Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

T60 processor upgrade advice

T60/T61 Series
Post Reply
Message
Author
BootSectorVirus
Freshman Member
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:34 am
Location: Dallas, TX

T60 processor upgrade advice

#1 Post by BootSectorVirus » Mon May 21, 2012 2:08 pm

Planning on upgrading my T60-1952AP2 processor to a T7200, currently a T2400

I assume it is fairly straightforward as I have done some older Dell laptop cpu upgrades but never have done a Thinkpad.

Any advice on thermal paste, or should I use new thermal pads instead?

Any other issues to look out for?

TIA to all who answer.

EasyMac308
Freshman Member
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 5:20 pm
Location: Kent, WA

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#2 Post by EasyMac308 » Mon May 21, 2012 3:12 pm

I made the same upgrade and it certainly made things *seem* zippier at least. At the time I just cleaned off the existing heat transfer material and used a dab of normal heat sink compound (I'm not cool enough for Arctic Silver). I'm going on three years, I believe, no problems.
EasyMac308
MCITP: EDA, MCSE NT, MCSE 2000, A+
Work: Thinkpad T410 / i5-650 / 8GB / 500GB / Win7 Ent x64
Personal: T60 (4:3) / T7200 / 4GB / 500GB / Ubuntu 12.04 <scrap built>
Retired: 570E, T20, T21, T23, T30, T40, T42, T43

LASTGUY2GETPS2
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Brooklyn, New York

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#3 Post by LASTGUY2GETPS2 » Mon May 21, 2012 3:13 pm

It's a pretty easy upgrade to do. A couple of notes though:

1) After you install the new processor (make sure you are grounded and you don't bend the pins!), make sure you clean the top of the processor thoroughly with a lint free cloth (a coffee filter can work) and isopropyl alcohol. Make sure the alcohol evaporates before applying the thermal paste. Make sure you clean the corresponding portion of the heatsink/fan too

2) Regarding the thermal paste, in this case less is more. Artic Silver 5 works nicely, You want to use an amount that resembles an uncooked grain of rice. Spread it over the core evenly with an old credit card.

While your computer is apart, you may want to opt for a T61 fan if you can find one that fits in your computer (~$15). It's quieter and I've found that my machine runs cooler with it.

The thermal pads I believe only contact the GPU and Chipset. If they are in good condition, you shouldn't have to change them...

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23812
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon May 21, 2012 3:15 pm

All you need is some Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) thermal paste for the CPU. Clean off the old gunk with isopropyl alcohol (91%).
If there is a thermal pad between fan and GPU, and it is still OK, reuse that or replace it, it's not critical for an Intel GPU.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

BootSectorVirus
Freshman Member
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:34 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#5 Post by BootSectorVirus » Mon May 21, 2012 4:18 pm

LASTGUY2GETPS2 wrote:It's a pretty easy upgrade to do. A couple of notes though:

1) After you install the new processor (make sure you are grounded and you don't bend the pins!), make sure you clean the top of the processor thoroughly with a lint free cloth (a coffee filter can work) and isopropyl alcohol. Make sure the alcohol evaporates before applying the thermal paste. Make sure you clean the corresponding portion of the heatsink/fan too

2) Regarding the thermal paste, in this case less is more. Artic Silver 5 works nicely, You want to use an amount that resembles an uncooked grain of rice. Spread it over the core evenly with an old credit card.

While your computer is apart, you may want to opt for a T61 fan if you can find one that fits in your computer (~$15). It's quieter and I've found that my machine runs cooler with it.

The thermal pads I believe only contact the GPU and Chipset. If they are in good condition, you shouldn't have to change them...

Thanks for the tips, i have the integrated graphics so the fan noise/heat is not an issue on this model, but If I can find one on the cheap I may do it anyway.

BootSectorVirus
Freshman Member
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:34 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#6 Post by BootSectorVirus » Wed May 23, 2012 11:07 am

Does anyone know what bios version I need to install the T7200, currently at 1.10 (79ET66WW)

Do I need to flash to the current 2.27 before I install the T7200, I prefer not to flash If I do not need to.

Also, what is the max processor support if I flash to 2.27?


If I decide to upgrade the cpu fan, do I need the heatsink from a T61 or just the fan?

Thanks again.

ajkula66
SuperUserGeorge
SuperUserGeorge
Posts: 17303
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:28 am
Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#7 Post by ajkula66 » Wed May 23, 2012 12:05 pm

It should work even without a BIOS update, although I'd suggest updating the BIOS anyway.

Max CPU is T7600 regardless of BIOS, that's the highest you can go.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

BootSectorVirus
Freshman Member
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:34 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#8 Post by BootSectorVirus » Wed May 23, 2012 5:17 pm

Thanks to all who answered, all went well and now back up and running.

Just for the record the old bios v1.1 does not support a T7200 processor, got 4 short beeps and no post, put the T2400 back in and flashed to v2.27, swapped the T7200 back in, rock and roll.

normen.fracer
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:19 am
Location: Leipzig, Germany

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#9 Post by normen.fracer » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:36 am

Hi, I hope this fits in here.

I've got a T60 1951-F5G with a T2300 processor and wanted to replace it by a T7600 I just bought.

Now I've put in in and tried to bot, but nothing happened, not even a beep or anything, the screen remained black, too. Does anyone know what this could mean?

At least when I put the T2300 back in and renewed the thermal compound it stays way cooler under load than before.

Some more information:
BIOS Version: 79ET62WW (1.07 )
Processor Information T2300
Socket Designation: None
Type: Central Processor
Family: Pentium M
Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
Signature: Type 0, Family 6, Model 14, Stepping 8
Version: Genuine Intel(R) CPU
Voltage: 1.4 V
External Clock: 167 MHz
Max Speed: 1667 MHz
Current Speed: 1667 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled

Any help is much appreciated!

Backslashnl1
Sophomore Member
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 5:35 am
Location: Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#10 Post by Backslashnl1 » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:00 am

See one post above yours; update the bios :)
T61 FrankenPad | 15.0" IPS UXGA flexview + LED | C2D T9500 @ 2,6 Ghz | T500 fan / T61 heatsink | 8GB Micron dual channel | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD | nVidia Quadro NVS 140M | NNB Keyboard | BroadCom 802.11AC 867Mbps + BT 4.0 | OS-X 10.9.1 Mavericks + Win7

normen.fracer
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:19 am
Location: Leipzig, Germany

Re: T60 processor upgrade advice

#11 Post by normen.fracer » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:03 pm

Thank you Backslashnl1 !

Updating the BIOS to v2.27 (from 1.07) has been quite scary as it beeped a lot and took a few attempts to reboot, but worked fine. I was just wondering that no beep came at all with the old BIOS. The T7600 is runnign smoothly now, but has quite a high idle temperature at about 45-50°C. Replacing the CPU has been fun!

Thanks for the advice!

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “ThinkPad T60/T61 Series”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 58 guests