Upgrading CPU In R61e

Thanks for the kind words. I hope the guide helps you when you replace that CPU. The Penryns are making their way to the open market and one of those would be a great choice. Not planning on dual booting the laptop atthis time as i need it for my business.

 

Upgraded today with no problems. The only strange thing is that the T7300 CPU goes from time to time to 47-48 degrees Celsius, specially right after I turn on the laptop. The T5250 didn't go above 43-44.

I can't consider it a problem (yet) because it does go right back to 39-40 when I browse the internet and I must allow Arctic Silver Ceramique to settle in a little.

All runs very smooth. Next step: 7200 HDD.

I post some pictures with the screws that need to be removed for the speakers bezel to come out. There are some other screws to be removed, but Merc14 uploaded those pictures already.


I just opened CPU-Z and I don't like what I see there: CPU FSB 800, Memory Freq. 667 MHz. Anyone knows why that is? I know it should be 800 MHz CPU and memory. I bought a PC-6400 2x2GB memory about 2-3 weeks ago. Could it be that I have 4 GB installed on a 32 bit Vista?

 

Lao-
I had the exact thing thing happen and being a watercooling addict on my desktops I was disturbed. However, the T7300 has a Tj temp of 100c. Tj is T Junction and is the limit for the Cores at which temperature the diode inside each core will tell the system to shut down. The system doesn't react till about 85c and then it gets interested. About 90c it will start thinking about slowing down and at 95 c it probably will. At 100c (you have to use Coretemp to see the real temps on the individual CPU's or cores) it will shut down. So, don't worry about it. Let the rig run and adjust to the temperature as it sees fit. Mine has gotten to 70c and I was damn near in a panic but I was thinking from a watercooling geeks perspective.

BTW, there is no rhyme nor reason to how the cooler reacts and there is no program that I have found that will turn the fan on 100% all the time but until you see mid 80's or low 90's don't worry about it. The chip is fine. It isn't even close to overheating. These lappies are a different breed. You are fine and the system is operating very well and is well within its parameters. Remeber you have a lot more transistors, about twice as many, working so the heat will definitely go up. My big concern was whether the cooler was designed for the hotter chip. After a couple of weeks I am sure the system can handle this CPU and a lot more.

The RAM will only run at 667. It is the chipset. Your system is doing exactly what it is supposed to/capable of and your temps are actually very good. 800 FSB is what you want to see and 667 on the memory is the best you will get. That's why I bought DDR2-667 Value Select RAM. Yeah, i to wish we had more control at the BIOS level but what can you do.

Congrats on a successful upgrade and enjoy the performance. Forget the temps, these are lappies and have their own program. BTW, the 7200RPM drive with 16MB cache (SATA 150) is huge. SATA 300 isn't worth the 16MB cache you can get on the SATA 150. Go for it, you'll be amazed at the increase in performance

 

Right now it's alright with the temp. It sits between 40 and 47 Celsius.

If I only knew earlier that the memory chip isn't capable of 800 MHz I wouldn't have bought the 4 Gigs of 800 MHz PQI. Anyway, I still have the old ram I have to sell. The PQI I'm currently using has 15-5-5-4 times, the old memory had 15-5-5-5.

Thanks for replying.

Later Edit: This thread should become "ThinkPad R61 mods" and we should write here about all modifications that we make.

I was browsing the Parts Guide (PDF format) and I saw the Bluetooth BDC-2 card. Instantly I was thinking if it's possible to add it to my laptop. You can find new cards on eBay at 20-25$. So, I found myself opening the LCD bezel to see if I have the proper cable with the bluetooth plug on it. Well, guess what! I don't have it. (
So, no bluetooth for me. But maybe you can check it out if you're interested in it.

 

Lao-
Maybe you should sell the 800 RAM and go back to the 667. With the cash you can get the 7200RPM drive, which is a surprisingly good upgrade, and will give an impressive performance boost. The 800 stuff is doing you very little good for the amount of money spent and it would just about cover the cost of a 100GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA150 drive (go for the extra cache rather than the SATA300 speed)

 

I might swap the Lenovo for a Dell with 8600M GT video card, so right now I'm waiting to see how it turns out for me.