my X60s upgrade options

[JayNYC]

Hi. I was just given an X60s and I absolutely love the form factor and keyboard feel.

This is the unit I have according to the MTM lookup,:
Group Model Type Specifications
ThinkPad X Series laptops ThinkPad X60s 1704-69U L2400(1.66GHz), 1GB RAM, 100GB 5400rpm HD, 12.1in 1024x768 LCD, Intel 950, 802.11abg wireless, WWAN, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, Secure chip, IEEE 1394, X6 UltraBase + CDRW/DVDRW, Fingerprint reader, 8c

What are the potential upgrades I can do and approx US dollar cost? ie: is there an easy way to upgrade the motherboard with Core2 Due cpu and more memory?

thanks

--jay

[axur-delmeria]

For an X60s, 3GB RAM (1GB + 2 GB) is the most you'll want to install. The 945GM chipset only goes up to 4GB, but almost 1GB of that is inaccessible because it's reserved by the BIOS.
There's an access panel at the bottom for the RAM sticks.

Upgrading the processor requires changing the system board, because the CPU is soldered to the board and not mounted on a socket.

[jaspen-meyer]

The size and keyboard are unbeatable.

Wait for someone to confirm, but I'd think you could put the motherboard from an x61s in there, the most available board has an Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz processor. I'm using that board now, with 4gm ram.

[JayNYC]

The size and keyboard are unbeatable.

Wait for someone to confirm, but I'd think you could put the motherboard from an x61s in there, the most available board has an Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz processor. I'm using that board now, with 4gm ram.

<waiting for x61s motherboard confirmation>

[jaspen-meyer]

I think you're good to go. There's a board on ebay for $12.

I've got the bases for an x60s and an x61s in my hands. Screw holes are all in the same places and slots are all in the same places. Also, axur-delmeria's signature says he stuck a X61 in an X60 chassis.

Other more petty upgrades
1. replace the wifi card with an Intel 6205 half sized card.
2. Replace the track point.
3. If you need a brighter display replace ccfl backlight with led http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=114881
4. there's a guy in china who made a new motherboard for this machine and it may or may not become available outside of china. cost is around $500 for the board and it's got a 5th generation i7 processor.

[Shredder11]

I own three X series; X60s, X61 and X61s.

I like all three for different reasons:

X60s = runs very cool all of the time and performs quite responsively, even with a physical SATA drive. I will try an SSD with it eventually like I have with the other two X61 series; battery performance is excellent and runs for hours and hours.

X61 = T7500 2.2GHz CPU which runs quick but also VERY HOT most of the time. . It has a cheap Broadcom PCIe video decoder card, which allows me to watch full HD video at 50fps without sweating. battery life is mediocre. I replaced the WiFi with a cooler running model of Intel which helped a tiny bit. The CPU thermal paste had completely burnt itself dry and bare, so replacing that with fresh paste reduced the temperatures in half when idle, and by approx 20°C when stressed.

X61s = similar performance to the X60s and runs almost as cool. The X61 series benefit from having the modded Middleton BIOS, taking RAM upto 8GB (mine has 3GB) and doubling SSD drive speeds. I think it also enables faster processors to be installed in the X61.

So on balance the X61s is possibly the best, providing you do not need to upgrade the CPU. Just make sure the BIOS is not password locked like mine is. It was not something I had experienced before, so I never thought to inquire before purchasing. However if you want the ultimate upgraded X series from that era, have a look at the custom X62 being made and sold right now.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=120321 * Photos *

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=117955 * detailed info and how to buy *

[jaspen-meyer]

Yes, put an SSD in the machine. With the x61s MB, you flash bios with Middleton bios and this'll give you sata II speeds.

[RealBlackStuff]

You can swap out X60s against X61s mobo, been there, done that.

[axur-delmeria]

You can swap out X60s against X61s mobo, been there, done that.

Same here. X61s board gives 8GB max RAM (2x 4GB DDR2) and SATA 300 MB/s speed (after flashing with MIddleton BIOS).

[Pete B]

Keep in mind that you should run a 64 bit OS with any of the X61 models
so that you can access all of 4 GB or even 8 if you want to spend the money.
Also, you want the Middleton BIOS for several reasons SATA 2 speed, and
for non Lenovo wifi upgrades that are not in the original BIOS white list.

The best stock motherboard for the X61s is the L7700 which is a bit faster
than the L7500. I think it's worth looking for the L7700 if you decide to
upgrade. These are both 65nm processors.

The X61 had processors in the T8XXX line and even a rare/expensive T9300
version. These are 45nm processors but are not the low power version so
they run hot. There were also slower T7XXX versions of the motherboard
that are 65nm.

I'd like to find a T8400 motherboard at a decent price but they are very rare.

[jaspen-meyer]

You can replace the proprietary bios with Libreboot and then put a linux kernel onto the bios chip. This will let you cold boot to a web browser it 10 seconds.