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#1 the 14.1" T601 w/ NVS 140 + 1600x1200 display
NOTICE: to some this mod makes little sense as the 14.1" T61 chassis could be used, but you'll have to put up with LENOVO branding on it, asymmetrical hinges and non-white legends for things like the headphone jack etc. Since my old T60p has been through so many adventures with me, I would rather 'keep' the original parts as much as possible. I like the tinkering aspect and didn't feel like buying a T61 chassis when I already had plenty of T60 ones; actually 14.1" T61 chassis are much less common than T60 ones.
This mod uses the later 44C3924 T61 NVS 140 mobo along with a Sharp LQ141U1LH02 display.
A) first you'll need to fit the T61 NVS 140 mobo inside the T60 chassis. This requires cutting a chunk near the modem and one of the standoffs near the GPU. You'll see once you gently slide the T61 mobo inside. I used a stanley 15-809 hacksaw.
B) The original T60 heatsink *cannot* be used as the nvidia GPUs do NOT like the thermal pillows. Don't even try it. I decided to use the W500 heatsink since I already had one on hand and I really like the fan on these. The original T61 heatsink may be more effective, but I'm not sure (probably not).
You'll want to file down the W500's heat block so that the T60 retention bracket can go over it and put sufficient force on the GPU:
http://i.imgur.com/5IzDHan.jpg
The file I used was this one: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00A13ZXE4/ref= ... 20_TE_dp_3
Voila, W500 heatsink on a T61 mobo in a 14.1" T60 chassis :p :
http://i.imgur.com/s6D96F8.jpg
Don't forget the T61 VRM thermal pillow, unfortunately the W500 heatsink doesn't cover it entirely, but that should be good enough (the system has not burnt out, and I forgot to install it initially...):
http://i.imgur.com/KFXfD7k.jpg
C) for the display you'll want to take it all apart, and install the sharp LQ141U1LH02. You have to options on cutting the necessary trace: either removing the LQ141U1LH02's PCB (more work), or simply cutting the second trace on the IBM LCD connector (much easier). I went ahead cutting the trace on the IBM cable. Then attach the IBM LCD inverter which is compatible with the sharp display (discard the original sharp inverter). As you can see the 14.1" 1600x1200 display now works inside the T601:
http://i.imgur.com/vWwZzNM.jpg
D) all put back together and you now have an upgraded T61 mobo running comfortably inside a T60 chassis with a *very* cool display:
http://i.imgur.com/atXJD0v.jpg
Temperatures range from 48C to a max of 72C (depending on load). The NVS 140 isn't half bad, I highly recommend these boards over the integrated intel graphics-- which really suffer with high resolution displays and can't even do basic 3D. Intel GPUs are great if you want the thinkpad to run cool though.
#2 the 14.1" T601 w/ Quadro FX 570m + 1600x1200 display
The goal here is getting a 15.4" 44C3931 fitted inside a 14.1" rollcage, and the same Sharp LQ141U1LH02 display if you need
A) you'll need to hack the magnesium rollcage in a few areas with a hacksaw of your choice (again I used the stanley 15-809 which did the job well). You may need to get creative with some of the angles, try not to scrape too much paint off the magnesium to prevent shorts.
Sawed off a piece at the bottom and top (shiny metal areas):
http://i.imgur.com/23n2B9S.jpg
And also a hole for the card reader:
http://i.imgur.com/KXzVxfK.jpg
B) when re-routing the USB cable you'll need to remove the plastic harness as it gets in the way of the 15.4" mobo. It needs to slink through like this (note the thermal pillow on the bus chip to help dissipate heat to the rollcage, it's under the yellow CMOS battery):
http://i.imgur.com/zEzaP5g.jpg
And here's the underside (you can also see how the 15.4" mobo fits in the 14.1" chassis):
http://i.imgur.com/A8Jcqh3.jpg
C) once that's done reassembly as usual (remember to add the VRM thermal pillow and the optional bus thermal pad).
This system is still waiting on some parts so I don't know the temperatures yet; also haven't decided if I want to go with another W500 cooler. I really do like those things due to the slick fans. And that concludes the ultimate 14.1" T601 builds. I haven't gotten around to BSEL or BIOS mods, may endeavour down that route in the future, but finding SPD-editable SO-DIMMs is a pain.
Making it more 'ultimate' would be doing an LED mod to the 1600x1200 14.1" sharp display, but I'm not going to bother at the moment. I would need a proper work bench instead of using my bed and deep freeze :p
Good information about that here: https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... styB.shtml
Thanks goes to Andreas for allowing me to pester with questions. And TuuS for the mobos.
