. I'll crack it open and report back after it finishes the latest batch of Microsoft Updates. When I bought the T60p back in 2K6 I got an upgrade to Vista Business 32bit. I never used it until last night 'cause the T61p came with XP installed. First Impressions: at 1920 x 1200 things are really, really, really sharp, but really, really, really, really tiny!

[DaElderGeek]

On a different note...none of the nVidia GPUs on T61/p were 512MB...128 and 256 were the real figures.

What's the production date on the unit that you've received?

I followed the instructions in some other thread and the production date is April, 2008. Lucky me. April is my birth month.

[DaElderGeek]

If you remove the battery, you might see a small white label with the motherboard's P/N or FRU.
If not there, remove palmrest and RAM modules, to find another label under the RAM slots.
if 42W7653 Merom
if 42W7877 Penryn

I couldn't find either FRU on the new machine but I may have discovered another way to tell. I do some video work from time to time and rendering a long clip would send the T60p's temp right to the limit and beyond. To keep an eye on the temp I started using Core Temp, a neat little utility. In addition to tracking temp by core, it identified my T60p's cpu as T7400 Merom and the mobo as Socket M (479 pin). I installed it on the new box to see how the operating temp compared.* It identified my mobo Socket P (mFCPGA-478). I looked it up and it and the Socket P wiki says:

"The Intel Socket P is the mobile processor socket replacement for Core microarchitecture chips such as Core 2 Duo. It launched on May 9, 2007, as part of the Santa Rosa platform with the Merom and Penryn processors."

Sounds to me like I'll have full Penryn support, whatever that means, with this mobo.

*The cpu temps are pretty much in the same range but the T61p is much cooler to the touch.

[RealBlackStuff]

Plug in your laptop's TYPE (e.g. 6506) and S/N without hyphen (e.g. L3DB124) here:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... ookup.page
In the ensuing parts list find your motherboard P/N (called PLANAR in IBM-speak).
Look the P/N or FRU up in the HMM.

[Neil]

...the production date is April, 2008. Lucky me. April is my birth month.

Maybe a good date for a birth....but not so good for nVIDIA chips. It's only the ones made in, and after Aug. 2008 that are considered safe. Hope yours in one of the exceptions that doesn't disintegrate.

[DaElderGeek]

Plug in your laptop's TYPE (e.g. 6506) and S/N without hyphen (e.g. L3DB124) here:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... ookup.page
In the ensuing parts list find your motherboard P/N (called PLANAR in IBM-speak).
Look the P/N or FRU up in the HMM.

My mobo has got to be 44C3931 which is described here ( http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 45222.html ) but who knows if that is the board that is in my system now? There was a spot for the mobo FRU but it was missing. Somewhere else someone indicated that might mean it's been previously stolen?? I certainly hope not. It's running substantially hotter than the T60p. At idle it fluctuates between 62C and 72C. The T60p was in the high 40's to mid 50's. I was going to wait until the T9300 showed up before tearing it apart and spreading around a little arctic silver but I may not be able to wait that long. I'm going to keep my eye on it.

[ajkula66]

There was a spot for the mobo FRU but it was missing. Somewhere else someone indicated that might mean it's been previously stolen?? .

Hogwash.

FRU number means absolutely nothing in terms of identification along those lines...

[DaElderGeek]

There was a spot for the mobo FRU but it was missing. Somewhere else someone indicated that might mean it's been previously stolen??

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Hogwash.

FRU number means absolutely nothing in terns of identification along those lines...

Glad to hear that.

[RealBlackStuff]

What is the TYPE etc. on the bottom, looks like: TYPE 6703-45U S/N L3-B4567 07/04
Failing that, at boot press F1 to go into BIOS, then give us what you find after: System-unit serial number.
You would help us (and yourself) by answering our questions, instead of throwing up more suppositions...

[DaElderGeek]

What is the TYPE etc. on the bottom, looks like: TYPE 6703-45U S/N L3-B4567 07/04
Failing that, at boot press F1 to go into BIOS, then give us what you find after: System-unit serial number.
You would help us (and yourself) by answering our questions, instead of throwing up more suppositions...

Hmmmm. I didn't realize I was annoying you. Whatever. The whole inquiry has become somewhat moot. The T9300 came today, I installed it and the T61p booted up normally and is performing with no issues. Since you asked, the type is, as indicated in my original post, 6457-AM1 and the S/N is L3-W4993 and, when I followed your suggestion a few posts ago, and plugged it into Lenovo's database, the System board FRU it returned was 44C3931. I believe I also posted that info a few posts up. So, I am doing quite well, and thank you very much.

[TuuS]

You have a penryn board, but you may suffer nVidia failure at some point. I wouldn't be so worried about it dying because it was build in may 2008 as much as I'd be worried about where it came from. If it was an original corporate laptop that's never failed, then it may last ten years, but if it was one that failed already and was reflowed/baked/heat-gunned, etc... then it WILL fail, in days or weeks, maybe months. Unfortunately there is no shortage of people willing to buy failed boards/systems and sell them after improper repairs.

I wish you luck with yours, and if you have a warranty with it, I'd definitely run some tests on the gpu.

[DaElderGeek]

You have a penryn board, but you may suffer nVidia failure at some point. I wouldn't be so worried about it dying because it was build in may 2008 as much as I'd be worried about where it came from. If it was an original corporate laptop that's never failed, then it may last ten years, but if it was one that failed already and was reflowed/baked/heat-gunned, etc... then it WILL fail, in days or weeks, maybe months. Unfortunately there is no shortage of people willing to buy failed boards/systems and sell them after improper repairs.

I wish you luck with yours, and if you have a warranty with it, I'd definitely run some tests on the gpu.

Show me the carfax! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Thanx for your interest. The unit is pristine I'd bet a six pack that it's a corporate unit off lease. I only bought a warranty on a computer once and it was a complete waste of money. I couldn't say for sure but it may have been worked on. The heatsink/fan has a sticker on it that reads 08 03 09 which could either be August 3, 2009, or March 9, 2008. I'm running a stress test of sorts right now. It's ripping a movie now which has both cores running at 100%. What would you recommend to test the gpu?

[DaElderGeek]

You have a penryn board, but you may suffer nVidia failure at some point. I wouldn't be so worried about it dying because it was build in may 2008 as much as I'd be worried about where it came from. If it was an original corporate laptop that's never failed, then it may last ten years, but if it was one that failed already and was reflowed/baked/heat-gunned, etc... then it WILL fail, in days or weeks, maybe months. Unfortunately there is no shortage of people willing to buy failed boards/systems and sell them after improper repairs.

I wish you luck with yours, and if you have a warranty with it, I'd definitely run some tests on the gpu.

I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I notice that you are one of several sources of great info and hard to find parts. I hope it doesn't come to that but if my T61p needs help or parts we'll be talking.

Regards,