Help with T60P Purchase

[taichi]

Don't want it to run hotter.

The ATI Driver on the system is 8.362.0.0. There is a newer driver available, but the AMD/ATI site
suggested referring to the manufacturer's preferred driver.

But I'm sure this 2006 model must have come with XP...now it's Vista 32. So the question is do I use the newer driver appropriate to the new Vista OS for the Mobility Fire GL 5200, which is Version 8.583 or stay with what's on there now?

Also do I simply push the update driver in device manager, or user a driver uninstall program and manually install the new driver.

I ask this because I had a bit of trouble installing Assassin's Creed.

Thanks!

[TTY]

So the question is do I use the newer driver appropriate to the new Vista OS for the Mobility Fire GL 5200, which is Version 8.583 or stay with what's on there now?

Use the newest Vista driver offered by Lenovo. The version is 8.383, available here.

Also do I simply push the update driver in device manager, or user a driver uninstall program and manually install the new driver.

Uninstall the old driver first. You can find instructions on how to uninstall it on the web page referred to above.

[taichi]

Though using computers for many years there are some big gaps in my knowledge. The whole notion of administrator accounts and non administrator accounts (though I understand the difference in general terms...it's a question of privileges) makes me dizzy.

Given that the previous owner wiped the drive and installed Vista anew, I don't know if an administrator account is even set up. So until I understand this I won't update my driver.

So it's an unfortunate fact that all CPU upgrades make the T60P hotter?

Danke schoen

[TTY]

Hello Taichi,

if you click Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, you should be able to find out whether the Windows user account that you're presently using is an account with administrative privileges or an account with limited privileges. It's always a good idea to use an user account with limited privileges for everyday tasks, such as surfing the web, reading e-mail and such. Just create a new account with limited privileges if you don't have one.

[taichi]

Dear TTY:

Thank you very much for your assistance.

When I did as you suggested there is one account shown, with a rather generic name the previous owner gave it, and it is shown as Administrator.

When I click on create a new user account, I get a screen which shows the administrator account and another account called Guest Account, which is currently turned off. Perhaps that is why it was not shown in the first window showing Accounts. The Administrator account, I take it, has no password, or else I would never have gotten on the computer without one.

Should I turn on the Guest Account?

Since I am in the administrator account by default, am I right in assuming that I can uninstall and reinstall GPU drivers?

What part of Austria are you in? When I visited I loved Salzburg.

taichi

[taichi]

Dear TTY:

Another question on the heels of the last one.

On the Read Me for the new Lenovo ATI driver it gives the following instructions:
Uninstall

1. Start Windows Vista and logon with administrative privileges.
2. Click Start, select Control Panel.
3. Double-click Programs and Features.
4. Select ATI Catalyst Install Manager then click Change.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen.
6. Click Allow or Continue, then proceed uninstallation.

When I went to the control panel and clicked on Programs and Features I could not find ATI Catalyst Install Manager. In fact, I cannot find any ATI or Catalyst on that list.

Curious, no? Is that something I need to download from Lenovo?

taichi

[TTY]

Hello Taichi,

i don't recommend turning on the guest account, as it has very limited privileges. I use German Vista here, so i'm not sure of all the terms and names in English Vista. Therefore, the real names and expressions that you see on your screen might deviate a little from what i write here.

If you already have an administrator account, you should create a standard user account. After you have clicked Start > Control Panel > User Accounts, you should be able to click Create New Account. On the next screen, below the pane that show the accounts that already exist on the computer, again click "Create new account". On the next screen you will be asked for a name for the new account, and whether it will be a standard user account or an administrator account. Make your choice and then click "Create account".

Yes, you should use the administrator account when uninstalling and installing drivers.

Before uninstalling the video driver, first download the new driver. It's a long time since i last updated an ATI video driver on a ThinkPad. Click Start, Control Panel, try to find an entry called "Uninstall Programs". If you can't find the ATI Catalyst install manager or the ATI driver in the list of installed programs, i would first check if the ATI Catalyst Install Manager can be found by clicking Start, All Programs. If there is no ATI entry in the list of all programs which allows you to uninstall the ATI software/driver, you can probably uninstall the driver through device manager. To open device manager, click Start, right-click Computer, click properties. In the new screen, on the top left, click Device Manager. Then find "Graphics Card" or "Video Card" or "Video Controller" or similar. Click the plus-sign that is beside it. Now the ATI FireGL video chip should appear. Double-click it. Go to the "Drivers" tab. There you click "uninstall". Wait till all hard disk activity has ceased. Then re-boot, then install the new ATI driver. After having installed the new ATI driver, again wait till all hard disk activity has ceased, then re-boot. I'm in south-east Austria, in the federal state of Styria. Good luck!

[taichi]

Danke, TTY.

I'm just wondering whether I should have the ATI Catalyst Program, and if it is downloadable in a way "approved" by Lenovo. I'm under the impression that Catalyst allows more control over the card. When looking at the newest "non-approved by Lenovo" driver on the ATI site, I saw that the driver was combined with the Catalyst program.

taichi

[TTY]

Hello Taichi, you wrote

I'm just wondering whether I should have the ATI Catalyst Program, and if it is downloadable in a way "approved" by Lenovo. I'm under the impression that Catalyst allows more control over the card. When looking at the newest "non-approved by Lenovo" driver on the ATI site, I saw that the driver was combined with the Catalyst program.

The ATI Catalyst Control Center will be installed as part of the ATI video driver package that you download from Lenovo's website. You can also check whether there is an ATI Catalyst Control Center installed on your computer now by right-clicking anywhere in an open area on the Windows desktop and looking for "ATI Catalyst Control Center" in the emerging menu. Also, before uninstalling any graphics card driver through device manager, check on the driver tab for information about which manufacturer has provided the driver. I would uninstall the driver if the drivers tab says that the driver has been provided by ATI. If the drivers tab says that the driver has been provided by Microsoft, please post here again.

[taichi]

Thanks again, TTY.

It must have the Catalyst Program as you said, as the download is 93 MB.

The driver installed now is ATI 8.362.0.0.

What other computer do you use?

And...have you ever drunk kummel?

taichi

[TTY]

What other computer do you use?

My sole computer for the time being is a ThinkPad with a standard aspect ratio display.

And...have you ever drunk kummel?

No, i guess i'm not into spirits, really

[taichi]

I'm not a drinker, but Kummel (which was part of a pleasant memory I have of my Father at Berghoff's in Chicago) Is unusually fine...it's like drinking essences or fragrances, and it settles the stomach.

Caraway, cumin, and fennel.

taichi

[wild_bill]

It's got Vista Ultimate 64 bit

Yikes!

a 2623-DDU is such a great machine, PLEASE, for the love of all that is right and just --> put XP or Windows 7 on this fine machine!

PS - you will need to install a Core 2 Duo such as T7200, T7400 or T7600 to actually utilize the 64 bit versions of Windows 7 or yuk Vista!

PS - An Ultimate version is not necessary, Windows 7 Home Premium or Pro is miles ahead of buggy slow Vista

I have essentially the same machine and I dual boot XP and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

the other thing you will want to do is get Zender's BIOS v2.25 so that all of the Verizon cards and other locked out goodies will work!

[taichi]

wild_bill:

My first entry was wrong. It's Vista 32 Ultimate.
I think I would be more tempted by 7 than XP, though I have a retail copy of XP Pro.

What about heat with a cpu upgrade...to a 7600 for example? Right now I never feel heat from my machine.

I believe I have the Boe Hydis given it's early 2006 manufacture. It's the most pleasant computer screen I've ever seen. The colors are beautifully colorful.

Funny how no one answered my thread about games on the T60P. Certainly there are those among the sober coterie of Thinkpadders that play the occasional game. Even Einstein played shuffleboard. (I made this last bit up.)

taichi

[Crunch]

Hey, you guys are getting me psyched at the fact that I still have my T60p (2007-94u) with an AFFS S-IPS Flexview display (extra bright, extra sturdy, even more accurate colors ) and I did the upgrade to the T7600, along with an Atheros 802.11n WiFi card. I was using an SSD in that bad boy to boot. That was a fun, and there were quite a few people from this community helping me with it, too. I might get to use it soon, too, because I am going to sell my last W700 so as not to lose any money with the new W701's imminent release. I have one buyer lined up for next weekend. That would be perfect timing. Another one would buy it to-day...

Decisions, decisions...Maybe you can push me into the "right direction" lol...It will run fairly hot if you put a T7400 or T7600 in, by the way. I bought a separate fan which the T60p sat on top of for better cooling of the CPU, and, often times running even hotter than the processor was the ATI FireGL V5200 GPU. I'd love to help if I can.

[Turboqueef]

Hey, you guys are getting me psyched at the fact that I still have my T60p (2007-94u) with an AFFS S-IPS Flexview display (extra bright, extra sturdy, even more accurate colors ) and I did the upgrade to the T7600, along with an Atheros 802.11n WiFi card. I was using an SSD in that bad boy to boot. That was a fun, and there were quite a few people from this community helping me with it, too. I might get to use it soon, too, because I am going to sell my last W700 so as not to lose any money with the new W701's imminent release. I have one buyer lined up for next weekend. That would be perfect timing. Another one would buy it to-day...

Decisions, decisions...Maybe you can push me into the "right direction" lol...It will run fairly hot if you put a T7400 or T7600 in, by the way. I bought a separate fan which the T60p sat on top of for better cooling of the CPU, and, often times running even hotter than the processor was the ATI FireGL V5200 GPU. I'd love to help if I can.

Hi Crunch,

I also upgraded from T2500 to T7600. I did not notice the CPU or GPU running any hotter. I wonder what kind of idle temps you experience with your set up.

My experience after running the T7600 for over a month now is it does not cause any adverse impacts to the system.

To compare the two processors, I subjected the system to what I consider a healthy torture. I rendered 20 minutes of HD video to Blu-ray DVD.

The T2500 had performed this task many times in the past with no over heat failure. The temp would get up to 100C at peak but min was 88C.

The T7600 performed the task with similar results (max was 98C min 88C)

Yesterday, I ran Prime95 torture test. I ran it for 6 min with zero warnings. I ended up turning it off after 6min because it really seems to want to work until it crashes the system (was turning off the fan and demanding operation of the CPU..)

Performance impact; T2500 vs T7600 using Performance Test 7.0
Passmark Rating
T2500: 635.8
T7600: 835.5

Click the link for a .jpg showing the detail of this test: http://n8rws.com/T2500%20vs%20T7600.jpg

I am very happy with this upgrade, it provided a marked improvement in performance and I get to keep my Felxview screen (was considering notebook upgrade)

[Crunch]

PS - An Ultimate version is not necessary, Windows 7 Home Premium or Pro is miles ahead of buggy slow Vista!

What do you mean it's not "necessary". Win 7 Ultimate has BitLocker encryption, which has been much improved by Microsoft since Vista. Some people may very well consider that to be a necessity for them. Windows 7's BitLocker also adds BitLocker To Go for portable storage devices, such as USB drives.

I, for one, use BitLocker all the time. Only Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise have BitLocker in Win 7.