One thing to note, that RAM limitation in the original BIOS was to stop memory address conflicts with GPU's inserted into the advanced dock. With 8gig of memory you won't be able to use the PCIe slot in the dock for a graphics card.
I guess I’ll find out once I mess with the Advanced Dock a little more. It’s interesting that you noted this because I haven’t seen anything online about that. In the coming weeks (or months) I’m sure I’ll find out. I wonder if this also affects the ExpressCard slot....
Im able to use it fine. Middlton's BIOS patches the issue. Its similar to the X230 16gb + egpu errors, its all software-side. I got a number of GPUs (up to a GTX 970) working with my T61p + 8gb + 2506 dock.
@@henryatkinson1479 out of curiosity, why would anyone use an eGPU with a T61p? You'd be CPU limited in any recent game, and using a modern eGPU for games that are 10+ years old seems pointless.
I've seen quite a few T61's with badly seated ram, especially the upper socket. It is very easy to mi-sinstall the RAM. It needs to go in at a good angle well in before pivoting down. That's very fiddly at times with that top socket. I've opened them up and found the RAM floating free in the socket. When it's right it feels good - if your not sure it probably isn't ...
@@theglowcloud2215 I tested out an external GPU with my T60 about a year ago, and even a fairly weak low-profile card vastly outperformed the T60's graphics. Some games are less CPU heavy than others, and graphics are generally the aspect of computers that becomes outdated the fastest, so it makes sense for people to want to use an eGPU to squeeze a few more years out of their old system.
Wow this video just illustrates how far Sebi and this channel have come since it's inception. I love how he puts all the links/information in the "show more" part of the video so we don't have to go searching around for it on the web. This video makes me want to go out and buy an T60/T61 and do the middletons bios on my unit. Thanks Sebi for providing these videos and having the dedication to help others with their love of these older Thinkpad laptops.
You are so right there. I have two of them plus a T61 and a T410. There is a noticeable drop in all aspects of the machine except raw horsepower as you move down the lineage. The T60 is an almost, if not a perfect design. It is very satisfying to own one of these things, and the cases last a lot longer than the T410 and more modern variants. The way they open and service is great. The T60 has both a PCMCIA and an Express Card slot, making them a bridge between the old world of ThinPads and the new. And you would be surprised how well they run on their original OS (probably Windows XP Pro) or on a suitable lightweight Linux derivative. For example, with a 32-bit bottom of the line Core Duo CPU and only 1GB RAM you can do most things except video editing and running lots of heavy programs at once. The best upgrade for these T60's is 3GB RAM (add a single 2GB DDR2 ram module on top of the 1GB for around a fiver. Then pop in the T7200 Core 2 Duo, which is a 64-bit CPU and a 64-bit OS. I picked up two of these recently for £7 including postage from China. They arrived brand new, well packaged and within four weeks of order. Can't complain about that. These CPU's cost $295 when new. No BIOS mod required for this upgrade. I have a T61 but I checked out the CPU prices for a X9000 and at £60-80 that's what I paid for a very good T410 with an I5 just needing a hard drive and install. I'm going to wait a few years before I do mine. That being said, it is the RIGHT upgrade to go beyond the T7200. No other upgrade is really worth it, and the performance shown here on the video demonstrates that. You only need as much RAM as you are using, and if you keep your eye on things, 4GB is normally enough, though 8 is of course, nice to have. I have a couple of machines I run on 3GB which is a sweet spot on Linux for normal. If you are doing any squashfs work, try an I5 or preferably a quad core and better. Great channel, keep up the good work Sebi ...
Heh, great video even three years later. The algorithm just brought this up. I've watched several of yours over the last couple years, and you may remember me from way back talking about an older coworker who grew up in Pittsburgh riding the trolleys all over. To the point: a few months ago I bought 3 T430 units in a lot, they're my first Thinkpads after years of wanting one, and they've been very fun to experiment with. The direction Windows is going moved me to Linux back during the pandemic, and it's been a great experience. I'm running LMDE6 on the one I'm typing this on. By the way, every time I see your laptops posing on the train tracks it makes me irrationally nervous. 😆
Great video, sat here watching on my T60 with modded BIOS, wieless AC, SSD etc. Like you I have many more much faster machines, but there's just something about the T60 that makes me wanna get it switched on and use it, and love the old IBM logo for that extra splash of nostalgia. I was a tech back in the day and used to fix many laptops, never minded fixing the IBMs or Lenovos, much better built than most :-)
Same here ... did you watch the IBM Scotland Factory documentary? - gives a good feel for IBM and it's place in history, that many younger people will not really understand that the IBM ThinkPad is like the Karl Zeiss Lens, except it's the Computer Industry ... best in the World ... th-cam.com/video/7MQW48FIKQU/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Sebi. I'm writing this on a R400 I've been upgrading but I've got a T61 arriving next week I was planning on doing this to. So glad you've made a video about it
I just found one of the best plugin in 10 years, after privacy badger and facebook container...... Quick question: is there a universal plug in that do the same for all other video sites?
I think the same, but you first :) I use h264ify on r61i c2d 1,83 ghz 3gb ram 160gb hdd, windows 10 32 bit Edge browser, and 720p is super smooth with around 40-50% cpu usage. Step three: block 60fps videos.
I recently bought a T61 off Ebay for $25 that was listed for parts (it just needs hard drive, caddy, and battery; it powers on with no problem). This video is a God-send!
I have a X60t, so nothing can really be done here. But it's nice to see I am not the only person who still enjoys typing on that old thing with its 4:3 screen.
Great video Did the Middleton BIOS upgrade beginning of the week and installed a 256GB Samsung 860 Evo Runs awesome And definitely it's snappier Now up to the next speed improvement 😉
Another great video Sebi, I use to have a T60 and T61 both in the 4:3 screens, great machines! I can see why you implemented the T61 mother board into the T60; being the T60 only recognized 3gb max. BTW... I found a Middleton's BIOS for my X301 a while ago and now runs 8gb smoothly, it also allows you to upgrade the wi-fi card as well.
thank you, great video. Been dragging my feet on putting that Middleton BIOS on my T61. Feeling better about doing it after watching this. Also, love what you've done in making the Franken-Pad!
I love this Sebi. I've been intrigued by the FrankenPad for a while. A couple of years ago I bought a job lot of four T60's on eBay for £40. They had no drives, no power, and no batteries, but I hoped that one of them might be the 15" model with a 1600x1200 display. I got a 50% hit rate (!) but both screens are fairly badly yellowed. Then I came across the correct model of T61 to act as a donor. The seller had upgraded everything (he'd already done the Middleton BIOS), 8GB of RAM and had gone as far as putting a Samsung EVO 850 SSD in it. He'd got the 8300 CPU for it too. But when I tried using the T61, I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance. Replacement IPS displays for this T60 aren't cheap, and I wasn't sure if it would really be worth it. I've already got a collection of X, T and W ThinkPads from the 30 series (which are all more than 3 times faster than the T61). So I never took the plunge. The X9000 CPU is interesting though. I'm tempted again, but I just might have to accept if I do it that it's a hobby, not a sensible general purpose computing decision! Also, hat tip to your Dell Optiplex. I got a small form factor 9010 a month or two ago and love it. I assumed it'd be faster than my previous "desktop" (a docked W530, hooked up to two monitors), but when I recently ran Geekbench on all of them I got a bit of a shock! Results are here: browser.geekbench.com/user/graz My W530 cost me £250 a couple of years ago and it was in extremely good condition. It runs a lot quieter than my T430 too. It's an absolute trooper. :-) What's even more amazing to me is that the UltraBase 3 dock (dual DVI out, dual DisplayPort, USB3) only cost me £10. And it had clearly never been used. But I'm getting off topic...
Having 2 extra threads really makes a difference, I recommend the Core 2 Quad. The x9000 has slightly better dual core performance than my 2c/4t i3, but the i3 destroys it in quad core performance.
Thank you for this. I just bought an X61 for lunch money, and your video reassures me about isntalling Middleton's BIOS. One thing that will stop me maxing out the RAM is the difference in price between 2GB and 4GB sticks of RAM in DDR2. It's something like USD $12 for a 2GB, and USD$100 for 4GB. Evidently, they didn't make many 4GB SODIMMs.
I never own a Thinkpad, but as i can see these models still rocking today and still recive a lot of love from community. Thanks for the video, i was kinda entertain about. Just a tip: if you plan to use chrome use it with h264ify extension, is useful since force h264 instead VP9 and also you can force 30fps. I wonder if someone made a bios mod for my Pavilion dv6-1270el , im fine with core 2 duo T9600 but i wonder if some try to put a Core 2 Quad into it, however the Q series on socket P are rare to find at good price.
@@atilamotila8907 I often looking in my local Craigslist, but in Italy where I live the used market isn't much a thing, often prices are ridiculous for an old CPU or the shipping from UK or USA is kinda expensive.
Thanks for this. It worked for me after I went the “reinstall 32 bit Windows 7” route just to use the BIOS flash software. I’m looking forward to faster data transfer over SATA II. Good to know it can take up to 8GB RAM but that would require a pair of 4GB DDR2 sticks, and those, being scarce, are too expensive to play around with.
It's nice to know it's SATA 2 yet I believe that this laptop is not limited by the SATA 1 channel at 150MBps. Unlikely to get anywhere near there on a T61 even with an SSD. My practical testing has convinced me to stay on SATA 1, yet I am open to correction on that and would be interested to know if you could detect any significant difference doing a copy to backup over it. Here's the spec: SATA I (revision 1.x) interface, formally known as SATA 1.5Gb/s, is the first generation SATA interface running at 1.5 Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 150MB/s. SATA II (revision 2.x) interface, formally known as SATA 3Gb/s, is a second generation SATA interface running at 3.0 Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 300MB/s. SATA III (revision 3.x) interface, formally known as SATA 6Gb/s, is a third generation SATA interface running at 6.0Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 600MB/s. This interface is backwards compatible with SATA 3 Gb/s interface.
Yes, 8GB DDR2 kit is too expensive, and doesn't make much sense if all you use T61 is for some light tasks/ coding and watching video. I just bought a used T500 with 6GB of ram for less than cost of single 4GB DDR2 stick!
Thanks Sebi, great video! In next one you could show how much can you squeeze out of it overclocking CPU and GPU in ThrottleStop. I read NVS140M reacts good to overclocking and can reach almost level of performance of nerfed 128Mb FX570M from T61
We’ll see about that. The NVS-140M is quite prone to failure, and while I do have one of the “revised” versions of it that shouldn’t fail, I don’t really want to take any chances.
@@SebisRandomTech Just do it! I mean for daily use, it probably isn't worth the extra power and heat, but you can show us its full potential in a few benchmark.
Sebi this is huge. Really great content as always. Have you corebooted or librebooted any of your thinkpads? I don’t want to scare you about intel ME but I’m wondering if that’s a topic you’d be interested in making content on now that you’ve had a little experience flashing the bios.
On the cooling assembly did you find a specific manufacturer you liked or did you find an OEM W500 Thinkpad assembly? I found a couple of 3rd party ones on Amazon but mixed reviews. - Thanks
Thanks for nice video about upgrading t60/61. New cpu, middleton bios all good. But upgrading to 8GB DDR2 seems like stretch for most people unless they have money to burn. 8GB DDR2 kit is so pricey it makes lot more sense to buy used T400/T500/410/T420 etc from ebay than to invest in 8GB of DDR2. For typing some document or coding + watching some videos, 4GB of memory will do fine.
Hmm, I have a later T61 with the Nvidia GPU, Middleton BIOS (of course), a 1680x1050 screen, an SSD, 4GB RAM, T8300 processor and a 32- bit Windows 10 (21H2) install. It will run 1080P YT videos all day long without issue. It's a nice machine for it's age and it's just a blast that something this old can competently run an OS that was never even envisioned when t was designed. I love ThinkPads .. even the newer ones like my T480. Well, most of them. The X1's seem like Apple envy to me. The X1 Carbon line should have the ThinkPad label removed. They are more form over function, which really goes against the 'true' ThinkPad philosophy. Call them "AppleEnvy".
I don't have a solid recommendation, wireless cards aren't really my area of expertise! After performing the Middleton's BIOS upgrade the sky's the limit!
I still have several T60p’s, T61p’s and they run so well...All on Win 7 Ultimate....Flex View screens are still one of the best...I also have X1 Carbon’s. W500’s and a w700 bomber...I’m a Lenovo guy all the way...Thanks, I’m already looking for stuff..
Can you somehow do it on Linux? Trying to boot from either ISO just sends me to my normal Grub boot, i.e. as if I hadn't selected the drive with the ISO from the boot menu.
I got here trying to flash a T60p's whitelist from my 64-bit operating system- and now I'm glad I kept a T61 around despite its very apparently lower quality screen! 3GB really is getting to be too small to work comfortably in a web browser... One day I'll get lucky and find one of lcdfans' T70 boards out in the wild. Imagine your T60 with an i7-7820HQ!
I did mine today, I remember the old drive it had in before I installed the SSD with win 10 64-bit had a 32-bit windows installation on it. SO I just quickly had to swap out drives and was able to run the win 32 update application rather than flashing from CD... in 64 bit. Afterwards I just put the win 10 drive back. TH-cam plays smoothly at 1080p on Bing.... not quite smooth yet on Chrome but also much improved still.
What was truly the last IBM product is up for some debate, but let me try to break this down: Lenovo acquired IBM's PC division late in 2004. This would make machines like the T42 the last 100% IBM machines. The T43 and X41 came out after Lenovo took over but are still branded as IBM products and are identical to their previous counterparts. The T60 and T61 were likely in the early stages of development when Lenovo took over so some still consider them to be IBM machines, but they were released by Lenovo.
@@JanJanuszNosacz As part of the acquisition of IBM's PC division, Lenovo was allowed to continue using IBM branding for a few years after. The T60 and T61 were the last models to feature an IBM logo - some had only IBM branding, some had both IBM and Lenovo branding, and some only had Lenovo branding. The IBM logo disappeared for good with the 2008 models (T400, X200, W500, etc).
I would be all about picking up a T61 to do this on just to play... Though the RAM upgrade is really prohibitively expensive. I had an old Dell XPS M1330 (wonderful machine) that I sold. Before I sold it I pulled the 8GB of RAM out and sold the RAM on Ebay for what I bought it for new...
I have T61p with modded Middleton (undervolted GPU) and 1920x1200 panel. Only 4Gb memory however. It's like new, looking unused. Repasted it and swapped 250Gb Samsung SSD. It has Win10 and WinXP dual-boot.
Great video and information. I happen to have an old T61 which at the moment I'm running RHEL but not much use for it these days. So now it's going down the Hackintosh route. As it's an old system, bought new way, way back then. I've been wanting to update the bios for a while. Just curious, would the 550. motherboard work in this thing or is your only option the T60?
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for the response. Turns out I misinterpreted your video when I posted the question. Which became clear once I went back and watched it again. I was able to install the Middleton BIOS update to the T61. Next will be the memory, Crucial doesn't seem to carry it anymore so that might be a Newegg or eBay thing, (it was eons when I originally built this system). I was originally using T61 as a RHEL 7.x system however, if recall beyond RH 7.4 the wireless card wasn't supported and hence the need for the Middleton BIOS. With the BIOS upgrade I was able to change the card get past the whitelist wireless card block. I liked your tip about upgrading the processor Intel Core2 X9000 and will probably be going that route as well. Just curious would the Core2 Extreme 9100 work as well? I was able to find the W500 Cooling assembly you mention. As I mentioned in my original question, my goal for this system is to convert it into a Hackintosh System. Once again, great video and thanks for the fast response.
Retired welder guy here ^:) I just bought 1 ea DDR2 4gb ram single stick 667mhz 5300 SODIMM for my 2008 Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Ram properties doubled from 3gb to 6gb also installed a Samsung 860EVO 500MB internal SSD... Will try installing Middleton's BIOS...
From what I’ve seen that process looks a tad more complicated than what I am comfortable doing, but it’s something I’ve considered doing at some point. Have some other video ideas I want to finish first.
I'm a father supplying computers throughout the family, Aka "TECH DAD"! and a Thinkpad addict also....I built two I5 T440p's with SSD's ,IPS screens and 8gig ram. 1 for my daughter and 1 for my mom..those got a flowery skin cover. I built up a X1 Carbon w/touch screen 1st gen for my wife...that got red carbon skin. I maxed out my T440p (yep three T440p's)with 1tb ssd , ISP screen 16 gig ram ,i7 4702MQ Quad core. I edit some video with this! I recently saved a E530 from the trash and doubled the ram to 8gig and put a cheap 128gig m.2 ssd in it, And after all this I think Id like to mess with a x220 or x230.
That's great ! where are you from? do you buy the machines from ebay? i always try to buy something that's fixable, for my next project I'm looking for a thinkpad x230
@@luisfernando55 I'm just outside of Dallas Texas. I get all of them except the E530 from Ebay. I look for ones with parts missing because I always upgrade.. a nice key board... back lit is nice too , no broken housings and cheap! A cheap skin will not only hide some case rash but also personalize it! The X230 seems like it would be very gratifying at the end of the build to me also.
Try a 240x - now that's some nice hardware - no whitelist for the internal Mini-PCI - might take an internal PCI-USB in it ... I am hoping to try it soon ... get into some Retro MS Access 97 on W95 ;) (in 192MB RAM)
Thanks for the video Could you tell is that possible to replace a T61 memory socket? Memory retention clips became loose so it can't lock the memory sticks reliably
OS also determines things like how much RAM is recognized. winXP and 32bit only see 3gb. 64bit win7 see 4gb. so not sure how you can use 8gb with these OS
I would love to see a video on hardware mod-ing this laptop for a quad core CPU. I have one of these that I want to install Linux to. I was shying away from doing so because I wanted to upgrade it. Thanks for the video discussing how to do these things. I just need to find a few bits of hardware now. If you put Windows 10 Home instead of Pro on this laptop it will probably run faster. MS puts a lot of unneeded progz in the system.
Yeah I already did the BIOS-Mod in 2011. Still using my R61 from 2007 every day, runs well! Updated from 2GIG RAM and WIN XP to 8 GIG RAM and Windows 10. I also changed the CPU to a X9000, fixed the hinges and installed a new Display. It has a lot of Scratches and Marks but runs smoooth as fuck! I´m loving my ol´ reliable Thinkpad! !
Good work! I'm not planning on doing the X9000 upgrade. Most of the performance improvements come by way of the 8GB of RAM and the SATA II support, yes?
Nice video and timing is right for me. I came across my old T61 That I haven't used in sometime and tried to boot it up and received a cooling fan error. I remembered it needed replacement and also recalled how good this system was back in it's day. After seeing your video updates and all I started thinking about possibly doing some of this to mine and keep it as a backup system. Could you provide me with the part numbers used on the processor, memory, W500 cooling assembly and WiFi upgrade you were considering? Thanks, Frank
What's the best CPU for the T61 that isn't like $100? If I'm going to spend $139 on a proper T61 mobo I'm not going to spend another $100 on an X9000. What's a good CPU for it that's like $20?
Speaking of installing Core 2 Quads - would it be an adequate idea to install a 45W CPU into a laptop that originally came with CPUs that ran at 35W tops? Would it be possible to somehow knock down its TDP through software like Intel XTU, or are they too old for tricks like these to work? I don't really care if it would run slower as a result of decreasing TDP/undervolting/weak cooling system/whatever - I only really need that CPU for the benefit of having four cores. (hardware mods are out of question, I'm afraid, unless it's installing a premade beefier cooling system, which I don't think exists for a less popular budget model)
On forum.thinkpads you can read about that mod. By undervolting the cpu you don't actually hinder the performance of it, it has only benefits due to the lower power consumption. I don't think the quad-core mod has much benefit in real world, as it has weaker single core performance compared to the X9000. So apart from a few programs that are heavily multi-threaded, there won't be any performance increase doing most tasks.
@@kosztaz87 Most program are multi thread already, but from what i found on these older Core 2 lineup, the GHz makes it feels snappy, not the quad core most of the time. Still, a quad core mod is still beneficial for a daily Windows 10 machine.
last time i'am replaced old HP laptop (Screen was broken, accidentally someone smashed by chair) Dual core 45W TDP AMD A4-3330MX 2.3GHz base, 2.6GHz turbo to based cpu model quad core 45W TDP AMD A8-3500M 1.5GHz base, 2.4GHz turbo. iddle and full load temperature are similiar but adaptor power consumption increased 2 cores < 4 cores. it's un-optimized cpu oem just leave us the factory voltage then i decided to overclock then undervolted it for reducing power consumption. just finding stable frequency with proper voltage. 1.5 GHz Base 1.0500v to 2.0 GHz 1.0250v 2.4 Ghz Turbo 1.3250v to 2.7 GHz 1.0875v 900 MHz iddle 0.925v to 800Mhz 0.785v iGPU HD6620G 444MHz 0.9825v to 500MHz 1.000v that's stable no freeze or bluescreen. It possible to reach more highest overclocking but no reason to increasing temperature, voltage and power load. as display i'am use hdmi 1080p tv so more headroom to my 65W hp power adaptor. windows 10 pro 64 bit enough for casual work. yes swapped dual core to quadcore give you more benefit even if not overcloking. undervolting is make a sense in this case to reduce consumption and same performance.
This bios unlock sata2 for HDD,and support for 2x4gb ddr2/800 mGHz and support for the biggest cpuCore 2 duo X9000.I had Had experience from My T61P which I gave to my cousin!!
I have r61i that has a t2330 and 1gb of ram. I bought 4GBs of ram, a ssd and a t9300 for under $25 bucks. Not sure if I need middleton or not but if I am locked to sata 1 then I will check it out for sure. EDIT: The r61i will support up to a t9500, however they are much more expensive than the t9300 and are only clocked 100mhz higher. I ordered a new battery and I am going to try to update to get SATA II speeds.
Hi, I’ve got an r61i and I am going to upgrade to ssd. But i don’t know the exact specs (I.e whether it’s widescreen or not, amongst other things) so I don’t know which link to download on the thinkwiki page :( Any way I can find out what my laptop’s exact specs are? Thanks!
this dont work on my T61 with win XP 32bit. when I click to update BIOS in the exc file it just pops up warning saying image file not found and fails to proceed. no note about this in readme etc.
Thanks for sharing, I didn't know I could get to 8Gb of ram, now my t61 wide is much faster, I'll probably update the t7500 with a faster one but I think I'll stay away from Extreme Edition for power and temperature issues. The network adapter with the right drivers does not cause problems, the same for adi soundmax
You mentioned upgrading the cooling assembly. Is there an online resource where I can read up on the cooling assemblies and their compatibility for various Thinkpads? I've got a T420 that I'd like to pamper a little.
I can’t say there’s a place devoted entirely to cooling assemblies, but you can find some threads on the thinkpads.com forum that give people’s recommendations for cooling.
I see your T61 Board has the NVS140m - I hope it's a non-bugged version. However even with that - there are middleton mods that undervolt the GPU significantly (which can be done without any risks, the original voltage is rather high), helping to reduce heat and GPU wear. While I really like older GPUs (especially ATI ones), they are definitely, even without the Nvidia Bug, the no. 1 weak point of laptop motherboards.
This is one of the rare revised motherboards that was manufactured after normal production of the T61 was discontinued, someone at The Board Room has a stockpile of them that can be purchased for (rather expensive but understandably so) FrankenPadding.
@@SebisRandomTech nice! I personally would still undervolt it, its easy and safe, and a chip always lasts longer when operated at a lower voltage. Here is a list with many BIOSes including undervolting and even Quadcore modding (even if it is German, it might be interesting) thinkpad-forum.de/threads/172581-Anleitung-FSB-1066-CPUs-inkl-Core-2-Quad-in-Thinkpad-T61-benutzen-GPU-undervolten
im planning on doing the middleton bios mod for my moms laptop its a celeron 500 (or something like that) with a ssd and 4gb of ram but its still terribly slow. As soon as shops open back up i plan on throwing a cheap dual core in there and hopefully this will be enough for her to do whatever she likes if not then im replacing it and not sure what to do with this thing
i need a bit of help. im trying to do this to my own t61. i have the cd burnt and ready to go but wen in the laptop it gives me a return code =14 or =8 wen i try to boot off the cd drive. but it boots into a hdd just fine. and i cant seem to find any info on this online
Wish there was something like that for the Acer Extensa 5220. Not so much on the CPU side, since the Core Duo 2 T7700 (fastest CPU supported by the rig) I upgraded it with is making me use almost everything with little issues, but for the RAM. It supports only 3Gb max, forcing me to use 32bit OS in spite of the CPU being a 64 bit. Forcing the machine to 4Gb simply doesn't work. It refuses to POST. Allegedly there should a newer version of the chipset that supports 4Gb but... guess what, my laptop has the older one. I tried. If I say it doesn't POST it's because I KNOW it doesn't. And even if there are voices around the various forums that you could even reach 5 or 9Gb occupying the RAM slot 1 with either a 4 or 8Gb SODIMM and the slot 2 with a 1Gb SODIMM, I'm not going to fork any more money (after the failed 4Gb upgrade) to try out an upgrade that seems to be only rumour.
I found a T440P in the ewaste bin and fished it out. I gave it a 1080p display ($70 CAD on ebay), some DDR3 I had kicking around and a SSD. Great little machine. But I want to coreboot it just for funsies. I don't want to lose any functionality, though and that seems to be something you can suffer with coreboot on a less supported system. Should I do it? It's not my daily driver really. I just use it when I want to do some coding on the couch.
see reddit author:szmy8 you can swap correct corresponding t60 to t61 models entire bottom chassis or just the t60 monitors and hinges. you can reflow bake the t61 mobo in the oven 7 minutes 325 preheat 250 first. 7 minutes open door let rest n cool, remove re tape the black zones you peeled off. if the monitor dosnt boot up but you get a power light led on re assembly you need to power cycle the power button and right mouse button until the monitor posts to bios. if you have power led no monitor, cant cycle boot with right click, strip it and try to bake it again better, strip more, more even heat, correct temps, try boot n click till bios posts. hf gl
If you want to go completely mad, with some motherboard mods and another BIOS, you can have the Core2 Quad-Extreme QX9300. Also, there is a way to force the installer to run on 64 bit windows, you just need to download a newer version of winphlash64.
@@SebisRandomTech I know, I didnt realized you were grouping the quad-extremes in with the quads. As for the winphlash thing, you just have to download winphlash an use it to flash the BIOS file you downloaded for the ISO version.
Gonna point out you can push more speed with that cpu with throttlestop due to unlocked multiplier. You can easily hit 3.2 GHZ for daily use people have gone up to 4ghz but thats warrm
Looking at the benchmarks since I have a T9300 in my T61, from what I read there is not much difference between T9300 vs T9500 vs X9000. Some sites listed the T9500 the overall clear winner.
The x9000 can be easily overclocked to 3.2 ghz. I got it to 3.4. Id like to see how the t9500 compares when the x9000 is on 3.2. And do note i did this on a precision m4300. Im assuming the t60 has the vrm and thermal headroom to boost to 3.2
7:41 Those 2 sticks of ram cost around $100 USD (for brand new) or if you are lucky you may find some second hand for $35 per stick. The cost of ram can bought a Thinkpad x220 in my City. I previous own a X61 with 8GB DDR2 ram with SSD... It was slow if you are using windows 10. Linux is good
@@JeffWaynee You can’t, at least not easily. The 4:3 and 16:10 versions of the T60/61 use completely different components for the most part. To use a Flexview display with the T61 you need a 15” 4:3 T60 body (with the display of course) and a 14” 4:3 T61 motherboard z
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks again for all your help. BTW... I found the date of manufacture on the bottom, and mine is a very late 14.1" 16:10 from July 2010, so I'm well out of the bad GPU's. Do you know if they were using better LCD backlights by then?
@@JeffWaynee As far as I know all T61's used CCFL backlights. The T400 used both CCFL and LED backlights depending on which configuration you purchased.
One thing to note, that RAM limitation in the original BIOS was to stop memory address conflicts with GPU's inserted into the advanced dock. With 8gig of memory you won't be able to use the PCIe slot in the dock for a graphics card.
I guess I’ll find out once I mess with the Advanced Dock a little more. It’s interesting that you noted this because I haven’t seen anything online about that. In the coming weeks (or months) I’m sure I’ll find out. I wonder if this also affects the ExpressCard slot....
Im able to use it fine. Middlton's BIOS patches the issue. Its similar to the X230 16gb + egpu errors, its all software-side.
I got a number of GPUs (up to a GTX 970) working with my T61p + 8gb + 2506 dock.
@@henryatkinson1479 out of curiosity, why would anyone use an eGPU with a T61p? You'd be CPU limited in any recent game, and using a modern eGPU for games that are 10+ years old seems pointless.
I've seen quite a few T61's with badly seated ram, especially the upper socket. It is very easy to mi-sinstall the RAM. It needs to go in at a good angle well in before pivoting down. That's very fiddly at times with that top socket. I've opened them up and found the RAM floating free in the socket. When it's right it feels good - if your not sure it probably isn't ...
@@theglowcloud2215 I tested out an external GPU with my T60 about a year ago, and even a fairly weak low-profile card vastly outperformed the T60's graphics. Some games are less CPU heavy than others, and graphics are generally the aspect of computers that becomes outdated the fastest, so it makes sense for people to want to use an eGPU to squeeze a few more years out of their old system.
Wow this video just illustrates how far Sebi and this channel have come since it's inception. I love how he puts all the links/information in the "show more" part of the video so we don't have to go searching around for it on the web. This video makes me want to go out and buy an T60/T61 and do the middletons bios on my unit. Thanks Sebi for providing these videos and having the dedication to help others with their love of these older Thinkpad laptops.
Man thet T60 is still a gorgeous machine...
You are so right there. I have two of them plus a T61 and a T410. There is a noticeable drop in all aspects of the machine except raw horsepower as you move down the lineage. The T60 is an almost, if not a perfect design. It is very satisfying to own one of these things, and the cases last a lot longer than the T410 and more modern variants. The way they open and service is great. The T60 has both a PCMCIA and an Express Card slot, making them a bridge between the old world of ThinPads and the new.
And you would be surprised how well they run on their original OS (probably Windows XP Pro) or on a suitable lightweight Linux derivative. For example, with a 32-bit bottom of the line Core Duo CPU and only 1GB RAM you can do most things except video editing and running lots of heavy programs at once.
The best upgrade for these T60's is 3GB RAM (add a single 2GB DDR2 ram module on top of the 1GB for around a fiver. Then pop in the T7200 Core 2 Duo, which is a 64-bit CPU and a 64-bit OS. I picked up two of these recently for £7 including postage from China. They arrived brand new, well packaged and within four weeks of order. Can't complain about that. These CPU's cost $295 when new. No BIOS mod required for this upgrade.
I have a T61 but I checked out the CPU prices for a X9000 and at £60-80 that's what I paid for a very good T410 with an I5 just needing a hard drive and install. I'm going to wait a few years before I do mine. That being said, it is the RIGHT upgrade to go beyond the T7200. No other upgrade is really worth it, and the performance shown here on the video demonstrates that.
You only need as much RAM as you are using, and if you keep your eye on things, 4GB is normally enough, though 8 is of course, nice to have. I have a couple of machines I run on 3GB which is a sweet spot on Linux for normal. If you are doing any squashfs work, try an I5 or preferably a quad core and better.
Great channel, keep up the good work Sebi ...
I still use my T60 for any researching
My Grandson gave me an old T60p just yesterday and today I upgraded it from Windows XP Pro to Windows 10 Pro today, it works nice.
Heh, great video even three years later. The algorithm just brought this up. I've watched several of yours over the last couple years, and you may remember me from way back talking about an older coworker who grew up in Pittsburgh riding the trolleys all over.
To the point: a few months ago I bought 3 T430 units in a lot, they're my first Thinkpads after years of wanting one, and they've been very fun to experiment with. The direction Windows is going moved me to Linux back during the pandemic, and it's been a great experience. I'm running LMDE6 on the one I'm typing this on.
By the way, every time I see your laptops posing on the train tracks it makes me irrationally nervous. 😆
Great video, sat here watching on my T60 with modded BIOS, wieless AC, SSD etc. Like you I have many more much faster machines, but there's just something about the T60 that makes me wanna get it switched on and use it, and love the old IBM logo for that extra splash of nostalgia. I was a tech back in the day and used to fix many laptops, never minded fixing the IBMs or Lenovos, much better built than most :-)
Same here ... did you watch the IBM Scotland Factory documentary? - gives a good feel for IBM and it's place in history, that many younger people will not really understand that the IBM ThinkPad is like the Karl Zeiss Lens, except it's the Computer Industry ... best in the World ...
th-cam.com/video/7MQW48FIKQU/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Sebi. I'm writing this on a R400 I've been upgrading but I've got a T61 arriving next week I was planning on doing this to. So glad you've made a video about it
How to fix youtube playback problem:
Step one: Install chrome plugin h264ify
Step two: Don't forget step one
Why is my TH-cam videos slowing down too much? I have 260Mbit and I have no idea why it’s slowing down it never did this before...!
I just found one of the best plugin in 10 years, after privacy badger and facebook container......
Quick question: is there a universal plug in that do the same for all other video sites?
@@rmsmajestic9411 not but some players are based on h264
I think the same, but you first :)
I use h264ify on r61i c2d 1,83 ghz 3gb ram 160gb hdd, windows 10 32 bit Edge browser, and 720p is super smooth with around 40-50% cpu usage.
Step three: block 60fps videos.
I recently bought a T61 off Ebay for $25 that was listed for parts (it just needs hard drive, caddy, and battery; it powers on with no problem). This video is a God-send!
the T61 is such a legendary machine.
You don't actually need to use PowerISO to burn images on Windows 10, it can mount and burn them with no additional software
@MyName Here Just use imgburn.
@MyName Here except it does work for OS boot images, worked fine since windows 7 when it first launched. Unless you trying dos images or something
imgBurn is much better than PowerISO
I have a X60t, so nothing can really be done here.
But it's nice to see I am not the only person who still enjoys typing on that old thing with its 4:3 screen.
What about libreboot?
@@kacperw587 That would make you grit your teeth trying to install that ...
Love both my X60T and X61T...and my X32, X41, X220 and T420. The first four running Antix Linux. The other two running Arch.
Great video
Did the Middleton BIOS upgrade beginning of the week and installed a 256GB Samsung 860 Evo
Runs awesome
And definitely it's snappier
Now up to the next speed improvement 😉
Another great video Sebi, I use to have a T60 and T61 both in the 4:3 screens, great machines! I can see why you implemented the T61 mother board into the T60; being the T60 only recognized 3gb max. BTW... I found a Middleton's BIOS for my X301 a while ago and now runs 8gb smoothly, it also allows you to upgrade the wi-fi card as well.
thank you, great video. Been dragging my feet on putting that Middleton BIOS on my T61. Feeling better about doing it after watching this. Also, love what you've done in making the Franken-Pad!
I love this Sebi. I've been intrigued by the FrankenPad for a while. A couple of years ago I bought a job lot of four T60's on eBay for £40. They had no drives, no power, and no batteries, but I hoped that one of them might be the 15" model with a 1600x1200 display. I got a 50% hit rate (!) but both screens are fairly badly yellowed.
Then I came across the correct model of T61 to act as a donor. The seller had upgraded everything (he'd already done the Middleton BIOS), 8GB of RAM and had gone as far as putting a Samsung EVO 850 SSD in it. He'd got the 8300 CPU for it too. But when I tried using the T61, I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance.
Replacement IPS displays for this T60 aren't cheap, and I wasn't sure if it would really be worth it. I've already got a collection of X, T and W ThinkPads from the 30 series (which are all more than 3 times faster than the T61). So I never took the plunge.
The X9000 CPU is interesting though. I'm tempted again, but I just might have to accept if I do it that it's a hobby, not a sensible general purpose computing decision!
Also, hat tip to your Dell Optiplex. I got a small form factor 9010 a month or two ago and love it. I assumed it'd be faster than my previous "desktop" (a docked W530, hooked up to two monitors), but when I recently ran Geekbench on all of them I got a bit of a shock!
Results are here: browser.geekbench.com/user/graz
My W530 cost me £250 a couple of years ago and it was in extremely good condition. It runs a lot quieter than my T430 too. It's an absolute trooper. :-)
What's even more amazing to me is that the UltraBase 3 dock (dual DVI out, dual DisplayPort, USB3) only cost me £10. And it had clearly never been used. But I'm getting off topic...
Having 2 extra threads really makes a difference, I recommend the Core 2 Quad. The x9000 has slightly better dual core performance than my 2c/4t i3, but the i3 destroys it in quad core performance.
So the ideal laptop in 2020 is no longer an old thinkpad, but it's two, smooshed together! Nice work.
Thank you for this. I just bought an X61 for lunch money, and your video reassures me about isntalling Middleton's BIOS. One thing that will stop me maxing out the RAM is the difference in price between 2GB and 4GB sticks of RAM in DDR2. It's something like USD $12 for a 2GB, and USD$100 for 4GB. Evidently, they didn't make many 4GB SODIMMs.
Love the glamour shots!
I recently acquired an old X61 Tablet. Will try this bios on it once the battery arrives.
I never own a Thinkpad, but as i can see these models still rocking today and still recive a lot of love from community. Thanks for the video, i was kinda entertain about. Just a tip: if you plan to use chrome use it with h264ify extension, is useful since force h264 instead VP9 and also you can force 30fps. I wonder if someone made a bios mod for my Pavilion dv6-1270el , im fine with core 2 duo T9600 but i wonder if some try to put a Core 2 Quad into it, however the Q series on socket P are rare to find at good price.
Ive seen a bunch of listings for the more middle ground quads and it dosent seem to be that expensive
@@atilamotila8907 I often looking in my local Craigslist, but in Italy where I live the used market isn't much a thing, often prices are ridiculous for an old CPU or the shipping from UK or USA is kinda expensive.
@@MrOoh50 oh ow i see. Then its a hard pass in that case
Really impressive results, i would love to see a core 2 quad in it
Is that possible? sounds nice ...
Hope that will soon be released.
I got an Hp 8530w with a motherboard diagram sheet for 4 core c2d support, but I dont know how to make it work.
thank you for this tutorial and for the link i now updated the bios of my r61!keep up the good work!
Yo tengo el IBM thinkpad t61 y la verdad es muy bueno ese portátil y lo mejor es su valor histórico en la informática. Saludos.
Oh i'm going to the basement to find my t61 and im installing this thing.
Update: i didin't find it
crap
just buy on amazon/ebay, there's still a lot..
@@pjoter6817 ebay or amazon, or facebook marketplace
@@luisfernando55 I'm not American and in my country they get to absurd levels of pricing like 150£ for a base t61
Thanks for this. It worked for me after I went the “reinstall 32 bit Windows 7” route just to use the BIOS flash software. I’m looking forward to faster data transfer over SATA II. Good to know it can take up to 8GB RAM but that would require a pair of 4GB DDR2 sticks, and those, being scarce, are too expensive to play around with.
It's nice to know it's SATA 2 yet I believe that this laptop is not limited by the SATA 1 channel at 150MBps. Unlikely to get anywhere near there on a T61 even with an SSD. My practical testing has convinced me to stay on SATA 1, yet I am open to correction on that and would be interested to know if you could detect any significant difference doing a copy to backup over it. Here's the spec:
SATA I (revision 1.x) interface, formally known as SATA 1.5Gb/s, is the first generation SATA interface running at 1.5 Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 150MB/s.
SATA II (revision 2.x) interface, formally known as SATA 3Gb/s, is a second generation SATA interface running at 3.0 Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 300MB/s.
SATA III (revision 3.x) interface, formally known as SATA 6Gb/s, is a third generation SATA interface running at 6.0Gb/s. The bandwidth throughput, which is supported by the interface, is up to 600MB/s. This interface is backwards compatible with SATA 3 Gb/s interface.
Yes, 8GB DDR2 kit is too expensive, and doesn't make much sense if all you use T61 is for some light tasks/ coding and watching video. I just bought a used T500 with 6GB of ram for less than cost of single 4GB DDR2 stick!
I want to see the video on installing a core 2 quad
Your intro is soooooo.... SATISFYING.
Thanks Sebi, great video!
In next one you could show how much can you squeeze out of it overclocking CPU and GPU in ThrottleStop. I read NVS140M reacts good to overclocking and can reach almost level of performance of nerfed 128Mb FX570M from T61
We’ll see about that. The NVS-140M is quite prone to failure, and while I do have one of the “revised” versions of it that shouldn’t fail, I don’t really want to take any chances.
@@SebisRandomTech Just do it!
I mean for daily use, it probably isn't worth the extra power and heat, but you can show us its full potential in a few benchmark.
@@nhansgoofyvideos7581 , I'll test on mine when it arrives. Waiting for the parts now.
I have a Thinkpad T61 with REDHAT ENTERPRISE LINUX 8.0 installed on it.
SSD
8GB RAM
And yes with *Middleton’ BIOS*
Good machine rock solid
Sebi this is huge. Really great content as always. Have you corebooted or librebooted any of your thinkpads? I don’t want to scare you about intel ME but I’m wondering if that’s a topic you’d be interested in making content on now that you’ve had a little experience flashing the bios.
First I’m going to tackle 1vyrain on my T430. Then maybe sometime after that I can look more into coreboot/libreboot...
12:30 🤣🤣🤣🤣👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Loved that! Great video as always!
On the cooling assembly did you find a specific manufacturer you liked or did you find an OEM W500 Thinkpad assembly? I found a couple of 3rd party ones on Amazon but mixed reviews. - Thanks
Found a system pull from eBay.
Thanks for nice video about upgrading t60/61. New cpu, middleton bios all good. But upgrading to 8GB DDR2 seems like stretch for most people unless they have money to burn. 8GB DDR2 kit is so pricey it makes lot more sense to buy used T400/T500/410/T420 etc from ebay than to invest in 8GB of DDR2. For typing some document or coding + watching some videos, 4GB of memory will do fine.
Are you going to do a followup with core2quad cpu upgrade?
Maybe.
Hmm, I have a later T61 with the Nvidia GPU, Middleton BIOS (of course), a 1680x1050 screen, an SSD, 4GB RAM, T8300 processor and a 32- bit Windows 10 (21H2) install. It will run 1080P YT videos all day long without issue. It's a nice machine for it's age and it's just a blast that something this old can competently run an OS that was never even envisioned when t was designed. I love ThinkPads .. even the newer ones like my T480. Well, most of them. The X1's seem like Apple envy to me. The X1 Carbon line should have the ThinkPad label removed. They are more form over function, which really goes against the 'true' ThinkPad philosophy. Call them "AppleEnvy".
Any suggestions on Wireless Cards for the T61? Excellent video Sebi. I own an R and T 61 and lovem both ;)
I don't have a solid recommendation, wireless cards aren't really my area of expertise! After performing the Middleton's BIOS upgrade the sky's the limit!
I still have several T60p’s, T61p’s and they run so well...All on Win 7 Ultimate....Flex View screens are still one of the best...I also have X1 Carbon’s. W500’s and a w700 bomber...I’m a Lenovo guy all the way...Thanks, I’m already looking for stuff..
i hope you wont upgrade them to crappy w10
I had a T61 some years ago. Unfortunately, the Quadro NVS140M bit the dust, and it was way out of warranty.
Can you somehow do it on Linux? Trying to boot from either ISO just sends me to my normal Grub boot, i.e. as if I hadn't selected the drive with the ISO from the boot menu.
I got here trying to flash a T60p's whitelist from my 64-bit operating system- and now I'm glad I kept a T61 around despite its very apparently lower quality screen! 3GB really is getting to be too small to work comfortably in a web browser...
One day I'll get lucky and find one of lcdfans' T70 boards out in the wild. Imagine your T60 with an i7-7820HQ!
I did mine today, I remember the old drive it had in before I installed the SSD with win 10 64-bit had a 32-bit windows installation on it. SO I just quickly had to swap out drives and was able to run the win 32 update application rather than flashing from CD... in 64 bit. Afterwards I just put the win 10 drive back. TH-cam plays smoothly at 1080p on Bing.... not quite smooth yet on Chrome but also much improved still.
5:51 I see someone else also browses the BC gov auction website lol.
why x9100 cpu not working? I was able to update the bios correctly. SSD works. RAM works too. on the new cpu it doesn't turn on anymore.
Uhm wasn't T43 the last T series model manufactured by IBM?
What was truly the last IBM product is up for some debate, but let me try to break this down: Lenovo acquired IBM's PC division late in 2004. This would make machines like the T42 the last 100% IBM machines. The T43 and X41 came out after Lenovo took over but are still branded as IBM products and are identical to their previous counterparts. The T60 and T61 were likely in the early stages of development when Lenovo took over so some still consider them to be IBM machines, but they were released by Lenovo.
@@SebisRandomTech I guess you might be right. I own severel T43s and some of them have Lenovo logo at the back and some have IBM logo. Why?
@@JanJanuszNosacz As part of the acquisition of IBM's PC division, Lenovo was allowed to continue using IBM branding for a few years after. The T60 and T61 were the last models to feature an IBM logo - some had only IBM branding, some had both IBM and Lenovo branding, and some only had Lenovo branding. The IBM logo disappeared for good with the 2008 models (T400, X200, W500, etc).
is there a better bios like this for W500 also? page linked dont show one
I would be all about picking up a T61 to do this on just to play... Though the RAM upgrade is really prohibitively expensive. I had an old Dell XPS M1330 (wonderful machine) that I sold. Before I sold it I pulled the 8GB of RAM out and sold the RAM on Ebay for what I bought it for new...
I have T61p with modded Middleton (undervolted GPU) and 1920x1200 panel. Only 4Gb memory however. It's like new, looking unused. Repasted it and swapped 250Gb Samsung SSD. It has Win10 and WinXP dual-boot.
Dear Sebi... Question. After the upgrades what happen when you run "System update" from IBM ? I am curious ...
Great video and information. I happen to have an old T61 which at the moment I'm running RHEL but not much use for it these days. So now it's going down the Hackintosh route. As it's an old system, bought new way, way back then. I've been wanting to update the bios for a while. Just curious, would the 550. motherboard work in this thing or is your only option the T60?
I'm not sure what you're asking. If you have a T61 already then there's little reason to change out the motherboard.
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for the response. Turns out I misinterpreted your video when I posted the question. Which became clear once I went back and watched it again. I was able to install the Middleton BIOS update to the T61. Next will be the memory, Crucial doesn't seem to carry it anymore so that might be a Newegg or eBay thing, (it was eons when I originally built this system). I was originally using T61 as a RHEL 7.x system however, if recall beyond RH 7.4 the wireless card wasn't supported and hence the need for the Middleton BIOS. With the BIOS upgrade I was able to change the card get past the whitelist wireless card block. I liked your tip about upgrading the processor Intel Core2 X9000 and will probably be going that route as well. Just curious would the Core2 Extreme 9100 work as well? I was able to find the W500 Cooling assembly you mention. As I mentioned in my original question, my goal for this system is to convert it into a Hackintosh System. Once again, great video and thanks for the fast response.
Ahhh I'd kill for the IBM thinkpad with modern hardware.
Retired welder guy here ^:) I just bought 1 ea DDR2 4gb ram single stick 667mhz 5300 SODIMM for my 2008 Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Ram properties doubled from 3gb to 6gb also installed a Samsung 860EVO 500MB internal SSD... Will try installing Middleton's BIOS...
would you like to make a video about librebooting thinkpad, older and newer (like T60 and X200)
daniel For lots of fame, the video should be about Librebooting X200s.
From what I’ve seen that process looks a tad more complicated than what I am comfortable doing, but it’s something I’ve considered doing at some point. Have some other video ideas I want to finish first.
I'm a father supplying computers throughout the family, Aka "TECH DAD"! and a Thinkpad addict also....I built two I5 T440p's with SSD's ,IPS screens and 8gig ram. 1 for my daughter and 1 for my mom..those got a flowery skin cover. I built up a X1 Carbon w/touch screen 1st gen for my wife...that got red carbon skin. I maxed out my T440p (yep three T440p's)with 1tb ssd , ISP screen 16 gig ram ,i7 4702MQ Quad core. I edit some video with this! I recently saved a E530 from the trash and doubled the ram to 8gig and put a cheap 128gig m.2 ssd in it, And after all this I think Id like to mess with a x220 or x230.
That's great ! where are you from? do you buy the machines from ebay? i always try to buy something that's fixable, for my next project I'm looking for a thinkpad x230
@@luisfernando55 I'm just outside of Dallas Texas. I get all of them except the E530 from Ebay. I look for ones with parts missing because I always upgrade.. a nice key board... back lit is nice too , no broken housings and cheap! A cheap skin will not only hide some case rash but also personalize it! The X230 seems like it would be very gratifying at the end of the build to me also.
Try a 240x - now that's some nice hardware - no whitelist for the internal Mini-PCI - might take an internal PCI-USB in it ... I am hoping to try it soon ... get into some Retro MS Access 97 on W95 ;) (in 192MB RAM)
you must try oled panels, more colorful and more responsive
Quality content! Thanks Sebi :-)
Thanks for the video
Could you tell is that possible to replace a T61 memory socket? Memory retention clips became loose so it can't lock the memory sticks reliably
I'm sure it's possible, but it's not something I've attempted before.
OS also determines things like how much RAM is recognized. winXP and 32bit only see 3gb. 64bit win7 see 4gb. so not sure how you can use 8gb with these OS
I would love to see a video on hardware mod-ing this laptop for a quad core CPU.
I have one of these that I want to install Linux to. I was shying away from doing so because I wanted to upgrade it. Thanks for the video discussing how to do these things. I just need to find a few bits of hardware now. If you put Windows 10 Home instead of Pro on this laptop it will probably run faster. MS puts a lot of unneeded progz in the system.
Reminds me of the good old days of having the T61 with QX9300 and external GPU HD 7750 in 2503 ultrabase.....
Thank you! Used on a T61.
Yeah I already did the BIOS-Mod in 2011. Still using my R61 from 2007 every day, runs well! Updated from 2GIG RAM and WIN XP to 8 GIG RAM and Windows 10. I also changed the CPU to a X9000, fixed the hinges and installed a new Display. It has a lot of Scratches and Marks but runs smoooth as fuck! I´m loving my ol´ reliable Thinkpad! !
These things are impossible to kill! I love them.
You should oc it to 3.2 im curious. I have it slammed to 3.4ghz from 2.8 in my precision m4300
Does the T9800 or T9900 will work on T61p after bios upgrade?
I believe there’s an additional mod called the “FSB” mod that has to be done for those CPUs to work in the T61.
Good work! I'm not planning on doing the X9000 upgrade. Most of the performance improvements come by way of the 8GB of RAM and the SATA II support, yes?
Absolutely.
Nice video and timing is right for me. I came across my old T61 That I haven't used in sometime and tried to boot it up and received a cooling fan error. I remembered it needed replacement and also recalled how good this system was back in it's day. After seeing your video updates and all I started thinking about possibly doing some of this to mine and keep it as a backup system. Could you provide me with the part numbers used on the processor, memory, W500 cooling assembly and WiFi upgrade you were considering?
Thanks, Frank
Just got a free T61 from a friend. Gonna work on a project to upgrade this laptop so I can run some vintage emulators on it!
Would this also workk on a T61p? Also, I wish ddr2 ram wasn't so doggone expensive!
Yes.
@@SebisRandomTech Awesome!
What's the best CPU for the T61 that isn't like $100? If I'm going to spend $139 on a proper T61 mobo I'm not going to spend another $100 on an X9000. What's a good CPU for it that's like $20?
I have the T9300 (2,5GHz) installt. Very good CPU 🙂 Not expensive ! (Dirk from Germany)
Yea second the t9300, solid upgrade
I got one thinkpad T61 ,
can i upgrade RAM 8gb 4x2 ?
can i upgrade to SSD ?
do i need upgrade the processor if upgrading both items ?
You do not need to upgrade the processor.
man legitimately said dot are aye are file when even my cat can say rar
Speaking of installing Core 2 Quads - would it be an adequate idea to install a 45W CPU into a laptop that originally came with CPUs that ran at 35W tops? Would it be possible to somehow knock down its TDP through software like Intel XTU, or are they too old for tricks like these to work? I don't really care if it would run slower as a result of decreasing TDP/undervolting/weak cooling system/whatever - I only really need that CPU for the benefit of having four cores.
(hardware mods are out of question, I'm afraid, unless it's installing a premade beefier cooling system, which I don't think exists for a less popular budget model)
On forum.thinkpads you can read about that mod. By undervolting the cpu you don't actually hinder the performance of it, it has only benefits due to the lower power consumption. I don't think the quad-core mod has much benefit in real world, as it has weaker single core performance compared to the X9000. So apart from a few programs that are heavily multi-threaded, there won't be any performance increase doing most tasks.
@@kosztaz87 Most program are multi thread already, but from what i found on these older Core 2 lineup, the GHz makes it feels snappy, not the quad core most of the time.
Still, a quad core mod is still beneficial for a daily Windows 10 machine.
last time i'am replaced old HP laptop (Screen was broken, accidentally someone smashed by chair) Dual core 45W TDP AMD A4-3330MX 2.3GHz base, 2.6GHz turbo to based cpu model quad core 45W TDP AMD A8-3500M 1.5GHz base, 2.4GHz turbo.
iddle and full load temperature are similiar but adaptor power consumption increased 2 cores < 4 cores.
it's un-optimized cpu oem just leave us the factory voltage then i decided to overclock then undervolted it for reducing power consumption. just finding stable frequency with proper voltage.
1.5 GHz Base 1.0500v to 2.0 GHz 1.0250v
2.4 Ghz Turbo 1.3250v to 2.7 GHz 1.0875v
900 MHz iddle 0.925v to 800Mhz 0.785v
iGPU HD6620G 444MHz 0.9825v to 500MHz 1.000v
that's stable no freeze or bluescreen.
It possible to reach more highest overclocking but no reason to increasing temperature, voltage and power load.
as display i'am use hdmi 1080p tv so more headroom to my 65W hp power adaptor.
windows 10 pro 64 bit enough for casual work.
yes swapped dual core to quadcore give you more benefit even if not overcloking.
undervolting is make a sense in this case to reduce consumption and same performance.
Loved the video! You earned a new subscriber :)
This bios unlock sata2 for HDD,and support for 2x4gb ddr2/800 mGHz and support for the biggest cpuCore 2 duo X9000.I had Had experience from My T61P which I gave to my cousin!!
I have r61i that has a t2330 and 1gb of ram. I bought 4GBs of ram, a ssd and a t9300 for under $25 bucks. Not sure if I need middleton or not but if I am locked to sata 1 then I will check it out for sure. EDIT: The r61i will support up to a t9500, however they are much more expensive than the t9300 and are only clocked 100mhz higher. I ordered a new battery and I am going to try to update to get SATA II speeds.
Hi,
I’ve got an r61i and I am going to upgrade to ssd.
But i don’t know the exact specs (I.e whether it’s widescreen or not, amongst other things) so I don’t know which link to download on the thinkwiki page :(
Any way I can find out what my laptop’s exact specs are? Thanks!
Look up the Type-number/serial number on the bottom cover.
this dont work on my T61 with win XP 32bit. when I click to update BIOS in the exc file it just pops up warning saying image file not found and fails to proceed. no note about this in readme etc.
Thanks for sharing, I didn't know I could get to 8Gb of ram, now my t61 wide is much faster, I'll probably update the t7500 with a faster one but I think I'll stay away from Extreme Edition for power and temperature issues. The network adapter with the right drivers does not cause problems, the same for adi soundmax
You mentioned upgrading the cooling assembly. Is there an online resource where I can read up on the cooling assemblies and their compatibility for various Thinkpads? I've got a T420 that I'd like to pamper a little.
I can’t say there’s a place devoted entirely to cooling assemblies, but you can find some threads on the thinkpads.com forum that give people’s recommendations for cooling.
I see your T61 Board has the NVS140m - I hope it's a non-bugged version.
However even with that - there are middleton mods that undervolt the GPU significantly (which can be done without any risks, the original voltage is rather high), helping to reduce heat and GPU wear.
While I really like older GPUs (especially ATI ones), they are definitely, even without the Nvidia Bug, the no. 1 weak point of laptop motherboards.
This is one of the rare revised motherboards that was manufactured after normal production of the T61 was discontinued, someone at The Board Room has a stockpile of them that can be purchased for (rather expensive but understandably so) FrankenPadding.
@@SebisRandomTech nice! I personally would still undervolt it, its easy and safe, and a chip always lasts longer when operated at a lower voltage.
Here is a list with many BIOSes including undervolting and even Quadcore modding (even if it is German, it might be interesting)
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/172581-Anleitung-FSB-1066-CPUs-inkl-Core-2-Quad-in-Thinkpad-T61-benutzen-GPU-undervolten
I was thinking about doing undervolting as part of this video but I think I’ll save it for a future video.
@@TheRailroad99 what bug do you mean? Mine has an nvs140m and I would like to know the bug
I've got the rare late addition with the good GPU.
My xeon P52 with 128GB ram, 2x nvme 1tb and 1x ssd 4tb, gives a respectful nod to it's predecessors.
im planning on doing the middleton bios mod for my moms laptop its a celeron 500 (or something like that) with a ssd and 4gb of ram but its still terribly slow. As soon as shops open back up i plan on throwing a cheap dual core in there and hopefully this will be enough for her to do whatever she likes if not then im replacing it and not sure what to do with this thing
Just found the chanell, and youre awesome!
i need a bit of help. im trying to do this to my own t61. i have the cd burnt and ready to go but wen in the laptop it gives me a return code =14 or =8 wen i try to boot off the cd drive. but it boots into a hdd just fine. and i cant seem to find any info on this online
I was wondering if there were any updated firmware that adds extra functionality and any upgrades that can be done to the old Lenovo x201?
Wish there was something like that for the Acer Extensa 5220. Not so much on the CPU side, since the Core Duo 2 T7700 (fastest CPU supported by the rig) I upgraded it with is making me use almost everything with little issues, but for the RAM. It supports only 3Gb max, forcing me to use 32bit OS in spite of the CPU being a 64 bit.
Forcing the machine to 4Gb simply doesn't work. It refuses to POST. Allegedly there should a newer version of the chipset that supports 4Gb but... guess what, my laptop has the older one. I tried. If I say it doesn't POST it's because I KNOW it doesn't.
And even if there are voices around the various forums that you could even reach 5 or 9Gb occupying the RAM slot 1 with either a 4 or 8Gb SODIMM and the slot 2 with a 1Gb SODIMM, I'm not going to fork any more money (after the failed 4Gb upgrade) to try out an upgrade that seems to be only rumour.
I found a T440P in the ewaste bin and fished it out. I gave it a 1080p display ($70 CAD on ebay), some DDR3 I had kicking around and a SSD. Great little machine. But I want to coreboot it just for funsies. I don't want to lose any functionality, though and that seems to be something you can suffer with coreboot on a less supported system.
Should I do it? It's not my daily driver really. I just use it when I want to do some coding on the couch.
Entirely your decision. I haven’t done it because I don’t have a need to, but your needs may differ.
I have the thermal sensing error on the X61 with a soldered processor. Does Middleton BIOS fix this?
see reddit author:szmy8 you can swap correct corresponding t60 to t61 models entire bottom chassis or just the t60 monitors and hinges.
you can reflow bake the t61 mobo in the oven 7 minutes 325 preheat 250 first. 7 minutes open door let rest n cool, remove re tape the black zones you peeled off.
if the monitor dosnt boot up but you get a power light led on re assembly you need to power cycle the power button and right mouse button until the monitor posts to bios.
if you have power led no monitor, cant cycle boot with right click, strip it and try to bake it again better, strip more, more even heat, correct temps, try boot n click till bios posts. hf gl
My grandpa gave me his old laptop and it was a T61 that had windows 7 on it
If you want to go completely mad, with some motherboard mods and another BIOS, you can have the Core2 Quad-Extreme QX9300.
Also, there is a way to force the installer to run on 64 bit windows, you just need to download a newer version of winphlash64.
I did mention the motherboard mods and Core 2 Quad in the video....
As for the Windows bit, thanks for the info.
@@SebisRandomTech I know, I didnt realized you were grouping the quad-extremes in with the quads.
As for the winphlash thing, you just have to download winphlash an use it to flash the BIOS file you downloaded for the ISO version.
Gonna point out you can push more speed with that cpu with throttlestop due to unlocked multiplier.
You can easily hit 3.2 GHZ for daily use people have gone up to 4ghz but thats warrm
It really got my R61 faster thanks!!!
Looking at the benchmarks since I have a T9300 in my T61, from what I read there is not much difference between T9300 vs T9500 vs X9000. Some sites listed the T9500 the overall clear winner.
Can those be installed without additional mods?
@@SebisRandomTech i librebooting it. Other than that it was a direct drop in
The x9000 can be easily overclocked to 3.2 ghz. I got it to 3.4. Id like to see how the t9500 compares when the x9000 is on 3.2. And do note i did this on a precision m4300. Im assuming the t60 has the vrm and thermal headroom to boost to 3.2
Hi, would you mind making video about T430 upgrade/modding and bios modding? Always love your videos
Working on that.
@@SebisRandomTech Thank you very much. Can't wait to see it
RAM recognized depends on OS
7:41 Those 2 sticks of ram cost around $100 USD (for brand new) or if you are lucky you may find some second hand for $35 per stick. The cost of ram can bought a Thinkpad x220 in my City.
I previous own a X61 with 8GB DDR2 ram with SSD... It was slow if you are using windows 10. Linux is good
Man, I never would have thought Kate Middleton was into BIOS modding
can i install this BIOS to my Thinkpad x201? I have a 4GB ram and i bought 4 more gigs. The BIOS says that i have 8GB but windows won't boot :(
Nope. That sounds like an issue with your Windows installation.
@@SebisRandomTech maybe..
@@dieselgeezer18 reinstall. No link between memory size and windows boot.
Are you running a 32bit OS?
@@Shaddow798 64 bit
Today I bought a mint condition T61 on ebay for $100 Canadian. It's got a C2D 7300, 4GB Ram and a 250GB SSD. Seems like a great deal to me!
Hope you enjoy it! They're pretty solid as long as you don't encounter GPU issues.
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks! BTW... the one I bought has a 14.1" 16:9 wide TN display. Can I install a 4:3 IPS like you have?
@@JeffWaynee You can’t, at least not easily. The 4:3 and 16:10 versions of the T60/61 use completely different components for the most part. To use a Flexview display with the T61 you need a 15” 4:3 T60 body (with the display of course) and a 14” 4:3 T61 motherboard z
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks again for all your help. BTW... I found the date of manufacture on the bottom, and mine is a very late 14.1" 16:10 from July 2010, so I'm well out of the bad GPU's. Do you know if they were using better LCD backlights by then?
@@JeffWaynee As far as I know all T61's used CCFL backlights. The T400 used both CCFL and LED backlights depending on which configuration you purchased.
why dont you install its original windows 7 instead of crappy w10, of course its gonna perform bad with a resource hog os like w10
lol. you took your frankenpad to the Fort Pitt bridge.