Who has 4 gigs of RAM in their T61P?

I ran Speedfan while playing UT2004 and got the temperatures before the laptop turned off:

UT2004:
HDD: 35C (= 95F)
ACPI: 55C (= 131F)
Core 1: 45C (= 113F)
Core 2: 45C (= 113F)
GPU: 70C (= 158F)

Idle:
HDD: 30C (= 86F)
ACPI: 50C (= 122F)
Core 1: 29C (= 84F)
Core 2: 29C (= 84F)
GPU: 55C (= 131F)

Altough the GPU temperature is pretty high when working, I dont think that this is the problem, since other games like UT3 and Bioshock run fine even over a long period. So it has to be something with the BIOS or just UT2004.
The other thing that confuses me is that the laptop totally turns off (no LEDs are burning anymore, not even the battery or the LED for the connected AC adapter) and I have to remove the AC supply and the battery in order to turn on again. So I'm more guessing its a hardware problem.

 

I apologize if this has already been posted (and if this is still a question), but MS has info on their website about 64-bit versions of Vista. If an OEM Vista was purchased with only 32-bit support, MS will supply 64-bit media (shipping charges apply I believe).

Go here and scroll to the bottom of the page to get the new media...

 

Hi.

wanted to add here that I have the same 4GB problem as every one else has on their T61p and I have an HP 8510w that's like 3 weeks old. Very disappointed.

Simon

 

I go random shutdowns with 2 dimms installed, factory 2x512 and 2x2gb gskill. Sucks. Called Lenovo today and they will be sending me a box on Monday so I can get a mobo swap

 

I have 2x2GB of gSkill with 4-4-4-12 timings.

No problems at all.

I received my T61p at the end of Feb 2008. Maby the problem was fixed by then.

 

so, is this problem hardware or software related? I want to order a T61p with 4GB of ram, but plan on running 64bit Linux

 

The problem has not been fixed yet. But, not all machines have the issue. Most machines are ok. I have the problem and I got mine in February as well. Also there is a thread in the Lenovo forums that is following the issue and hoping for some kind of fix. The general consensus is that this is fixable but no one knows if it is fixable by software or if the machine will have to go in for repair.

zachtib, from reading threads it sounds like the issue affects all types of OS including Linux.

That is one of the reasons why many people think it's a hardware or BIOS issue. People who got their machines fixed sent theirs in for a motherboard replacement.

 

hmmm... that sucks...

I need a laptop that fulfills the following...

1) Powerful CPU with Intel's VT tech
2) Lots of RAM

All for virtualization

It's a shame that the T61p seems to be having these issues...

I'd like to stick with Thinkpads because I've used them in the past, plus I get an employee discount...

 

I'm almost sure this is not a software issue as many have said. Unless you count the bios as software I guess. I had the same trouble many of you have described. My t61p would cut off, completely like no LEDs or anything at high stress times. It happened when gaming most often, or any time it was in a very bad air flow situation. I found a temp fix by putting a pen under my 9 cell extended battery to elevate the back of the laptop slightly. This allowed for better air flow and worked %100 of the time. I could play COD4 on nearly full graphics np. Anyway, once I got back from college for the summer I started trying to fix it. Worked on a lot of things. Ended up sending it back to Lenovo. They replaced the fan, heat sink and updated the bios (I did not know they were going to mess with the bios, they did not tell me anything about that). Experience was great, had it back in 6 business days. DHL was godly as always. When I got it back I put it through hell to see what it could do. Put it on carpet for uber bad air flow and played COD4 on full for like 6 hrs, np at all. Ran performance tests and np there. I cant get it to cut off now. Anyway, thats whats up. It is not just 4 gigs of RAM or whatever, its the xtra heat it produces. Note, my laptop was stock when it was glitched, right out of the box. 2gigs of Lenovos 667 mhz ,100gb 7200rpm hdd, 2.4ghz c2duo processor. I recently upgraded to 4gigs of OCZ ram at 800mhz (even though Vista or mobo is slowing it down to 667 anyway) and a 320gb 5200rpm hdd. Got from Newegg, great stuff. hdd install was great, all perfect. RAM is only showing 2gigs right now, just started working on it though, not sure whats up yet. How did all of you ppl with 4gigs of RAM get it to show? Any tips? I know about the 32bit os thing, its not that, it should be showing like ~3.5gigs with 32bit Vista Ultimate. Going to try installing Ubuntu and see what that does, was gona do it anyway, might as well now. But yeah, its a heat thing not your RAM amount not your software or anything like that.

 

Make sure the DIMM is seated properly. It can be a very tight fit with some of these slots and its possible the 1 extra DIMM isn't installed properly.

Run PC Wizard 2008 (freeware) and look at the general info for Memory.
If both DIMMs are installed it should be indicated there (DIMM1 and DIMM2 being occupied). If not then time to breakout the trusty screwdriver.

 

I have 2x2GB Crucial with no problems for 3+ months

 

Just thought I would post an update on my T61p for scientific computing. This machine has been an incredible beast!!! I've got the 4GB configuration, and I haven't encountered any problems running matlab, python for days full bore. An additional bonus I discovered is that the nvidia 570M card supports CUDA, and plays quite nicely with MATLAB (accelereyes is the package I'm using), you can get some amazing performance out of this.

 

Saw some questions about 64 bit linux, I've got it running with the 4gb configuration and no problems to date. Though I haven't used wine to play any games yet.

 

Hellbore,

I've a Lenovo ThinkPad T61p that is identical to yours, except that mine comes with T9200 processor. Mine is Thinkpad T61P - 15.4" WSXGA+Nvidia Quadro FX 570M 256 - T9200 - 4 gigs RAM - 200 gig Hitachi 7200 RPM model 7k200 - 1GB Intel Turbo Memory.

A couple of days before, it hanged when resuming from a standby. When I reboot, it does not post. Just the the power and battery leds are on. No beeps, not screens, nothing at all.

The only "un-usual" thing that I did on the day it died, was that I undocked it while it was on. However, I ran that software that prepares it for undocking.


I've two questions:

1. Did you hear about this problem before?
2. Are there any situations (for example delaying its repair, or having the same problem after repairing it) at which I can get a refund for what I paid?

Yours,
MoW

 

I have 8 GB in mine, no issues.

 

wow how much did that cost, what brand?

 

I picked it up about a year ago, I think around $700. I don't recall the brand and CPU-Z isn't saying!

 

The brand makes no difference.

 

i have 8GB in my X61s.   it works just fine.   they're two OEM samsung modules.   you can get the same thing from g.skill through newegg for $270-ish for the pair.   they're the same modules but with g.skill stickers on them.

i paid about $270 for 4GB (2+2) two years ago.   moore's law seems to be working quite well.