Upgrade from T40 options.

[lagoausente]

Hello. I have a T40 and I´m very happy it, but it´s posible that in the future will miss the expresscard conection.
I know I can go to T43 or to T60, so my doubts are the follow:
Have read about the T43 has some chipset the comes hot, is any problem with that?
For going from T40 to T43 I have see some people change the mainboard. I have seen on Ebay T43 mainboards that come with the base and
Pcmcia/expresscard conector, ultrabay slim and so on. Do you think it´s worth this way, or would be more practical just to sell the T40 as it is and buy an used T43?
And about the T60, does it worth the extra cost? More stable? What about the autonomy?
thanks a lot for the forum!

[Harryc]

Newer technology with extended warranty is always the better option if you can afford it. The T60 series is quite possibly the best IBM or Lenovo ever made. There haven't been any documented stability problems on the T60's as far as I know. On the other hand, if you like to play with the older machines (I do) then it becomes an emotional rather than a logical choice. Only you can decide. T43's are fine machines. Don't worry about the heat...greatly exaggerated. If I had to select something I don't like about T43's it's above average fan noise.

[lagoausente]

Thanks for the reply.
I was thinking about a used T60.
Thinking about T43, what do you think is a better way to go?
1-Sell the T40 and buy a T43 used?
2-Sell the base with motherboard, cpu, etc, of the T40 and get a 43 one?
3- Buy a T43 motherboard and RAM, and keep the T40 cpu+screen+keyboard etc?

[SaderBiscut]

Someone linked to this in the marketplace section - I'm not sure what a 'Grade C' laptop entails, but a fully functional T43 for $320 is a pretty good deal. ('Grade B' is $380) Assuming it's purely cosmetic damage it should be easy enough to replace the dinged up parts with your T40 frame (I think?)

I should be getting one of these 'Grade C' laptops in a few days, I'll post my thoughts.

[lagoausente]

Thanks for the link!

[lagoausente]

A question about the T43 fan noise. Is there anyway to fix it, like an alternative fan or something?

[sjthinkpader]

Installing T43 MB in T40 is not a drop in job:

1. Cardbus/ExpressCard cage is different
2. The plastic spacer inside is different. I made a cut in the old spacer.
3. The wireless card and BT cards are different.
4. Fan/heatsink assembly may be different.

Of course CPU and memory are different. The low spec 730, 740 CPU are relatively low cost but high spec 750, 760, 770 CPUs are quite expensive. The PC2-4200/PC2-5300 DDR2 memory in T43 are much cheaper than PC2700 used in T41/T42.

All in all, changing MB from T40 to T43 is not exactly much cheaper than buying a complete T43.

The cheapest upgrade is to buy a 755/765 Dorthan CPU for your T40.

[sjthinkpader]

A question about the T43 fan noise. Is there anyway to fix it, like an alternative fan or something?

The fan noise is a function of the T43 CPU thermal design power (TDP). It goes to high RPM quickly compared to other models. These are 533Mhz bus as compared to 400Mhz bus in earlier CPUs. Even low frequency is 800Mhz compared to 600Mhz for the earlier P-M CPUs. The design of the fan and heatsink are not much different. To handle the extra heat, only the fan had to run at higher RPM.

Some of the P4-M such as 2.5/2.6Ghz have even higher TDP. The A31 has a huge heatsink and fan and they are only spec'ed to 2Ghz CPUs.

[lagoausente]

Two questions:

The cheapest upgrade is to buy a 755/765 Dorthan CPU for your T40.

Do you mean, only upgrade the type of CPU? I need the upgrade only for the Expresscard option, so upgrading the CPU is not what I need.

The fan noise is a function of the T43 CPU thermal design power (TDP). It goes to high RPM quickly compared to other models. These are 533Mhz bus as compared to 400Mhz bus in earlier CPUs. Even low frequency is 800Mhz compared to 600Mhz for the earlier P-M CPUs. The design of the fan and heatsink are not much different. To handle the extra heat, only the fan had to run at higher RPM.

If I use the T43 CPU speed at "low" in the battery maximizer, would mean that the CPU would get less hot and so use less the fan?
Or is anything to do with the BUS speed? Is there any noticecalble diference in fan noise between a 1.5 CPU in a T40 and a T43? I consider my T40 very quiet. The only thing I will miss in the future is the Expresscard option. It´s the only reason for the upgrade.

[sjthinkpader]

Yes, if you set the CPU performance to low, then the fan should run slower and quieter.

Higher bus speed consume more power because CMOS logic use the most power during switching. During switching, CMOS logic essentially short Vcc to GND for a brief moment. Higher frequency means more switching thus more power consumed.

I have T43 and T60 with ExpressCard slots and I can't think of what must use it. Since I don't use my ExpressCard slot, I put a SD card adapter there. There are ExpressCard WAN adapters but I use PCMCIA version to fit more machines.

[lagoausente]

Higher bus speed consume more power because CMOS logic use the most power during switching. During switching, CMOS logic essentially short Vcc to GND for a brief moment. Higher frequency means more switching thus more power consumed.

Does it mean a T43 has less autonomy that a T40?
When the CPU performance is setted to low, does it affect the bus frequency swithing?
How could be getting the same behaviur in a T43 than in the T40, could be modified the pin setup of the CPU? Could so make it work a lower bus frequency?