T42 to T43 motherboard upgrade & overclock -- DONE, tips

[yaygabe]

friends,

just completed dropping a T43 motherboard in a T42 chassis (i had the same problem we all get after a while re: graphics chip, was killing me, wouldn't boot after a while. well documented in the forums).

just thought i'd share my experience. this forum was 100% amazing resource, without it i wouldn't even have attempted it. btw this will definitely void your warrantee. i had been using mine for about 3 years before this, and hope to keep using it for another 3 years..

acquired components added/used

• 1 new t43 motherboard
  2 1gb sticks kingston ram
  1 tube rubbing alcohol
  1 speaker wire
  1 pair pliers
  1 tube arctic silver 5
  1 new PCMCIA card assembly for T43 motherboard

old components used

• 1 1.7ghz dothan 400mhz FSB 2MB cache
  everything but the motherboard on the t42, including bluetooth chip, excluding PCMCIA card assembly

before and after

• 1.7ghz dothan, radeon 9600/64, 1gb ram, unstable (motherboard problems)
  to
  2.26ghz dothan 533mhz FSB 2MB cache (overclocked), radeon X300/64, 2gb ram (stable)

steps

• 1. replace motherboard, install new PCMCIA controller part (1 piece)
  - this is the easy part
  
  2. overclock
  - see these guides on how to do it.
  - http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=452126
  - this one is most helpful.
  - http://www.notebookforums.com/thread114523.html
  - http://laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=35
  - i added a wire to overclock to 2.26GHZ, added a wire to overvolt to 1.404 volt (0.64 more than stock). use the pliers to slice out some wire to do it. 1 strand contained in std speaker wire works OK, mine was copper.
  - use the first guide's attached excel spreadsheets to make sure you don't screw up anything during the overvolt.
  
  3. add AS5
  - use rubbing alcohol to clean bottom of heatsink/fan, top of CPU & GPU. remove pink pad from under heatsink (above GPU).
  - apply an extremely thin layer of AS5 to center of top of CPU and top half of GPU. See AS5 website on how to do this. I used a the platic bag + finger approach, seems to have worked fine.
  
  4. profit
  - 2.26 ghz is nice, don't need anything double-core for now...

caveats

• 1. can't actually run at 2.26ghz all the time.
  - machine runs too hot.
  - download Notebook Hardware Control to see what you can do about this. Set it to use fastest when you need it, slower when you don't.
  - download the thinkpad fan control app from these forums to keep from having the super fast fan problem all T43 people have.
  - mine runs at about 45C idle @ 800 and 80C load @ 2.26 ghz which is basically too hot for long periods of time. still OK for a few minutes/seconds, which is useful anyway.
  
  2. could be risky
  - if you screw it up, this could be risky, could blow up various things including parts of your body. hacker beware.
  
  3. you might be unstable after the overclock
  - can be corrected by adding voltage (see first link above regarding how to do this, it's a hardware hack)
  - use some software called "prime 95" to test for stability after the OC. it is 100% accurate, do the 'torture tests'
  - you can use Notebook Hardware Control to throttle your chip to the next-to-fastest setting in the meantime while you build up the courage to crack your machine open and hack the voltage again
  
  4. a note on drivers
  - all T43 drivers from IBM website worked OK for me.
  - do NOT try to install the 'UNKNOWN DEVICE' which will come up. it is a MS 'Trusted Platform Module' has something do to with security. your machine will freeze during the driver install, because this setup obviously isn't a standard setup which MS/IBM authorized.
  - you might get some weird bluescreen before hibernate restart sometimes regarding ACPI BIOS security or whatever. delete the hibernate and it will be fine. I get this <10% of the time, and only after i have screwed with the bios immediately before.
  
  5. other general notes
  - very fast machine after it's all said and done. not for gaming though (your machine will melt -- i suspect -- with 80-85C load temps. other people have had lower temps than me though, your mileage may vary).
  - the tech who i spoke to said the quality of the T60/T61 sucks compared to the T40 series and he has repaired a bunch of them already. another reason to keep ol' bessie around for another 3 years.
  - i run 2 hard drives (1 in ultrabay), no problems there.
  - this should be possible with all 400MHZ 2MB cache dothans. see other websites posted above regarding those possibilties.
  - you will need the T43 new PCMCIA card assembly (1 piece) at hand before the install. otherwise you will get NO BOOT!

happy hacking
will try to be around to reply to questions. but in actuallity the main reason i did this hack is to avoid wasting a ton of time on a new machine/new installs....still running OK a week or so later, no problems. cheers p.s. i added a poll for pointless overgeneralization regarding this project

edit -- some things i forgot to mention
- you don't HAVE to overclock your 400MHZ dothan, but it's no fun if you dont
- i have NO IDEA where to find parts. i am not in the US currently so it is easier/harder than where you may be at this time.

cheers again

[ulrich.von.lich]

mine runs at about 45C idle @ 800 and 80C load @ 2.26 ghz which is basically too hot for long periods of time.

That looks pretty normal to me. My T43 with an unoverclocked PM 2.0Ghz runs close to those temperatures. You have just turned your old T42 into a T43 so forget about how cool your T42 was.

2.26Ghz is not too high to be dangerous. If I remember right, you can find some PM 2.66Ghz CPUs (called PM 780X?) out there, which are officially overclocked by Alienware. But it might be dangerous to put such a CPU into a T43 chassis. (I'd like to try it when the price of PM 755 goes down.) I'd still suggest you to monitor your T43 for a couple of days.

The TPM driver can be found on Lenovo's site.

Good job and thanks for sharing your experience!

Btw, how did you get the X300 overclocked?

[yaygabe]

ulrich,

sorry for the misleading parenthesis -- didn't overclock the x300.

am able to run at 2.26 stable, about 60C, as long as it isn't consistently full-load, it's OK.

Are you serious about the temps for the stock machines being similar? 80C is quite hot (prime95 stress tests, 5-10 mins in) and i'm not even using the graphics chip -- i would think somehting running that hot as a stock machine would burn up pretty quick...comments??
thx

[FTC]

Hi,

Yes, 80C for a dothan core running at 2.26GHz in a T4x design is not *that bad*. It could be improved, but can be handled by the machine / processor long term without worries. I've had a 1.5 processor (banias) running at this temp 24x7 (folding) before dor almost a full year without problems.
In any case it really does feel hot this temp. If you reapply the thermal interface material better and play with fan settings you may still have some margin, but keep in mind that 90C is the temp at which the processor starts throttling, (reducing frequency to do some soft cooling), and 100C is the shutdown temp. So 80C is *still* safe, even if on the high side.

[ulrich.von.lich]

80C is not too hot for a T43 when doing intensive graphic tasks. I've seen the temperature went around 85C. Although playing hardcore games on your lap would get a little uncomfortable sometimes, it doens't really bother me for the most of time. And I've never experienced any heat problem for the past two years.

How hot T43 vs T42

You should be glad you didn't pick up a T43p motherboard if you think 80C is already quite hot

[yaygabe]

wow, yeah seems weird

then let me rephrase -- the overclock was a total success

X300 seems like a downgrade from the 9600 given the heat boost, but then again, has anyone had the same problems with the T43 motherboard as the T42 motherboard (e.g. black screen upon moving/touching computer due to graphics chip)?

any insights on this? according to what ive seen NO T43 motherboards have had the same problem...

[yaygabe]

guys please need some help,

i usually use a 2nd HD in ultrabay, seems no problem here.

However, taking my DVD-ROM from my old T42 and trying to put it in the ultrabay, the computer won't recognize it.

I've tried putting the DVDRW in when the computer is off, when its in windows, etc, no luck..

please advise!!

thanks!!!

CDROM part: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55186 (does not list T43 as a compatible system, but it fits fine..., 73P3294/92P6110)

T42 page for old comp: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50076

T43 page for new comp: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62332

does this mean I need a new CDROM/DVDRW?

[gunston]

well,
what i can say is that, hope you enjoy the upgrading process.

and it doesn't make much different in the performance wise, but T43 motherboard and CPU do consume more more than T42.

because i am owning a T43 and my GF is using T42 (ATI9600, SXGA+) , performance is roughly the same for simple word processing, net surfing, and etc.

and the good thing for T42 is, the battery last longer, which means i enjoy using her T42 without needed to bring out the adaptor.
Just barely the 6cells and 9cells batteries are enough for me to last for almost 10hrs a day.

[ulrich.von.lich]

However, taking my DVD-ROM from my old T42 and trying to put it in the ultrabay, the computer won't recognize it.

I think all ultrabay slim devices are interchangeable.

Is it a CDRW/DVD Combo drive or a DVDRW drive? Does it respond at all when you put it into the ultrabay? Did you see the green LED flashing? Can it be recognized in BIOS?

[SteveS]

old components used

1 1.7ghz dothan 400mhz FSB 2MB cache
everything but the motherboard on the t42, including bluetooth chip, excluding PCMCIA card assembly

You mentioned that you used the same Bluetooth chip?
I thought the T43 used a new model model/Bluetooth assembly than the other Tr0 series.
I tried an update from a T41p > T43 SXGA+ and got a BIOS unrecognized hardware error. Replaced the Bluetooth/modem board with a 39T0024 from e-bay and the error went away.

[yaygabe]

However, taking my DVD-ROM from my old T42 and trying to put it in the ultrabay, the computer won't recognize it.

I think all ultrabay slim devices are interchangeable.

Is it a CDRW/DVD Combo drive or a DVDRW drive? Does it respond at all when you put it into the ultrabay? Did you see the green LED flashing? Can it be recognized in BIOS?

thanks for the help..

(1) green light on the drive blinks like its ready to go, seems to be loading, but is never recognized.
- to test, tried the F12 bios boot menu a bunch of times, never saw CDROM drive
- never seen in windows as a drive

(2) green LED is absolutely flashing, probably not a bad drive
- tried a regular DVD and a blank DVD, no dice either way

let me know please....

[DarkMark]

I had exactly the same problem as you about half a year ago on a half year old T43p. Prior to it breaking I had only taken it out once and used it maybe 10 times.

I never found a solution and IBM just replaced it on warranty without asking any questions, so I'm afraid your drive is probably broken.

If you haven't got warranty on it anymore you could try what was suggested to me by another forum member: reseating the ribbon cable for the motor.

[Brad]

If at all possible can you try your drive in another ThinkPad?

This will eliminate a few possiblities.

Brad