[ltp] T60p hardware hacking (screen upgrade success; CPU query)

[Robert Tomsick]

On Mon, 2011-05-09 at 19:55 +0100, Richard Neill wrote:
> Dear All,
> 
> My T60p's excellent 1600x1200 15" LCD has finally died (the backlight 
> goes out after a few minutes), so I took the opportunity to upgrade it 
> to QXGA, as per [1]. I can report success with the IAQX10N panel - the 
> panel worked immediately within Ubuntu, though I had to reflash the EDID 
> (with i2cset) before the BIOS could display to it. It was remarkably 
> easy to do! I've updated thinkwiki with this info.

Good to know that there's a Linux-friendly way of EDID flashing for
those of us who don't want to fork out for PowerStrip.  

Do you have a link to the page where you explain how to do the
reflashing?

> Given that the machine now has a new display, and already has an SSD, 
> I'm wondering whether to upgrade the CPU from Core Duo (T2600) to Core 2 
> Duo (T7600). Has anyone any experience with this? Google suggests it 
> will work, but warns about increased max temperature. Will it just be 
> hotter when running flat out, or will it also be hotter (and consume 
> more power) when idle?

The T7600 is, IIRC, the fastest CPU that will work in the T60-series
planar.  The T7200 is almost always available for a lot less money
though, and its performance isn't too far from that of the T7600.  Both
are vastly superior to the Core Duo series chips.

When I upgraded my T60 from a Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo (T7200), I saw a
slight *reduction* in temperatures -- but that may just have been due to
replacement of the thermal paste and cleaning of the fan (both of which
were done at the same time.)  Obviously YMMV...

> Also, does this make the machine fully 64-bit capable? i.e.
>    - can I run a 64-bit OS, or does the chipset still constrain it?
>    - will it see all 4GB of RAM, rather than the current 3023 MB?
>    - can I usefully fit 8GB of RAM?

Yes and no.

Yes the machine will be 64-bit capable, and yes you can run a 64-bit
kernel/userland, but no, you will not be able to use more than 3 GB of
RAM.  The 3 GB limitation of the T60 series is a chipset limitation, not
a CPU one -- there is nothing you can do to circumvent this.

> P.S. Does anyone have a recommendation for what to do with the old panel?

If the backlight contains mercury, dispose of it at your local
recycling/hazardous waste repository.

-Rob