T61 with NVS 140M discrete graphics (known defective) coming up on 5 years...

I'm probably going to jinx myself now, but my T61 with the known defective NVS 140M discrete graphics is coming up on 5 years, but is still running flawlessly.

Admittedly, I haven't played any games on it in at least 3 years now, although I regularly watch 1080p videos on YouTube. Checking GPU-Z and HW Monitor, temperatures of the GPU range between 59 and 67 degrees Celsius, although it appears to primarily stick at 65 degrees.

What percentage of T61s with NVS 140Ms are known to have been produced with non-defective chips? Is there any way I can find out if there is a remote chance that I've got one of the few non-defective units? It's a 7662-CTO with a date of 08/02.

I have to say, this is the best laptop I've ever had and I will be very sad the day it fails. I've been considering getting a new laptop for the past few months, but just can't seem to justify a good reason to as my T61 still runs great and has ample power for today's applications and my needs.

My 7-cell Li-Ion battery died prematurely more than a year ago after only 64 cycles, which was disappointing. Today I decided to order a 9-cell battery as I want to regain the ability to go cordless.

 

Mine too has been running solid since June of 2008, pretty much daily use. Typing on it right now in fact. Graphics card running absolutely flawlessly. Mines a 7662-CTO as well. Running Windows 8.1 Pro.

I set tpfancontrol to Smart 7, CPU and GPU temps are usually in the 60-67 range and have been for the past 4 or so years that I've been running it.

Did a few upgrades and repairs over the years:

-upgraded to 4gb kingston hyperx in 2009 - $60
-fan finally went out so put in a new assembly , was taking it apart every 6 months and lubing the fan - 2011 - $25 ebay
-replaced ac adapter - 2011 - $10 ebay
-128gb crucial m4 ssd - 2012 - $109
-new 7 cell battery - 2012 - $15

Just noticed flickering on the left side of the screen the other day, counting the days till she dies I reckon... Wonder what a T440p would feel like in comparison

 

Nvidia started supplying "good" chips to Lenovo in early 2008, and the machines built from February to August of '08 have a mix of old and new GPUs, so they're a hit or miss. Units produces in 08/08 or later are deemed "safe".

There are many units with "known bad" GPU chips from '07 still running fine even now though...

That being said, my take on the whole *61 series nVidia bug is: use it and enjoy. If the board dies, there are several paths one can take, from using a planar with Intel graphics to moving to a newer machine...

My $0.02 only...

 

How is it now? Is the NVS 140M still going strong?

 

Replacement boards and complete machines are very cheap these days so the whole issue with the Nvidia isn't as catastrophic as it once was at least cost wise. Quick board swap and one is back in business.

 

Please tell me how/ where to find? I did some ebay searching but was unsuccessful.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...m.TRS0&_nkw=thinkpad+t61+motherboard&_sacat=0

Only took like 5 seconds to pull that up. Board swap takes anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours depending on ability.