Can t61 4:3 with Merom access 4 or 8gb ram?

[andre#4]

Greetings Thinkpadisti...

1. Can t61 4:3 with Merom access 4 or 8gb ram?

2. I am thinking of making frankenpad using 4:3 mobo from t61 and putting it into my 15" beloved t60p with uxga ips. (which is loved so much that the a, s, m and n keys have no printing on them, and which has been so reliable that it has NEVER had a bsod and only has needed to be restarted 3 times in 5 years...)

3. I have read the threads many times about t60/t61 frankenpads and everyone seems to want the penryn mobo and I understand that, but I can never find one. Will a Merom board do, with the integrated graphics, for purpose of having a computer with 4 or 8gb ram instead of 3gb ram, and also for upgrading from yonah T2500.

4. Is this a dumb idea? (the merom mobo instead of penryn mobo idea) Should I either wait until i find a penryn board of try to buy brand new one?

I thought a merom t7800 would be pretty good with 8gb ram.


5. Also is it a dumb idea to have integrated graphics, with ever increasing video content everywhere? I mean, what was great idea in 2008 might not be in 2015. My biggest worry is that if I use the integrated graphics (either with penryn or merom mobo) that todays (and next years) high res video will not function properly.

Am I gonna end up with a machine with worse graphics performance than my old t60p with t2500 yonah and fire gl 5250 discrete gpu? (this t60p works fine for the moment but I am afraid if I wait too long to upgrade the machine to 8gb ram, that the parts won't be around. and I can't buy a new thinkpad cause they are too far gone for me now. (world passed me by). SO, is this even worth doing, with merom OR penryn? can integrated graphics cope with 1080p streaming videos? (I can't use discreet graphics board cause it is nvidia and faulty)

I want to use my t60p and t43p machines for as long as I can. I don't do gaming or so forth. The worst things I do are view videos online and from my hard drives, and I love my uxga at full resolution. I will someday use photoshop with high res still images but I could use a different computer for that if it was too graphics intensive for the circa 2006 thinkpad. I need IPS, 4:3, and a IBM style 7-8 row nmb keyboard and trackpoint.


THANKS for any help or ideas I'd also be interested in buying parts for project or completed project from anyone here.

[RealBlackStuff]

Any T61 can handle 8GB RAM, provided it has one of these Core-2-Duo CPUs:
X9000 Penryn CPU 2.80/6M
T9500 Penryn CPU 2.60/6M
T9300 Penryn CPU 2.50/6M <<== best bang for your buck
T8300 Penryn CPU 2.40/3M
T8100 Penryn CPU 2.10/3M
=========================== the above Penryn can also go in after you apply Middleton's BIOS.
T7800 Merom CPU 2.60/4M
T7700 Merom CPU 2.40/4M
T7500 Merom CPU 2.20/4M
T7300 Merom CPU 2.00/4M
T7100 Merom CPU 1.80/2M
T5670 Merom CPU 1.80/2M
You'll also need a 64-bit OS to access 4GB or more RAM.

The rest has been discussed time and again, read the Frankenpad posts.

[andre#4]

One other question...

Do I have to get a mobo from a sxga+ model, or will an XGA or other 4:3 model work??? The frankenpad discussions seem to indicate a sxga+ model is required but don't say that it is the only one that will work... I have read the other threads but where I see ambiguity I like to ask questions to avoid buying the wrong stuff I am just a regular guy not a computer expert. Thanks again for any help. I will try reading it all over again to find answers to my other questions.

[RealBlackStuff]

All T6x/R6x mobos can handle any T6x/R6x screen.

[andre#4]

Any T61 can handle 8GB RAM, provided it has one of these Core-2-Duo CPUs:
X9000 Penryn CPU 2.80/6M
T9500 Penryn CPU 2.60/6M
T9300 Penryn CPU 2.50/6M <<== best bang for your buck
T8300 Penryn CPU 2.40/3M
T8100 Penryn CPU 2.10/3M
=========================== the above Penryn can also go in after you apply Middleton's BIOS.
T7800 Merom CPU 2.60/4M
T7700 Merom CPU 2.40/4M
T7500 Merom CPU 2.20/4M
T7300 Merom CPU 2.00/4M
T7100 Merom CPU 1.80/2M
T5670 Merom CPU 1.80/2M
You'll also need a 64-bit OS to access 4GB or more RAM.

The rest has been discussed time and again, read the Frankenpad posts.

Does this mean all these cpus can use 8gb ram or only the penryns (above the dividing line)?

[dcai777]

All of them can. You just need the middleton BIOS to use the newer penryns with an merom board.