Lenovo Thinkpad X230 in 2021! Why should you buy? (feat. eGPU: gtx 750 ti 2gb oc!)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ค. 2024
- Full Review of refurbished & upgraded Lenovo Thinkpad X230!
Specs:
i5 3320m
500gb Sandisk SSD
WWAN module + Vodafone data-only SIM
16gb ddr3 1600mhz ram
thanks for watching,
TechDave
xx
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th-cam.com/video/QaRcYmBFgPc/w-d-xo.html
Latest video where I use exclusively the thinkpad x230 as my only pc for one week in 2022!
I am also a lover of x230. Both of them have moved from movable to non-operating, but I will challenge to operate. Please continue to upload x230 videos. We support from Japan! !! !!
Domo ariagato gezimas (excuse my terrible japanese)
Only other phrase I know is "boku wa otakanohito" then I punch my chest lmao
応援よろしくお願いします
チャンネルへようこそ
x230 has a cult following. its still very usable in year 2021 for office productivity. great machine.
Nice one Dave (and Mrs Dave). Still a capable machine today, and with your mods, even more so!
Thanks! Its quickly becoming my favourite portable device
I use T430 as my daily driver for some time. I swapped the keyboard for the 7row design, added aftermarket 9cell and second HDD in ultrabay for watching movies when on the go. I'm looking forward to upgrading it further (most likely to quadcore cpu and msata SSD). I also use eGPU sometimes.
I'm thinking about buying x230 for my sister. It will be mainly used for school, light gaming and streaming games using parsec running on her desktop.
nice video ;). liked, subscribed and looking forward to more content
Thanks so much! I highly recommend the quad core upgrade for ur T430!!! Happy viewing and thanks for the sub xx
The setup turned out great!
Thanks dude!!
Your setup looks great :)
thanks! x
Watching on mine right now. Msata for the OS , HDD for data and 10GB RAM. Love it!
Awesome setup! What do you use to mount your docking station to the monitor mount? Is it a generic fits-all kind of solution? I bought a cheap chinese monitor mount but they don't sell alternative mounts, so I may be a little SOL...
amazon basics laptop arm and monitor stand
Heres the link to the one i boguht (uk link)
www.amazon.co.uk/HUANUO-Monitor-Adjustable-Notebook-Mounting/dp/B07DWM9WNM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3JQNPWH1PLFX6&dchild=1&keywords=laptop+and+monitor+stand+for+desk&qid=1632324872&sprefix=laptop+and+monoit%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMUxJS0szUTlPREM1JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTYxMzQ0NjJOUkdKUU1LTTM2JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwODUzMjJLSVdPUTBNRUc4UFYmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
The Thinkpad x230 is a fantastic machine! I recently installed an IPS panel and maxed the ram at 16GB. I have an eGPU on order and I can't wait to hook it all up. I love the bottle opener under the desk. Nice touch!
How's it running, heard the egpu setup causes strain the cpu heavily when the ram is up'd to 16gb. Any updates?
Great to hear! gotta be ready for a beer in the studio!
it totally depends which gpu you choose, and in all the later bios revisions there shud be zero issues, but your mileage may vary: my gtx 560 ti OC 1.5gb card locked the cpu to 100%, but my RX 480 8gb & GTX 750 ti 2gb run fine and dandy
Really like this setup dave, i also have my t440p docked at all times :)
but at this point i might as well just build a budget desktop rig hehe.
x230 with the 750 ti is a great lil build tho for classic gaming and even some newer games from the 2000s :)
thanks my dude! ive had games up to around 2010ish era running fine on dandy using medium presets running on the same cpu and gpu, it just depends how fussy one is about resolution/fps, defo an upgrade from the intel hd4000 igpu anyway!
id love a modern eGPU setup tbh, i love the docking/portablility factor of them!
i prefer it to a desktop and a laptop (which is generally how i "work" these days)
got my eye on the T460 i think it was and a thunderbolt 3 eGPU dock.
would be perfect as they have thunderbolt and i believe a proper docking station as well.
time/budget will tell though i suppose!
@@TechDave i hear the t480 can make for an egpu setup. i think the t460 is not able to have an egpu. you could ask on the reddit group however :)
@@PsycosisIncarnated I think I meant the t480. Its a long way off for me anyway, quite an investment for my budget!
@@TechDave haha how many thinkpads does a man need anyhow?!! i think youre totally set for now anyhow. Also i prefer the x series personally much better. Going from t440p to x270 its like night and day....
Magic eraser sponge, quick dry rub over then same again with a tiny bit of water. Will bring the thinkpad lid up like new.
Hi. I have such a laptop, but am not able to connect it to a HDMI beamer. Tried an adapter, but it does not work. Do you have any suggestions? Tried a thinkpad thunderbolt 3 dock but the laptop does not have an usb c!!
The laptop uses a mini display port so u cud try an minidisplayport to hdmi adaptor.
What is a hdmi beamer?
A few days ago I pulled mine out for the first time since December. I'd forgotten how nice it is to work on - perfect for doing general admin or "online" stuff, when I'm not at my desk. It makes the T430S feel like a big lump of a thing...
I sold on my t430s recently ish, still got t430 (upgraded with i7 3840qm!) + x1 carbon 3rd gen i7 + this x230. I gave tech missus my x230 tablet i7 on thursday for her birthday, she was over the moon! Didnt realise til I compared it to her i5 how amazing the screen on the one I gave her is! Ips panel.
Love my x230, still very capable device. Ive heard u can get quad-core 8t motherboards from china and graft them in, but I dont rate my soldering skills as yet, wud be badass to have a true quad-core x230! But the dual-core does its best and I got priority members on geforce now to pick up the slack, so other than video editing ive beeb exclusively using the x230 since the upgrade video
@@TechDave Oooh, quad core motherboard? Have you a link? That would be sweet. Mine's already got a 1080p mod board soldered in, and the screen is seriously crisp. Fonts are slightly small though!
I want to switch to the x220 keyboard, in the future and then 1vyrain mod so I can upgrade the wifi module (our home router is a beast). My favourite thing currently is the wwan/mobile broadband. Its max 21 mb/s max download so in the uk (cant remember if ur uk based) I pretty much constantly get that speed otg (vodafone are great for coverage and speed) and im quite smitten with the whole thing. Means I can use my x230 anywhere, especially with the 7.5hours battery I installed (on battery saver mode in windows, linux gets longer but not much more than 8 hours, can test if it interests u)
@@GrahamAtDesk ooh lush! Im tempted to try the 1080p mod in the future, my hands arent really stable enuf for soldering tbh (due to the plethora of meds im.on and my relentless coffee addiction lol)
Is it a tricky process?
Re the quad-core mobos, just google it as I dont have a link/website to link u to, off the top of my head it was either Alibaba or aliexpress, something like that. Happy hunting (if u find a good price one please link it for other viewers if u dont mind, x)
www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/b982zr/why_hello_there_quadcore_x230_frankenpad/?
I think this I where I originally found the idea
Maybe you could use an hdmi switch between the x230 and the gpu? just switch to the empty port when you need to unplug.
genius! ive got a KVM so i could most definately try that! thank you!
th-cam.com/video/AyiaHRMCjfM/w-d-xo.html gave u a shout out in my latest video, as ur hdmi switcher idea worked perfectly, I actually use the display port - hdmi out as port 1 on my kvm, and port 2 for gpu, so it always boots up now and I just press the button on the kvm after win10 splash screen!
@@TechDave Nice! Glad to hear it's working well.
Greetings. I looked around for a new used laptop for me since I will need something portable. Can you recommend a x230 in that use case? I was thinking about the models with the 4th Gen Intel cpu but I realized the x240 and t440 has U processors and it might be slower and the only two options might be the t440p and x230 and I don't really know what to choose for portability and some office/multimedia tasks.
As long as ur not gaming the x230 is much cheaper than t440p, although the cpu options on the latter are vastly better and if u can afford it, u might get more life overall from the t440p as they can be upgraded far more, whereas the x230 cpu is a non-socketed dual core four threads. So it really depends on a) what u can afford and b) what ur use case is
@@TechDave you said not gaming. Can you tell me if Terraria, Minecraft or Counter Strike will run on the x230? Even if I will need to get an egpu or install an emulator for Minecraft and Terraria. They're lower demanding games.
@@annoyinguser counter strike u r probably out of luck even with an eGPU, Minecraft and terraria u shud be good to go!
@@annoyinguser I've tried in a previous video counter strike, and the cpu just is a bit too weak, even with a eGPU, as the latest versions are a lot more demanding, although I did get apex legends running with an 8gb gpu, so it depends what gpu ur gonna use. I wud say get a card with no more than 3/4gb vram and cpu heavy games, (eg ubisoft titles and big triple a games) won't really be an option
@@TechDave about minecraft, can you try the latest Java version? I can help you to install an official version that came right from Mojang. Sorry if I'm annoying with this, but I saw that you ran just fine GeForce Now and this game is the only one that isn't available. The idea is I just need some cheap laptop for the university to carry around and as I stated, I have only 2 or 3 games I play on the computer.
Still using X230 i7 16gb 1TB SATA SSD 🚀
@Crypto-&-AI-FUTURE:
I have a question.
I'm trying to decide between two X230's.
Both are refurbished.
Both come with SSD's.
Both are $300.00
One comes with a Core i7 processor.
One comes with a Core i5 3320M processor.
The one that comes with the Core i5 processor is sold by a Microsoft-certified Refurbisher, that apparently (according to a ton of reviews, including independent third-party reviews) is very reputable, and even Lockheed-Martin uses them.
The one that comes with the Core i7 processor is sold by a local computer-repair shop that sells refurbished computers.
I have already-contacted the local repair-shop to ask them if their Core-i7-carrying X230 is "Grade-A Refurbished" or what grade is it[,] and they told me that they NEVER classify the Refurbished-laptops they sell as "Grade A", because they buy the refurbished-laptops in-bulk, and they come in cargo-containers, and there's always dings in them and/or scratched-screens and/or dents in the computer-chassises or whatnot.
And so (referring back to this Core-i5-carrying X230), it IS "Grade-A Refurbished", AND for this particular Refurbisher, what classifies as "Grade-A Refurbished" is no-scratches-on-the-screen nor dead-pixels nor dents nor dings nor anything, not even dents on the chassis nor dings on the chassis.
[And they're both 300 dollars.]
My question to you is,
Should I get the Core-i7 one because of its extra-power or should I go for the Core-i5 one which is "Grade-A Refurbished" EVEN-THOUGH it has LESS power than the Core-i7 one?
It does not have a HDMI out, how do you connect it to a monitor that does not have a display port? Can you use the USB-C instead?
it has mini-displayport! you can buy hdmi to mini-displayport adaptors online! happy googling!
Is it possible to upgrade the x230 microphone?
not that i know of my friend, but good luck if u try it, let me know if u find a way!
i know the speakers can be replaced
Ive read from reddit that some have had ran into issues with the egpu setup if the ram is upgraded to 16gb. The mention is that all the power then gets drawn from the CPU? Anyone know of these claims? I just picked up a i7 X230t. Looking forward to making it my daily driver.
afaik, bios version and whihc gpu are the main factors, for example: x230 i5 works falwlessly with ADM RX480 8gb w/ 16gb ram, but 1.5gb gtx 560 ti no go. gtx750 ti 2gb & rx 480 also worked flawless with x230T i7, so they may bea good shout depnding on u rbudget etc
ps: ull know if u have the issue with ur gpu if the cpu locked at 100% that was the symptom i had with gtx560 ti
@@TechDave Thanks for getting back to me with this advice. My hope is for the cleanest low-key Linux distro that gives me just the essentials, Run Anki and Krita. maybe...maybe a game or two, but nothing to bog it down with windows bloat.
@@a.e.mendoza a good balanced gpu wud be 2-4gb for the dual-core4 thread i7, happy hunting, somehting to note:
amd gpus are more likely to work out of the box without faff, but if u choose to go nvidia they run better as eGPUs, but u may come against error 42 with nvidia, in which u wanna go to egpu.io to find out how to fix that issue.
i prefer AMD as theres noerror 42 most times,but the nvidias run better, best bet is using AMD with external monitor.
i like using somehting like wacom tablet pen and touch small, fairly cheap, and means u can seamlessly switch between desktop & OTG workflows,this is esepically
useful with eGPUs, as they struggle to feed the internal monitor with the exp beast dock
happy gpu hunting!
@@TechDave Awesome thanks for the generous advice. I honestly hope to not need an egpu. I do mostly traditional work and wanted a digital space to paint comps and preliminary work from. Which is why I thought linux and its lean. I was gonna run OS off the 2.5 ssd. Art reference photos of an msata. Very use case here. Hell even a SD card could run my reference library. In anycase...u could call in an essentialist X230T! Also subbed
@@a.e.mendoza very much thanks for the sub!
I have many devices, and whilst these are not sexy like the razer or MacBooks, I love my little x220 , I know I can take it anywhere, bash it and it will be fine. If I did the same with the others they would be tatty and look mashed up.
Good lord. This was never designed to be a gamming platform! It was intended to be compact, portable tool for business. It still does that job wonderfully today. If you want to game, get a gaming machine.
Lmao!
sorry for the laughter, its just that i think uve missed the point of my channel thats all
@@TechDave "Modding, Gaming, Tech Reviews and more! " No, I got that. I still stick with what I said as you did no mods that could be considered able to truly make this little machine a better gamer. It's like if I had a channel about dirt bikes, mods and reviews and I reviewed a Honda Goldwing with a bash plate added on motocross track. Just a bit silly. But, whatever peels your onion .. I guess.
@@uni-byte fair enuf, if its any reassurance to u, I just really like reviving these old machines and making them do stuff they're not really meant to. Hope ur not genuinely bothered by it, the whole thinkpad-eGPU combo is kinda my USP atm. I do agree with ur point though, I just find it's a good way to breathe a bit more life into these amazing but older machines
@@uni-byte also: if u wanna see some modding, I upgraded the heck out of a T430 and improvements to performance and incredible!
Ps: perhaps I shud make my about page a bit more specific!
Hi please he power start with no battery ?
Thank you
I dont quite understand the question. Whats the issue?
@@TechDave i would like to know if it starts without battery i am out of thinkpad x230
@@kirokiro6591 it shud work fine without battery, godspeed
X230 vs X1Carbon, which is better?
It totally depends on use case! I prefer my x230 as its got 16gb ram and far easier to upgrade, but the x1 carbon slightly outperforms the x230 gpu+cpu wise
@PanoramaCircle:
As far as I know all the X1-Carbons have soldered-onto-the-motherboard Ram so I'd say the X230 is better, because if the Ram stops working you can replace the Ram.
(P.S. a computer without Ram (or with Ram that DOESN'T-*WORK*) won't boot ("boot" as-in "boot-up into the operating-system")).
Lenovo corei5 x230❤️❤️❤️
can u plug a eGPU 1030 2gb on it?
Shud be able to ye! Id recommend checking out egpu.io for any tips/builds/ solutions to problems. U may well find u have to boot up before attaching video cable, same as I did
It supposed to be called blazed dave🤣
Sir support premiere pro
Yes but performance will be pretty bad
11:50 Elite spotted
I'm a big fan of elite! My favourite setup was triple 32" tvs in nvidia surround when I borrowed a 3060 ti briefly
@@TechDave My Dad played Elite on the C64, which was the reason I tried the new game and I'm glad I did. Only on a single monitor so far, but the game would lend itself to an ultrawide or multi-monitor setup certainly!
Battery not so good… only last 2 hours
i bought a fairly expensive replacement from duracell, 8+ hours on in windows, cost £80, i can find a link if ur interested?
Need advice guys..
I am offered a used x230 for $78
Keyboard keys QAZ not functioning
Will it be worth it after changing keyboard? Im from year 2022
My vote is yes that's a great price, show around ull get a non back-lit keyboard for about £20 ish or less
YES. I bought an x230i tablet not a month ago for about $80 and it runs windows 10 better than my last laptop that was only about 2 years old even though this one's only a third-gen i3 CPU. I found a backlit keyboard on Amazon for it that's backlit for $50, but there are other keyboard options for cheaper. Spend a few dollars for some DDR3 RAM and an SSD and you'll be amazed!
@@neophobicnyctophile8264 hear hear! beastly for their age!
Are you indian?
Not that I am aware of no. Why do u ask?
@@TechDave In this video there is a picture on the wall behind your chair, in which ॐ and some lines are written in Sanskrit, which generally an Indian keeps in his house.
@@RamBhau420 ahh yes, I am a bit religious, quite Into Hindu concepts about God, as well as some elements of Christianity and Buddhism!
@@TechDave why not with islam?
This is my shrine I use for prayer and meditation, and occasionally even ritual magick
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