Can the Video Card on a ThinkPad be Changed (Upgraded)?

[Bill Z]

I have a T30 ThinkPad with a busted XGA LCD (cracked). I wanted to replace the XGA with a SXGA+ and was told on this forum that I could but suggested that I get the proper cable and inverter to go with it. OK, now I know what the inverter does (sort of).

If I just put the SXGA+ LCD in my T30, won’t get the 1400X1050 resolution without a video card supporting that resolution will I? I assume that the video card that comes with the XGA LCD will max out at 1024X768 and won’t provide a 1400X1050 picture.

Am I right here?

However, I haven’t seen any FRU numbers for video cards. Where is the video card on a T30? Can it be upgraded and if so, what is the FRU numbers?

[rkawakami]

A video "card" does not exist in the T30 (and most other Thinkpads as far as I know) in the sense that you cannot simply unplug it and put the latest and greatest video chipset inside. The video graphics system is firmly soldered down to the motherboard. Since it appears that all the different models of T30 came with the ATI Radeon 7500 with 16MB of video memory, you should be able to run up to SXGA+ resolution, as long as you use the proper video ribbon cable.

edit: For reference, you can look at the tawbook.pdf file available at:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitute/psref/

to get the system specs of the T30 (and others).