[ltp] Next step up from an old R61... with led backlight
Bret Comstock Waldow
linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Mon, 07 Apr 2014 21:22:44 +1200
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Hello,
On 07/04/14 17:14, Ted Frater wrote:
> Had to move on like wise as the poster, and found here in the uk a
> nice ex corp Thinkpad (Lenovo) T61P with the WUXGA screen in order to
> get the core2 duo processor etc .
> Have read a lot on the unreliability of the Nvidia chip in these,
> because of the high temp they run at. Seems that with mint the cooling
> fan doesnt come on very often in 2 d work.
> Any suggestions on how i can monitor processor and v chip temps in
> mint?.
>From comments on the thinkpads Support Community website, the problem
with the NVidia chips in these machines are not due to heat. It was
apparently due to manufacturing processes used, and ceased when NVidia
changed their approach. You can't fix them by reflowing the boards, for
instance (although plenty of people will attempt to convince you to pay
them to do that).
You can read about this on the thinkpads.com Support Community
<http://forum.thinkpads.com> website, which is a very good resource
generally, including parts and modifications.
If your machine overheats (plenty of discussion of temperatures on the
site) rebuild or replace the fan and use better heat sink grease. Many
posts mention Arctic Silver 5, but Arctic themselves say their MX-4 or
later is better, and that is what I used. There is much discussion and
good photos describing what to do.
For the T61(p) machines, a few were made post August 2008 and these do
not have the NVidia failure problem. They are also rather scarce, but
there are members who sell them when they find them by going through
pallets of used Thinkpads. You can find them in the Marketplace
section. Occasionally an unused post August 2008 NVidia board surfaces,
and I have one of these.
The Intel boards have no problems.
I have two T60/61 Frankenpads, one with the Intel 965 graphics and one
with a post-08/2008 NVidia NV140m GPU. The NVidia machine runs OS X
Mavericks well (10.9.1). Both also have the LED backlit HV150UX2-100
1600x1200, IPS screen. The screens can be quite bright, and they are
drop-in replacements for the stock panels - but you must also get the
modified Inverter to match (which you can find out about in the web site
above). All the screen controls work, and the Thinklight as well, just
as if it was a stock machine.
My Frankenpads both have Penryn Core2Duo CPUs, 8G RAM, SATA2 from the
BIOS upgrade, and SSDs. I don't really see a reason to go beyond these
yet - the screens are gorgeous. But I don't like 16:9 screens.
Regards,
Bret
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Hello,<br>
<br>
On 07/04/14 17:14, Ted Frater wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:5342343E.1080906@virgin.net" type="cite">
Had to move on like wise as the poster, and found here in the uk
a nice ex corp Thinkpad (Lenovo) T61P with the WUXGA screen in
order to get the core2 duo processor etc .</blockquote>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:5342343E.1080906@virgin.net" type="cite">Have
read a lot on the unreliability of the Nvidia chip in these,
because of the high temp they run at. Seems that with mint the
cooling fan doesnt come on very often in 2 d work.
<br>
Any suggestions on how i can monitor processor and v chip temps
in mint?.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
From comments on the thinkpads Support Community website, the
problem with the NVidia chips in these machines are not due to
heat. It was apparently due to manufacturing processes used, and
ceased when NVidia changed their approach. You can't fix them by
reflowing the boards, for instance (although plenty of people will
attempt to convince you to pay them to do that).<br>
<br>
You can read about this on the <a href="http://forum.thinkpads.com">thinkpads.com
Support Community</a> website, which is a very good resource
generally, including parts and modifications.<br>
<br>
If your machine overheats (plenty of discussion of temperatures on
the site) rebuild or replace the fan and use better heat sink
grease. Many posts mention Arctic Silver 5, but Arctic themselves
say their MX-4 or later is better, and that is what I used. There
is much discussion and good photos describing what to do.<br>
<br>
For the T61(p) machines, a few were made post August 2008 and these
do not have the NVidia failure problem. They are also rather
scarce, but there are members who sell them when they find them by
going through pallets of used Thinkpads. You can find them in the
Marketplace section. Occasionally an unused post August 2008 NVidia
board surfaces, and I have one of these.<br>
<br>
The Intel boards have no problems.<br>
<br>
I have two T60/61 Frankenpads, one with the Intel 965 graphics and
one with a post-08/2008 NVidia NV140m GPU. The NVidia machine runs
OS X Mavericks well (10.9.1). Both also have the LED backlit
HV150UX2-100
1600x1200, IPS screen. The screens can be quite bright, and they
are drop-in replacements for the stock panels - but you must also
get the modified Inverter to match (which you can find out about in
the web site above). All the screen controls work, and the
Thinklight as well, just as if it was a stock machine.<br>
<br>
My Frankenpads both have Penryn Core2Duo CPUs, 8G RAM, SATA2 from
the BIOS upgrade, and SSDs. I don't really see a reason to go
beyond these yet - the screens are gorgeous. But I don't like 16:9
screens.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Bret<br>
<br>
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