SSD Upgrade for T60p How-to? Need suggestions

[thdanh90]

Hi everyone,

I've come to acquire a used T60p with the following specs:
T7200
3GB DDR2
FireGL v5200
100 GB HDD (I think it's Hitachi Travelstar 7200 rpm)
SXGA+ screen

And I wish to upgrade it with an SSD. Here is my plan. Please leave feedback if you find any wrong.
- Buy a SATA Ultrabay Slim HDD Caddy (like this one）
- Buy a SATA II SSD (haven't decided on a brand name yet, could possibly go for Intel if I can get some discount)
- Remove the Hitachi HDD and replace it with the SSD
- Install Windows 7 32-bit and essential software/firmware
- Remove the optical drive from the Ultrabay
- Insert the Hitachi HDD and the caddy to the Ultrabay
- Enjoy

I searched the forum and saw some members have succeeded in upgrading to SSD, yet I found no specific instruction for this; hence, this thread.

I also saw a thread with similar intention but for T42 (http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=94452) and the OP suggested the 'CF to 44 pin 2.5" IDE' which I quite don't understand. Perhaps someone can enlighten me in this issue.

Thanks for reading.

[garnet]

That is a good plan.
If you need to keep your old OS and installed software, you can follow this
http://thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=94795
otherwise go for your plan.

[Johan]

@ thdanh90:

Welcome to the forum!

As to your question (and in contrast to your belief!), there are actually lots of posts on this forum discussing how to upgrade T60/p's with SSD's... see e.g. the thread Can't install Windows 7. Driver missing for GSA-4083N-(PM) and see the post referenced to therein. The forum.thinkpads.com search script by forum moderator HarryC will serve you well in this project.

My suggestion: Take the step and upgrade to Windows 7. With respect to the SSD brand, I am personally very satisfied with the Intel X25-M's... try Google around for user/buyer feedback (e.g. on Newegg and/or Amazon). If getting an Intel X25-M, remember to get the 2nd generation (34 nm devices) with a "G2" in the part number, since the earlier 1st generation (50 nm technology) does not support TRIM.

As to the "CF to 44 pin 2.5" IDE'" thread you mention it is not relevant in respect to T60's (and in any case, what you need to know about this issue is already posted in the thread you link to).

The SATA Ultrabay Slim HDD Caddy you link to is fine and will serve you well. Alternatively, see this post for another option.

Final issue; Grab the ThinkPad Fan Control utility for your T60p... more info in the sticky Thinkpad Fan Noise Problem: Light at the End of the Tunnel (I'd suggest that you start reading from the last posts).

Johan

[thdanh90]

Thank you very much for your kind guidance, garnet and Johan.
I'll wait a bit until my parts arrive and will update this thread with my progress.
With regard to Intel SSD, would it be advisable to get G3 in lieu of G2 drive? Like the Intel 320 series? (though the laptop won't benefit much from the difference, as I understand)

[Johan]

With regard to Intel SSD, would it be advisable to get G3 in lieu of G2 drive? Like the Intel 320 series? (though the laptop won't benefit much from the difference, as I understand)

There is no point in getting a very fast SSD for use in a T60, since the T60's are limited to run at SATA-I or SATA-150 speeds (1.5 Gb/s). So, any SSD capable of running SATA-I will do fine... and e.g. the Intel X25-M wil run at SATA-II or SATA-300 (3 Gb/s), so that's fine. The newer Intel SSD's, such as the G3 mentioned in the thread Intel SSD 510 "Emcrest" with 6 Gbps SATA interface launched won't bring you any benefit in terms of speed, compared to the X25-M, if used in a T60. If you however consider upgrading your T60 to a newer laptop sometime down the road (in the more or less distant future), you might at that point benefit from having a very fast SSD which you can then re-use in a newer, faster laptop, capable of taking full advantage of e.g. SATA-600.

If getting an Intel X25-M (remenber: A 2nd generation, G2 device!), be sure to get the free Intel SSD Toolbox.

Just for your ThinkPad-education I'd like to mention that T61's were limited to SATA-I speeds owing to a company-decision by Lenovo (although their chipset support SATA-II) but a very clever ThinkPad'er has developed a patch which will enable SATA-II speeds in e.g. T61's; see the thread SATA-II BIOS patch for T61/T61p and X61/X61s (X61t coming). There will unfortunately not be any such patch for T60's.

Final thing - about "older" (e.g. x25-M's) versus newer SSD's: Technology has "shrinked" SSD's from using 50 nm (Intel X25-M G1) via 34 nm (X25-M G2 and the G3/510 series) to now 25 nm technology (the Intel 320 series) and I recell having seen some speculation about the long-term reliabiliyty with e.g. 25 nm devices against 34 nmn devices. Try Google around for yourself and see if there are any comments that rest on knowledge and not pure speculation?

Johan