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Need advice on X61s resurrection!
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:29 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Hi, I am using the X61s (with 2GB ram and 80GB 5400 HDD) as a second machine and love its size, screen and keyboard, but it's getting too slow for multi-tabbed Chrome, multitasking Office apps and light video streaming.
1) Should I get a new machine or try speeding this one up with more RAM and an SSD and long life battery? Would I get enough bang for the buck? Or, will it still be too slow?
2) If I upgrade, what kind of SSD can it take? SATA I, II or II?
3) Will more ram in Windows XP make a big difference? Should I put in 3GB or 4GB even though XP can only see just over 3?
Thanks for your help!!
1) Should I get a new machine or try speeding this one up with more RAM and an SSD and long life battery? Would I get enough bang for the buck? Or, will it still be too slow?
2) If I upgrade, what kind of SSD can it take? SATA I, II or II?
3) Will more ram in Windows XP make a big difference? Should I put in 3GB or 4GB even though XP can only see just over 3?
Thanks for your help!!
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Welcome to the forum!
Get a SSD, install Middleton's BIOS to enable SATA II transfer speeds and move on to W7. You'll love that resurrected X61s.
Get a SSD, install Middleton's BIOS to enable SATA II transfer speeds and move on to W7. You'll love that resurrected X61s.
...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.
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.
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:29 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Thanks for the quick reply, ajkula66!
I was trying to avoid (if possible) the expense & time of upgrading to Win 7 and re-installing everything... (Was going to clone my drive). Based on your experience, how crucial is that to performance vs. keeping XP?
Much appreciated!!
I was trying to avoid (if possible) the expense & time of upgrading to Win 7 and re-installing everything... (Was going to clone my drive). Based on your experience, how crucial is that to performance vs. keeping XP?
Much appreciated!!
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Many will disagree but...
a) I'd *never* clone an install from a rotational drive onto SSD
b) XP on SSD would really not be my preferred choice, since it lacks native TRIM support and takes a lot of tweaking to run properly...
I had a X61 with SSD and XP and wasn't happy with it. W7 made a world of difference.
YMMV.
a) I'd *never* clone an install from a rotational drive onto SSD
b) XP on SSD would really not be my preferred choice, since it lacks native TRIM support and takes a lot of tweaking to run properly...
I had a X61 with SSD and XP and wasn't happy with it. W7 made a world of difference.
YMMV.
...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.
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.
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:29 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
That makes a lot of sense. One last question - where can I find the latest Middleton Bios? Seems to be several versions floating around.
Thanks again! Will post the results of my resurrection here...
Thanks again! Will post the results of my resurrection here...
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
I believe that there's a link in the Lenovo section on notebook review forums...
...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.
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.
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- Admin Emeritus
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- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
- Location: Loch Garman, Éire
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Middleton's BIOS: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo- ... ost6501443
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.
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
depends which SSD.
samsun needs alignement to run well, and XP aligns them very badly which kills their perf. W7 should be better there.
but most other SSD does not care about alignement cause they can work around it, and then the difference is marginal.
I use an intel SSD, which works perfectly well under XP.
there is intel SSD toolbox to clean it everynow and then under xp too.
works veryy well!
Anyway, i also think 2GB is a bit short in memory, so you may want more memory, all the more if u install 7.
But the SSD will change your life all the time, while more memory will change your life when u need more memory (ie every now and then)
so
1) get an SSD
2) you may want to get more memory (4GB would be enough)
3) you may want to install 7.
samsun needs alignement to run well, and XP aligns them very badly which kills their perf. W7 should be better there.
but most other SSD does not care about alignement cause they can work around it, and then the difference is marginal.
I use an intel SSD, which works perfectly well under XP.
there is intel SSD toolbox to clean it everynow and then under xp too.
works veryy well!
Anyway, i also think 2GB is a bit short in memory, so you may want more memory, all the more if u install 7.
But the SSD will change your life all the time, while more memory will change your life when u need more memory (ie every now and then)
so
1) get an SSD
2) you may want to get more memory (4GB would be enough)
3) you may want to install 7.
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:29 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Thanks for the advice @bgx!
I think I'll do that. Will get the SSD first and see how things run. Then I will go for the Win 7 upgrade with more memory. A project for next weekend.
I think I'll do that. Will get the SSD first and see how things run. Then I will go for the Win 7 upgrade with more memory. A project for next weekend.
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- Junior Member
- Posts: 433
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 2:24 pm
- Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Upgrade to 8GB and add the SSD.
Been there, done that, and I couldn't be happier.
Been there, done that, and I couldn't be happier.
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"
in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30
past:
X20-X24, 390X
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"
in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30
past:
X20-X24, 390X
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- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:29 pm
- Location: New York, NY
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
@dmdsoftware - Thanks for the reply. Did you also upgrade the bios? which one? Is that what enables the X61s to accept 8Gb? I heard it natively tops out at 4.
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- Admin Emeritus
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- Location: Loch Garman, Éire
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Normal (32-bit) versions of XP, Vista or W7 stop at 4GB RAM (3GB in a T60/R60/Z61/X60 due to chipset limitations).
To recognize more than 4GB RAM you MUST install a 64-bit version of XP, Vista or W7 (and also 32-bit Windows Server 2008 or better).
To recognize more than 4GB RAM you MUST install a 64-bit version of XP, Vista or W7 (and also 32-bit Windows Server 2008 or better).
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.
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.
PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine.
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- Junior Member
- Posts: 433
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 2:24 pm
- Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
zippychimp wrote:@dmdsoftware - Thanks for the reply. Did you also upgrade the bios? which one? Is that what enables the X61s to accept 8Gb? I heard it natively tops out at 4.
Sorry for the late reply. I never got notified that you posted.zippychimp wrote:@dmdsoftware - Thanks for the reply. Did you also upgrade the bios? which one? Is that what enables the X61s to accept 8Gb? I heard it natively tops out at 4.
It is supported natively! I personally use Patriot 2x4GB in my X61 and X61t. No special requirements or hacks to make it work. Just make sure you get compatible memory (DDR2 etc).
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6820220382
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6820220495
Harder to find the proper memory at a good price now I ended up buying 4 modules last year for $50 shipped each from Newegg. I should have bought more You can never have enough memory when you have a "community's worth" of X61* hardware
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"
in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30
past:
X20-X24, 390X
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"
in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30
past:
X20-X24, 390X
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- ThinkPadder
- Posts: 1306
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:00 am
- Location: Brisbane, QLD AUST
- Contact:
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
dear all experts here,
my case would be slightly different, i am owning X60s.
Thinking to purchase Intel 330 series SSD 180GB, not sure is it compatible and what kind of configuration have to be done in the BIOS.
my case would be slightly different, i am owning X60s.
Thinking to purchase Intel 330 series SSD 180GB, not sure is it compatible and what kind of configuration have to be done in the BIOS.
1. T43 2668-B97 14" SXGA+ 1.5G RAM 9cells
2. X60s 1703-CA3 powerful
2. X60s 1703-CA3 powerful
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
Should be supported, but X60s are limited to SATAI so things might chug a bit.
X61s 7666-CTO - L7500, 4GB RAM, X3100, BCM94321MC, XGA
Owned - 600X, R51, T61
Owned - 600X, R51, T61
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- Freshman Member
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:49 pm
- Location: Santa Monica, CA/Miami, FL
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
x61's are my favorite machine, definitely worth the upgrade. The form factor is one of a kind, and the machine can still chug. The key is the middle ton's bios, absolutely necessary. have fun!
my gems.... all thanks to the advice of my temporarily displaced CALI homeboy, 91011
Me: X201s
Mom: T60p
Dad: X31
Me: X201s
Mom: T60p
Dad: X31
Re: Need advice on X61s resurrection!
I figure something like Middleton's BIOS should be linked on the thinkwiki. I would not have come across that without looking at this thread.
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