R61 CPU upgrade

[TwigletZone]

Hi all, this is a kind of intruductory post as I am new here, it's quite nice to find a site and forum just for the support of the best laptops around, imho.

Any how, to the point, I have very recently resurected and old R61 type 8918, it was left gathering dust as 1GB Vista machine with a missing WiFi card and dead battery, but after a very minimal outlay its now a 6gb Win7 machine with wifi and working battery plus a new 120GB SSD. I was very surprised at how well this old machine performs, i feel it can hold its own still amoung some of the modern machines around its spec. I have since bout another very cheap R61 of ebay and got that going hapily to, but thats for another post.

But now to the point of the post, having read a few things around the internet I can see these machines seem to be the subject of various mods and upgrades, and I love the term "Frankenpad", mine wont go that far, maybe.... So, the proccessors in my two R61's are T7250's and I was thinking of dropping in T7800's instead as thsese should just plug and play, no need for any modified bios or any thing, am I correct in thinking this? And the only T7800's I can see around are designated as SLAF6, are these compatible with the R61's?

Any help would be very much appriciated, thanks.

[ajkula66]

T7700/7800 will run hot as hell in that machine.

Middleton's modded BIOS, a T8100/8300 and the world is your oyster especially for the fact that this will also enable your SSD to run at SATA II speeds along with a few other goodies.

[TwigletZone]

Hi, thanks for your input. The reason I was looking at a T7800 processor is that it's, as you know, the top spec Merom CPU and in theory should just drop in with no BIOS or any alteration.

The T8300 is, as you're aware, a Penryn CPU and for what I have gathered from other sources, not all motherbards will be compatible with its temp sensor and therfore will need the modified BIOS. Yes the modded BIOS sounds good, but I will admit I'm more than apprehensive to flash a twelve year old motherboard when its working fine at the moment. :O (Though to faster SATA speeds do sound appealing!). And if I were to go down the Penryn route, wouldn't a faster spec be better, like a T9300? as its closer to the 2.6Ghz i was looking at. Thanks again and appreciate any and all input.

PS, How do I identify my motherboards FRU number and how would I indetify if it is "Penryn compatible"? Thanks.

TwigletZone.

[RealBlackStuff]

When you look around the RAM-modules, there should be a sticker with the mobo FRU on it.
May be under the RAM-modules.
Both your mobos are suitable for Middleton's BIOS anyway.
Putting in a T9300 or T9500 is throwing money away, T8100 and especially T8300 are much more value for money.
But if you want bragging rights (and have money to burn) you could even put in an X9000.
You'd also then need a dGPU fan.

[TwigletZone]

When you look around the RAM-modules, there should be a sticker with the mobo FRU on it.
May be under the RAM-modules.

Ok, thankyou, I'll have a look a bit later, both macines are in use at the moment.

Both your mobos are suitable for Middleton's BIOS anyway.

Yep, I'm still terrified of the prospect though, twelve year old chip, will it take the reflash?

Putting in a T9300 or T9500 is throwing money away, T8100 and especially T8300 are much more value for money.
But if you want bragging rights (and have money to burn) you could even put in an X9000.
You'd also then need a dGPU fan.

Cost Vs Performance..... Hmm, here in the UK I can sorce T7700/T7800 and T8100/T8300 for less tha £20 each, so yes the T9x00 are a bit more, around £35 to £40 each, But still not hugely expensive. How hot would the T9x00's run?

And yes, if money no object a X9000 sound nice, but no not going this route as you mention some sort of cooling mod would be essential, plus the R61's aging graphics don't warrant to much money/time/effort on them. Just a decent boost will suffice.

[RealBlackStuff]

Without M's BIOS you cannot put in a Penryn CPU, it's that simple.
And you won't get SATA II speed.
And you won't get Slic2.1 in BIOS.
And you'll miss out on a few more goodies!
And that BIOS has been used multiple thousands of times, just follow the instructions.

[TwigletZone]

Well, I have bitten the bullet and intalled the Middleton's BIOS, and panic over it went fine.

Both machines perform exactly as before, and if there has been an increase in SATA performance it's not noticable, both were quick with the SSD's before and appear the same now in use.

So back to the CPU upgrades, I can source two T8300's for £11 (~$15) each, and if I go with them is there anything to look out for with the installs? And If I were to go with T9300's which I get at almost twice the price, (which is still ridiculously cheap compared to my desktops CPU!), will they run OK and at good temps?

Again, thanks for taking time, any help appreciated.

[RealBlackStuff]

No, just put them in correctly, tighten the screw that holds them, put on fresh thermal paste.

[ajkula66]

So back to the CPU upgrades, I can source two T8300's for £11 (~$15) each, and if I go with them is there anything to look out for with the installs?

I would take this route.

And If I were to go with T9300's which I get at almost twice the price, (which is still ridiculously cheap compared to my desktops CPU!), will they run OK and at good temps?

Again, thanks for taking time, any help appreciated.

Well, the cooling system on R61 is pretty shoddy so I'd stick with T8300. If you *really* must have a T9300/9500, you can upgrade to the heatsink from T61p but bear in mind that it's not a simple swap. I've been down that road once and it's honestly more trouble than it's worth IMO.

[TwigletZone]

Well, It's done! Both R61's now have T8300's in them. The installs went without a hitch. Both machines seem my happier and more settled running my normal apps and game now to, which is nice.

[RealBlackStuff]

Congrats.
Now that wasn't too hard, was it?

[posscakes]

I scored one of these out of my local ewaste bin the other day model 8918-5QG with T7100 cpu in it. I actually lucked out when i looked through my stuff i found a spare t7300 and a t9300 pulled from god only knows i can't remember and some spare ddr2 ram (same same good to keep these things you never know when you might use it). The t9300 didn't work initially (no video output) but the t7300 did. Anyway thanks to this and few other threads end up putting windows on it and getting middleton's bios loaded on it, then tried again with t9300 now working like a charm! Only weird thing to work out is this particular laptop has a euro keyboard QWERTZ so y&z swapped and the symbols are all over the place so trying to configure the keyboard layout is task to be sorted. Anyway i was thinking installing haiku OS on it eventually and using it to play around with that. Anyway new journey in ancient thinkpad land its always fun.

[RealBlackStuff]

QWERTZ sounds like a German or Swiss-German keyboard layout.

[posscakes]

QWERTZ sounds like a German or Swiss-German keyboard layout.

Yeah they are too. This one is Serbian, Bosnian or something... Serbian (Latin) keymap seems to work for the most part. Obviously ( Latin) being the critical bit (Cyrillic) gives you a different character set. I already made that mistake haha.