T60 CPU upgrade 945GM chipset

[r3zon8]

my t60 came built with a t2300 chip.

based off the maintenance manual and intels tech data on the 945chipset, i should be able to drop in up to a T7600 CPU in there. a t7600 is still pricey on ebay, but the t7200 can be had for around $99. while you dont get the higher clock speed of the 7600 you still get the 4mb L2, and intel-vt.

what kind of cpu upgrades have been done or are recommended for the t60?

[ajkula66]

You're on the right track...just follow your budget...T7200 is nothing to sneeze at...

However, be advised that the machine will run hotter with a C2D processor.

Good luck.

[ZaZ]

I say upgrade to a faster hard drive and see how it goes. For every day stuff like Office and Internet, the hard drive is more likely the bottleneck than the CPU.

[i.thinkpad]

T7200 (2GHz), T7400(2.16GHz) and T7600(2.33GHz) are all recommended update options. You will definitely notice quicker system response and hence better user experience (faster hard drive also helps). Just upgrade BIOS to the latest version first to make sure it supports Core 2 Duo processor.

As for the additional heat, if you apply thermal compound properly (e.g. Silver 5), you won't notice any change in system temperatures.

[r3zon8]

thanks for the tips everyone.

the t2600 has a tdp of 31w, the t7200(on order from ebay) has 34w tdp...the difference in heat output should be marginal especially if speedstep does its job. and ill try the better thermal paste to help as well.

just dropped an x25-m 80gb drive into the machine and reinstalled xp sp3 pro; wow, the difference is like night and day. My brother, who's the original owner of this t60, was like 'is this the same machine i gave you??..its faster than my new t500'

overall im very happy with the system and a great upgrade from a t23.

[Kamika007z]

The T60 is an awesome machine.

Also, remember that it's HW limitation (due to the BIOS being locked by Lenovo) is 3GB only.

This is the only negative about the machine in my opinion.

[dr_st]

Anything will be a good upgrade over the T2300 really. But I agree, that once upgrading, I'd only look at Core 2 Duo 4MB L2 cache CPUs.

The T7600 will remain pricey, because its the top-end model of its series. The T7200/T7400 on the other hand can be had for a noticeably lower price, without a noticeably lower performance.

[Brad]

The T60 is an awesome machine.

Also, remember that it's HW limitation (due to the BIOS being locked by Lenovo) is 3GB only.

This is the only negative about the machine in my opinion.

Is the limitation Lenovo's or the chipset?

Brad

[dr_st]

Is the limitation Lenovo's or the chipset?

I don't think anyone ever got a straight answer on this...

[wild_bill]

However, be advised that the machine will run hotter with a C2D processor.

Having done this upgrade and compared the temps with Core Temp before and after, I see absolutely no evidence for this claim of higher temps, if anything, the T7400 C2D in my system runs slightly cooler than the original CPU in my T60 (Yes, I know the tdP is 3 watts higher in the T7400 over the T2400, but just sayin)

PS - if you want to see a HUGE difference in your T60 CPU and video processor temps, try vacuuming out the dust from the coiled outside heatsinks (the ones you can see from the outside in the corners) and the main fan, makes an amazing difference (like 30º F)

[AvalonXIII]

Is the limitation Lenovo's or the chipset?

Brad

I'm pretty sure it's the chipset limitation. I used a Sony Vaio TZ which uses the same chipset as the T60 and it also can only recognizes 3GB of ram (yes, I was using Vista x64)

[dozer]

I too am interested in changing the CPU, in my T60p 2623-ddu.

However, my goal is lower power, not more performance.

Has anyone done a power-draw comparison, or temp-comparison, under properly controlled conditions?

(i.e., same ambient temp, same os-setup/progs, same heatsink-goo, etc.)

I also wonder whether any of the LV/ULV cpu's will drop in....don't some of them come in the same PGA package as the T2500?

thanks!

Richard