A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

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gb_ibmguy
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A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#1 Post by gb_ibmguy » Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:27 pm

Ok,

Our story so far, I acquired an A31 - 1.6G 256mg, 30G drive, SXGA+ from E-Bay. Good price. However, after receiving it, found the HD was failing. (bad sectors, random errors etc). So, what to do? FrankenPad it! After reading many posts here, I decided to go crazy. Got 2 gigs of ram, 160 gig drive, upgraded fan and a 2.4 g processor. All parts were in house on Friday and I decided to tackle the project today (Saturday). Following the Leveno HWM guide, I proceeded to dismember my working TP and reduce it into all its many parts. And there are many, many little parts! So, I got it torn down, used lots of canned air to clean out all the dust bunnies and put it all back together. Low and behold, it powered up! http://forum.thinkpads.com/posting.php? ... 40d7e35bc1# Of course it just powered up to the bios screen and sat there. And sat there! F12 gave no joy. Powered down, reboot 4 times and then, WOW, Windows XP appeared! It seems that when I removed the cmos, it took a while for the TP to recognize what the heck had happened to it. So, having one big success under my belt for today, I decided to go for broke and flash the bios and update the controller. So, after downloading the correct files from the Levino site, I followed directions and WOW! that worked too!

In retrospect, I probably should have flashed the bios and controller first, but, either I was lucky, or these things are very forgiving. All in all, a very exciting and full fulling project for a snowy Saturday.

BTW If anyone is looking for a replacement HD, I can recommend the Samsung HM160HC. Very quick and quiet and cheap ($50-$65). And as far as far as CPU goo goes, I have found that "OCZ Freeze" is a bit better than anything else. Seems to run all my CPU's about 10-15 degrees cooler. Which also results in less fan usage and noise!

Thanks to all on this forum, you helped give me the courage to tackle my first laptop project!
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:44 am

Welcome to the forum and congratulations with your successful update.

I hate to slightly burst your bubble, but your A31 is still an ordinary (albeit souped-up) A31.
It would become a Frankenpad only if you put in parts from another type Thinkpad, e.g. a screen from a T43 or a motherboard from an R30 etc.

Nevertheless, there's nobody stopping you from trying to perhaps just do that!
You'll find all the knowledge on our forums, and a lot more!
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#3 Post by gb_ibmguy » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:03 pm

OK,
I understand what your are saying. Guess I miss-understood the term.
But, I do love the FrankenPad name! Guess I should have used the "Hot Rod" term. I have "hot Rodded" both of my Intellistations and now one of my Thinkpads. So. I guess this should be placed in the Hot Rod section (LOL)

Regards

Greg
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#4 Post by cybercorsair » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:38 am

Sounds like you had a very productive weekend . I just Picked up my Second A31 a IBM Thinkpad A31(model type 2652-M3U with a 1.8ghzP4) I am going to have to get it some more memory for it and upgraded to 2gigs but that won't take too long and I will need to get the HD up to speed as this is 4200rpm 40gig HD now but i plan on a 7200 RPM dive as soon as I can.
My old one is 2652-C4U model with a 1.6 P4 and only had the 16 meg ATI (the new one is a 32 meg ATI card in it)
I do have 2 gigs of ram in the older system and to get it all running and 120 gig 7200 RPM HD that makes it run great but that video card has its limits.

I want to get the CPU upgrade on one of the and a large drive as well.
both are going to need a new battery or I may try that site that re-fills the battery with new cells.
I need both for work but I need the better graphics card and its SXGA+ LCD and it is just a great screen (1400X1050 screen size)
for graphics work I do as well as tech work.

I got the new A31 for around $300 at a local computer surplus shop that got some in and I was able to get this one on hold till i could spare the funds. The first one was from an eBay action for $400(that with s/h and that was $20)
I picked up 2 Dock II stations last year for $15 each from the same shop and this helps out in my work at home. the shop has more of them but some are getting tossed out due to missing keys or jamming ejection button. I added a USB 2.0 to one in the PCI slot to give me better transfer speed from some external drives I have hooked in I have PCIMIA USB 2.0 as well and with all the drives one and running and counting the main drive I have near 2 Terabytes hooked in to my main A31(I work as computer tech and Artist so yes I need more space ) 3 250 gig drives 2 120 gig drives and one 160 gig drive and the 120 in the main system oh and i an External DVD R/RW 20x for DVD and larger burning storage.


I didn't like the thinkpads when i saw them years ago but not I can see how much fun they are at Models and all and I got the first A31 and I now feel that the A31 is one of the best laptops that can be upgraded beyond its specs.

the New one I got Last Friday has a great screen (an SXGA+) I was thinking can I get a new screen of that type and mode the other one? They both have the same ATI(7500 Radeon Mobile)card But as I said my first one has 16megs and the new one has 32 megs.
I will have to look into it on cost and all.


Good Mod on your system Thank for let us all know about the cmos booting I would think the system would need a bit of time to come up with reading the new CPU speeds and all. As a computer Tech of over 30 years I know just have scary a Bios flash can be on an older system .. My first rule in that BACK UP THE OLD FIRST ALWAYS!! nothing worst thyan flash gone wrong.

CC

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#5 Post by gb_ibmguy » Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:23 pm

Thanks for the reply.

For the money, I think the A31's are a good deal to hotrod and play with. If you do blow them up, your not out much and once upgraded, they are pretty fast little boxes. Heavy, but all my IBM's are heavy (my Intellistations are built like things used to be).

I too really like the SXGA+ screen, our other A31 only has the XGA. I looked at changing out the screen and/or the lid, but, didn't look cost effective and with the lower GPU memory, not sure the end result would be worth it.

I do highly recommend a CPU upgrade to a 2.4 - really worth the price and effort. I got my CPU on Ebay for $40.00 and an A31P fan for $9.95 (with the foam on the end). The HD I ended up with is a Samsung HM160HC LQ100-10 (160GB), another Ebay purchase for $52.00. The hardest part of the hot rod project was getting the darn CMOS battery disconnected, that connector is really, really tiny and really locked in. I ended up pulling one wire out of the connector in the removal process. I manged to shove the wire back into the connector and it did work, but I would recommend having a spare CMOS battery on hand (I have one on order, just in case<G>).

As others have recommend on this site, be sure to use a lot of canned air to blow the 5 years of acculmiated dust out of Everything! I couldn't believe the amount of crap that came out of my "new" fan/heatsink - WOW!. I can't say enough about that OCZ Freeze, b/4 the upgrade my 1.6 CPU would idle at 35 C and the fan would kick in at 47c, with the 2.4 it runs at 34 C highest temp I seen so far is 45C (and the TP Fan Control works on this box)

I'm still new at working and enjoying laptops, but I can see, I will become as obsessed as I am with big workstations :D
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#6 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:32 pm

Take it from someone who has owned many A3x units in most shapes and configurations imaginable, they are addictive...

For most people who use XP, don't do games, and have average needs (Office, web browsing, photoshop...) a souped-up A31/p is still pretty hard to beat when properly set up. And prices have never been lower...

The "FrankenPad" in my signature contains an A31 motherboard with 32MB video sitting in an A31p housing and driving a SXGA+ IPS LCD from an A30...CPU is 2.2 mated with the "fast" fan, 2GB RAM and Seagate 80GB/7200rpm HDD...and, as with any A3x machine that enters this house, it's on 24/7/365...

Enjoy... :thumbs-UP:
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#7 Post by cybercorsair » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:24 am

I really like the A31 they keep surprising me A few weeks back I was at a Clients working on their new server i just installed and I sat my bag(an Oakley AP sandbag 1.0 not the newer one) Now i mostly put my bag on the ground but this time I put it on greay paper trash can that they put their paper that is to be shredded .. any I walked away into the server room and I heard a THUD! i look out of the rrom and bag in on the ground and all i could think was ok there goes the the A31.. nope i pick it up take it out and al is good the screen has a big layer of dust as the last 3 years has been knocked lose and even the fan kick a big cloud out but all was working just find noting was damaged at all and today i found time to open up under the keyboard and blow a ton more dust out.
I did the same to my newer one and found no dust it was like this unit hasn't been used much at all

I have the manual I printed from the PDF so i know of how to take what out but I like to learn more on changing the CPU out and what models and where to find them (I know ebay is good but like to shop around)
from what I am reading i take it the fan I have has to be changed as well? and is there something i need to do the COSMO?
I would think a re-set to get it to see the new CPU would be what you are wanting and that to re-set you are pulling the power on the Bios for few seconds to get that .

I hope to have some funds by late tomorrow to hit one of the stores that have WD notebook drive IDE 250 for like $74 if they are 7200 I will get them if not it will wait.. speed on a drive is must for me.

Memory i seen around $29 to $39 now for a gig so that will be good to get as well.

I want teh new A31 for dong my art work as i have been doing on the older one and has been work good but the screen on this newer A31 is just out standing and very glad I got it .


I have both next to each other docked in to the 2 dock II docking stations and it interesting that the new one has a screen that seem more brighter that the older one my other one seen off in color and darker in some way .. I am not sure why..they are only a few month difference in age so both system were made in 2002.and all the settings are the same but screen size and all.

I use one fore work and the other for my other work in art.

They may not be able to play most games but they have worked well with my art.


Can't wait to see what more i can do with them

CC
Last edited by cybercorsair on Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#8 Post by tbartold » Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:56 am

ajkula66 wrote:Take it from someone who has owned many A3x units in most shapes and configurations imaginable, they are addictive...

For most people who use XP, don't do games, and have average needs (Office, web browsing, photoshop...) a souped-up A31/p is still pretty hard to beat when properly set up. And prices have never been lower...

The "FrankenPad" in my signature contains an A31 motherboard with 32MB video sitting in an A31p housing and driving a SXGA+ IPS LCD from an A30...CPU is 2.2 mated with the "fast" fan, 2GB RAM and Seagate 80GB/7200rpm HDD...and, as with any A3x machine that enters this house, it's on 24/7/365...

Enjoy... :thumbs-UP:
I do games and I do them on my A31ps.

Although, I must admit, I tend to do older (err classic) games.

But I also do a lot with visual studio and eclipse, use Xming to bring up remote linux eclipse sessions, and even boot into linux to do direct development. Having the extra hard drive is very nice, especially since I can swap the linux drive with no problems between machines at different locations.
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#9 Post by crg7 » Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:48 am

Where does one get hold of the CMOS battery for an A31 and what is a fair price?

Thanks

ajkula66
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#10 Post by ajkula66 » Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:58 am

A31 uses the same CMOS battery as most post-600 series ThinkPads (T2x,T30, R40, T4x, R5x, etc.) and they're under $10 shipped on eBay.
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#11 Post by cybercorsair » Mon Mar 23, 2009 4:04 pm

Hey GB can you list out the part/model# for the 2.4 CPU on that you are using?
My local shop i get my OEM parts from said he can get them fairly cheap if I have the model and type . Plus i am taking it i will have to up the fan as well so i need the info on that too.

I still looking for a good large 7200 RPM EIDE 2.5 drive but these seems to be none and I was looking at the one i thought was 7200 and it wasn't ..its 5400 RPM.
How I missed this I do not know but i am not very happy with my self as I asked and was told the drive was 7200 and i just didn't look..dumb me .. I think i was distracted as my 30 gig drive died as it was taken out and just stopped working and this made me not thing about looking at the drive.. I feel dumb not looking at it but the drive has worked great and fast so I am happy.
If I can't find the 7200RPM drive I can get 160 320 or a 500 5400 rpm from my local shop the 320gb is like $80 and the 500gb is like $99...if the 500gb works I can deal with the speed lost for lots of space. I have search every pace i can for a notebook EIDE dive that is 7200 RPM and I can not fined ANY one place said if i do find one it going to be over priced anyway and should just get the cheaper 5400.

Now on the Cmos battery does that have to be replaced or just unplugged to cleared Cmos to get the CPU seen by the systems? I was not sure as i have not seen the instruction other than from the manual on the CPU.

I looked at the connector on that battery it is small .. just have to the right touch and tools to do it .

I like to Mod systems i was thinking of some way to do some decals for the cover to show you A3X has be mod and is rocking. I also need the more detail info as I don't want to smoke my systems as well. Up grades will happen as fund come in ..need to dump this 4200rpm drive off as it is so slow compared to my other system I thought was 5400 .

Memory Drive s and CPU all upgradeable but do be aware the supplies of EIDE Drive for notebooks are going down .I have searched the net and they are getting harder to find but i have noted that the new SSD Drives are coming out in both ATA and EIDE but as of now they priced too high as of now but should fall to a good price as time goes on .


IT sad I missed getting 7200RPM Drive I really thought I had one in there but I read my hardware scan and even power down to check it and was shocked and I now the guy at the shop will be too as he know I really want that speed too but the time was a wile back so nothing can be done now but to smack my forehead and say DHO!! and move on.

Later all

CC

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#12 Post by ajkula66 » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:10 pm

@cybercorsair:

SL6VC is the 2.4 P4M CPU that you'd be looking for.

A3x machines require PATA drive, not SATA. The largest PATA/IDE drive in production is WD 320GB/5400 rpm.

You don't have to do anything with the CMOS battery, the system will recognize the new CPU on its own.

Hope this helps.
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#13 Post by gb_ibmguy » Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:06 pm

Yes, that's the same CPU I used and it works great. Cheap on E-Bay. Just make sure to replace the fan and the thermal goo!

The only issue with the CMOS, is that that when you are dissembling the unit, unless you are VERY careful, pulling the leads from the CMOS connector can result in a disconnect. The connector is very small and very tenacious. I used very small needle nose pliers to finagle the connection and I still managed to pull a wire loose. I manged to shove the wire back in and it still works, but, it wouldn't hurt to have a spare on reserve. (I do,now)

As far as drives go, you just can't get a big 7200 pata drive anymore. But a big,fast 5400 drive will work very nice! Mine's a 160 GB Samsung, quick and quiet and cheap. No issues at all.

Good Luck!
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#14 Post by cybercorsair » Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:33 am

Ok so If i get the CPU where and what model fan or is that just something GP is big on :-) I don;t see any thing wrong with replacing it but is this better fan or the same?

My local show has notebook drive in these size of 160,320 and 500 IDE 5400 RPM. I would love to mount a 500gb into the system. i was sad and shock to find i dind't have 120gb 7200rpm.. I blew it by not looking at the drive during install as they did have them in and i could have had it if i just looked at the drive speed and the would have exchange it then...sigh....

ok will look a the ebay on CPU and all but would like toknow is this a heat sink and fan or just a fan.. been looking at the tech manual and didn't see how or why the Cmos is disconnected?

Also i had to unplug small connectors in my life time of tech work and it just take a nice slow hand just don't rush the work it will be worth it if you just do it right the first time .

Ok off to hunt for parts

CC


CC

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#15 Post by cybercorsair » Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:04 pm

And the hunt is good got 2 CPU at $40 each so for $80 the two of them.


good deal just need faster fan.

thanks

CC

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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#16 Post by rkawakami » Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:56 pm

ajkula66 wrote:SL6VC is the 2.4 P4M CPU that you'd be looking for.
I researched the various P4M CPUs a little while ago and found SL6LS (2.4Ghz) and SL6LR (2.2Ghz). Would those work? If so, I've been having a hard time finding them. The Intel specs say that those are supposed to be lower power processors (21W/30W) so that's why I was interested in them.
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#17 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:04 pm

They should work, although I've never (to my knowledge at least) used either of them...

If you're worried about the heat, Ray, don't be...my A31p with 2.4 (SL6VC) never went over 55C in normal use...I'm not a gamer, though, but I don't see you being much of one either... :)
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#18 Post by rkawakami » Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:10 pm

I'm not, but my daughters are hooked on World of Warcraft (WoW) and the T23 is not the system to play it on. I thought maybe the A31p could handle it a little bit better.
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#19 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:27 pm

Not really. A31/p are not gaming machines whatsoever, they get very hot quickly, and that's one thing you don't want since the GPU is not cooled properly to begin with.

You might be better off handing down one of the T41s...
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#20 Post by cybercorsair » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm

CPU's are on their way the guy on eBay said he is getting more in next week so if anyone is needing CPUs P4 m let me know i pass on the link.
The 2 A31's i have are Thinkpad A31 2652 C4U with 2gig ram and Thinkpad A31 2652 M3U (working on bring ram up but is at 768 megs for now)

I am hoping I didn't screw up and buy the wrong CPUs.. (my wife will kill me)
any way next is memory and dives the first A31 I got had a 30gb drive now has a 120gb 5400rpm but I am going to find larger for both. The second one now has a 40gb 4200 RPM which makes is so slow it is painful to use . I know it will need ram to sped thing along but it has good memeory on the video card and that very nice SXGA+ screen It is nice and sharp..
Bring both system to a 2.4ghz will be nice . I can get local a 250 WD Scorpio 5400 for 99.00 right now and was thing both system could us the room I waited too long on those 500gb drive but could still get the 320 as they may come in soon . by all IDE/EIDE notebook drives are going to go as less of them are out tere i am being told . WD sold out of all their EIDE notebook drives above 250gb and 5400 rpms(they had some 7200 version of same drive but sold out) talking to the Hard makers I am finding the Chinese market is buying all of them up for resell so look for high price on drives when you find them.(getting hold on the older Laptop Market) I seeing high prices on local US market I have a Hitachi HTS541212H9AT00 120gb in my main A31 I got it at $150 or near that 2 years bac Memeory4less is listing it $180 plus.. that a markup when you can get WD 250 for $99 and both are 5400RPM.

We can still use SATA in the side ultra2000 bays but I not sure if we can do it a main drive.
I like to try it on both Docking station i have (2 Dock II) I have added a USB2.0 card in one of the PCI bays and i tested PCI wireless card in one it works so i wound if I can add an ESATA or SATA card and then wire drive to that? run it as back drive for when docking . Had 3 250GB on USB on the main system over all I in drives and on board i run neat 2 TB in space(and I use all of it doing data recovery as part of my work)the CPU upgrades will speed thing along for sure .


I guessing as long as the drive keep working we are good and we can pray the SSD drive go way down as they do have EIDE version but right now 2k for drive that at best is 40gb would be way out budget for any of us .lol.

I'll post the info on the guy on bay I like his pricing at $40 for the SL6VC CPUs.

CC

just got a email from the seller her is also getting SL7V3 PM-2.1Ghz highest 400fsb centrino this week as well he get other items as well at good pricing

http://myworld.ebay.com/crvmeister/
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0324673805


Hi this is an Update Got both CPU's today this was a fast shipping as I live in Sacramento CA and this guy is in Lancaster PA.
Also do note he has free shipping and has gotten more of the same CPUs in and others.

These are new and not used and look great.

Now I just need time to do the work and get some more details on changing out the CPU (most likely on the A31 2652 M3U first as I need the new fan for the other system)

Ok I off to do my research for the mod .

CC

cybercorsair
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#21 Post by cybercorsair » Sat Mar 28, 2009 3:51 am

First system is up and running at 2.4ghz and the cpu is running good and cool . Install was very easy and I got all done in a very short time.
Now for the other on Thinkpad A31 2652 C4U I told I need to get faster fan as this a 1.6ghz systems and the other was a 1.8ghz and was a very clean system for a surplus inside and the system is running steady.

I have shop in town that does Laptop repair's going to see if he has the better fan/heat sink for the A31 or knows where to find one as I have search for one but nothing just yet

Next upgrade is the HD as the Memory is going down but EIde notebook drives are getting hard to find over 160 gb.

the memory is still there and i going to put 2 gigs in as soon as i can get it ..that will be around $50 to $60 from my local shop.

I think on the next CPU install i may video it to upload and show people . IT was good i had the PDF for the Manual for hardware and Maintenance for the A31 it helped in find all the screws to open all up and get to the fan and CPU.

Do check out this guy's sales on eBay where I got the CPUs he has free shipping anywhere and good price on the upgrades.

CC

tbartold
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Location: Ann Arbor

Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#22 Post by tbartold » Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:18 am

Which 2.4 chips did you end up using? I thought that the SL6VC was the only 2.4 chip that would work (the others seemed to have different specs). The only 2.5 I've thought of getting is the SL6WY and the 2.6 is the SL6WZ. Seriously, I thought that the SL6L* chips were a completely different family.

Has anyone else actually used any other 2.4+GHz chip (other than the three I mentioned) in a A3x and succeeded?
A31p 2653-H3U 512MB 60GB/7200RPM (WinXP) +Intel2915
A31p 2653-N5U 2.4Ghz 1.5GB 60GB/7200RPM (WinXP) UJ-850S multiburner + 320GB/5400RPM
A31p 2653-R9U 2.6Ghz 1GB 60GB/7200RPM (Ubuntu?) TS-L632M multiburner + 320GB/5400RPM

cybercorsair
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#23 Post by cybercorsair » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:26 am

tbartold wrote:Which 2.4 chips did you end up using? I thought that the SL6VC was the only 2.4 chip that would work (the others seemed to have different specs). The only 2.5 I've thought of getting is the SL6WY and the 2.6 is the SL6WZ. Seriously, I thought that the SL6L* chips were a completely different family.

Has anyone else actually used any other 2.4+GHz chip (other than the three I mentioned) in a A3x and succeeded?
this was the one I got
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0324673805

I searched for it and looked up the part# and it is working great in the system and the cup has been running very good for my needs. i can see programs working better and fast now.
I need fast HD and a boost on the memory next
I was think the same on other types as a 533 bus would eb good but the MD has to be able to handle the voltage and bus range i would think .

this CPU is working and that is what i want. anyone know if it true i need to change the fan on the 2652 C4U as it is 1.6ghz CPU now and i want to put that other 2.4 ghz CPU soon.

Thanks

CC

iamadam
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Location: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

An A31 in Scotland

#24 Post by iamadam » Mon Jul 13, 2009 2:16 pm

I'm looking into sorting out my old A31

I want to swap my 1.90ghz processor for the SL6VC - 2.4GHZ
Swap the fan for the A31p
and add a Samasung hard drive HM160HC sounds simple enough.

My questions are...

I can only seem to find the SL6VC in America will this work fine in the UK?
What Drivers Do I need to Download and what Ram should i be looking at? 2 gigs worth.

sjthinkpader
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Re: An A31 in Scotland

#25 Post by sjthinkpader » Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:54 pm

iamadam wrote:...
I can only seem to find the SL6VC in America will this work fine in the UK?...
Ours run at 110V. How about yours? ...just joking, it should work fine.
T60p 2623-DDU/UXGA IPS/ATI V5200
T60 2623-DCU/SXGA+ IPS/ATI X1400
T43p 2668-H8U/UXGA IPS/ATI V3200
R50p 1832-NU1/UXGA IPS/ATI FireGL T2
X61t 7762-B6U dual touch IPS/64GB SSD
X32 2673-BU6/32GB SSD
755CDV 9545-GBK Transmissive Projection LCD

iamadam
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Location: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#26 Post by iamadam » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:14 pm

Thanks for the reply, not hot on voltages and my brother had been saying it can't be done bla blah... Ah HA

Anyhoo I went and got myself a SL6VC from a guy in england earlier cause i thought that the power should be sorted by the time it gets to the motherboard. Do you think i should get the all drivers from Leveno? If so could explain to me which one's i'll need.

P.s this forum has quickly got the big thumbs up from me :thumbs-UP: ,

Is there many alpacas in this forum>?

Thanks again Adam

Harryc
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#27 Post by Harryc » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:20 pm

There are no drivers required for a straight CPU swap, it's plug-and-play.

iamadam
Posts: 12
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Location: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#28 Post by iamadam » Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:19 am

Hello and thanks for the feedback so far, the next thing on my list is 2 gigs of ram, one for each slot. What would people recommend? looking for Cheap price and tried and test hardware.
:?:

Harryc
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Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#29 Post by Harryc » Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:55 am

Well, the A31 originally took PC2100 RAM, but PC2700 will work as well. Crucial is a good choice, or any IBM branded PC2100 or PC2700 would be another. What retail sources are available to you in Scotland?

iamadam
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:46 pm
Location: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Re: A31 FrankenPad Sucess!

#30 Post by iamadam » Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:33 am

In this area there is not much to choose from so will be looking to buy online. The bus speed on the processor SL6VC is 400 as a rule of thumb do try get ram that operates under your bus speed? The PC2700 operates at about 333 or pretty close to that, that is why i ask. Anyway thanks again for the info.

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