T61s with nvidia nvs140m - not really a safe buy?

I used to have a Dell with an NVS quadro that upped and died after 2yrs.

Obviously by this point, everyone should be aware of the NV8400 issue.

There's a lot of very cheap T61s with high res. screens that would be good units if the video card didnt overheat and die due to the phase of the moon.

Would you guys avoid these flat out?

 

One word; yes.

Even after like August '08 when it was fixed, I would avoid all Nvidia Santa Rosa/Napa platform laptops, unless you enjoy dead laptops that artifact/don't POST.

 

yeah strange situation in that units with worse screens and less spec BUT with Intel X3100s sell for more money!

I love the T61 really, it has a soft spot in my heart along with T40s X61, X300s as I used to work at a Fortune 500 company where they only used these and they were dead easy to maintain and the Lenovo overnight repair was the best in the business,.

 

FWIW, you can swap an Intel board into a dead T61/p as long as the board comes from the machine of the same size, since you can't mix & match.

So if you're into high-resolution but not into gaming, a 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200) T61/p will be perfectly fine with a planar that sports X3100 graphics.

 

never had problem with my 140M, overclocked she runs for ~5 years, gaming on it heavily too of course

couple very important things to consider if you end up with laptop like that:
- use TPFanControl with the 64 setting to spin the fan to the max when temperatures reach past 65-70 deg C;
(I consider 80 deg C temp too high in that matter. Mine tops at ~76 or so at max load of both CPU+GPU, depending on the room conditions.)
- undervolt the CPU so that it will not add to the heat that is put on the heatsink;
- use Penryn CPU rather than older Merom. Those run faster and cooler.
- make sure you got thermal paste and not thermal pad between the GPU and the heatsink, as some early units shipped with pads (as far as I can remember).

IMO, the risky units to get are the T61p where the FX 570M GPU there would heat much more than the 140M. Therefore I would avoid T61p, not the T61 with the 140m. Consider 35 Watt GPU (the FX) in one vs. 10 Watt GPU in the other, and that vs. the ~13 Watt combined X3100 GPU/chipset for the Intel boards that are not having issues but are also more than twice slower (and software limited) than the 140m equipped T61.

good luck.

 

For every 1 person who I know who hasn't had an the Nvidia BGA issue, I've seen 20-30 people with it. Just because you are lucky (you maybe pushing your luck anyway), I wouldn't exactly propone that to everybody. I would still avoid any Nvidia laptops from 06-08 time period, even Intel HD 3000 Sandy Bridge is faster than 140M (based off G84M core, 8600M GT) and any SB i3/i5 is faster than a Core 2 Duo, so you would be better off with like a T420 which are fantastically cheap these days.

 

- 1st, I bet all things around me that you haven't seen 1:30 ratio of failed nVidia cards. That would mean almost every 140m card should have failed, which is not even close to the truth out there. Is there nVidia issue - yes, is it blown out of proportion - yes;
- 2nd, the information I gave is all that's needed to keep the 140m intact in most cases, considering the potential problems. While some people dont understand that there's a problem when a laptop gpu idles at ~75 deg C, there's those that can tell exactly what needs to be done. (the T61p cases).
- 3rd, feel free to avoid whatever you want. It's your opinion. That doesn't mean that everybody else should agree - after all I'm actual owner of the laptop in question (since 2007), I've seen what happens and I've managed to avoid all problems with great success while increased gpu performance substantially, thus I believe I can give adequate advice in such topic, which I did.
- 4th, are you really trying to compare 3 generations newer thinkpad to the one in question?
- 5th, "cheap" differs by a lot from person to person, so this is highly subjective term to bring into consideration.

but to sum up our argument based on the OPs question:
- would you avoid those laptops flat out? - seems like yes;
- would I avoid those laptops flat out? - no;

cheers.

 

I work in a computer repair shop, and yes I have probably seen nearly 1000+ laptops with the Nvidia BGA issue over 3 years. Why would I lie about the Nvidia defect? Just Google Nvidia laptop and I'm sure you'll find millions of hits. Denying a known issue IMO just doesn't make sense.

Have I had a laptop that was actually affected by the Nvidia BGA issue, no, but I also sold all my Nvidia laptops once I found out there was a massive defect.

Well like I said, personally I would not have anything to do with any Nvidia laptops, recommending a laptop that could potentially fail doesn't sleep well with me. Like I said yours hasn't failed, but I know plenty who have failed.

 

I'm about done building another FrankenPad utilizing a T61 Penryn board with NVS140M GPU, pulled out of a late 14" (4:3) unit...and would say this much:

a) If you *really* want - for whatever reason - a nVidia based T61/p, don't go for the cheap eBay "boots to BIOS" units. Source one from the original owner, or a trusted reseller. Yes, you'll pay more. But the peace of mind is priceless in my opinion.

b) These youngest amongst these laptops are in their fifth year right now - many a year older than that - and can realistically be expected to fail. It doesn't have to be a GPU-related problem. As long as you're at peace with the possible consequences of purchasing an old laptop, you should be OK.

c) Personally, I'd *never* buy a nVidia-based T61/p unless I knew the owner and his/hers user patterns. This approach has served me exceptionally well on several FrankenPad builds. Obviously, YMMV.

Good luck.

 

My T61p from 2007 is still going strong (for gaming, too). I have always run it with elevated temperatures, but with very very few cold/hot cycles, i.e. always on or just suspended.

I'd say a unit that has been used and survived until today is probably gonna live forever given the same usage pattern. And the keyboard and the 16:10 WUXGA screen is so worth the risk.