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    T61 motherboard downgrade

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by srps, Jul 8, 2008.

  1. srps

    srps Newbie

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    I received a T61 with nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M graphics card. Coming from T40 which gave 5+ hrs of battery life, I am not even getting 2 1/2 hrs battery life on T61 even with extended battery.

    Is it possible to downgrade the motherboard on this to one with integrated graphics?
     
    srps, Jul 8, 2008
    #1
  2. Fade To Black

    Fade To Black The Bad Ass

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    I don't think that's normal. How's the CPU load?
     
    Fade To Black, Jul 8, 2008
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  3. elfroggo

    elfroggo Notebook Evangelist

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    No, you can't feasibly "downgrade" the motherboard.

    Best bet is to either return and get a different laptop or figure out what's wrong with yours because 2.5 hours with extended battery isn't normal.
     
    elfroggo, Jul 8, 2008
    #3
  4. batman5315

    batman5315 Notebook Evangelist

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    what i get

    3 hours on 6 cell (before undervolting, havent tested it since)
    4 hours on 7 cell (before undervolting, havent tested it since)

    (both with screen dimmed to 1 bar, wifi on, light useage)

    i have t7500 and nvidia 140m
     
    batman5315, Jul 8, 2008
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  5. millermagic

    millermagic Rockin the pinktop

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    I'd give drivers from laptopvideo2go.com. Get a set of drivers that supports overclocking (and underclocking) and underclock the card.

    What screen do you have? 1280x800 or higher? That's one thing I noticed that will take away battery life.
     
    millermagic, Jul 8, 2008
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  6. Arki

    Arki Super Moderator

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    That sounds about normal. I have the 7-cell and I get just a bit over 4 hours using my own power profile.
     
    Arki, Jul 8, 2008
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  7. srps

    srps Newbie

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    I have 1440X900 screen. I generally keep my screen at 12 to 13 bars (out of 15) when on battery.

    I think the T61 screen is much brighter than T40 screen. May be that explains the short battery life. Plus my T40 has 9 cell battery, where as T61 has only 7cell battery.

    I like T61 (especially the brighter screen), but the nVIDIA card is somthing I could do without.

    I will try underclocking card and see if that helps.

    Thanks for the replies.
     
    srps, Jul 8, 2008
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  8. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

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    Paging Neonlazer to thread 270280 paging Neonlazer :p
     
    dietcokefiend, Jul 8, 2008
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  9. neonlazer

    neonlazer Notebook Evangelist

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    :p Kevin..your such a nut!

    I sort of recently fried my T61's motherboard w/ NVS 140M and decided i would switch to the motherboard with X3100 integrated. So yes you can change it, though i think it might void the warranty as well lol..but you can do it. Taking it apart was fun as pie too! Ending up adding like a hour to battery life which i wanted :D
    [​IMG]
     
    neonlazer, Jul 8, 2008
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  10. lemm4

    lemm4 Notebook Guru

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    lol I want to do the exact same thing... I called Lenovo Reps and they told me unfortunately that they were unable to replace it for me under warranty... so if you have a 7662-cto.. you get a 7662-cto mainboard... cant go down to 7661 or something... which kinda sucks and doesnt make sense becuz the x3100 mainboard is much cheaper then the nvs 140m mainboard...

    how much did you pay for the x3100 and where did you get the mainboard? thanks...

    Nvm... i saw your earlier post on the topic... $360... wowzers....


    which fru did you get?
     
    lemm4, Jul 18, 2008
    #10