15" T60 type 2007-53G Frankenpad

[Natakranta]

Hi guys,
I was lucky to buy a very good condition 15" T60 type 2007-53G on local adverts in Dublin few weeks ago.
After last night successfully frankenpading my 15" R60 I'm feeling very hyped to do the same with this T60. So I am looking on eBay what parts to buy.

14" T61 wide-screen 42W7867 motherboard. I know, infamous Nvidia chip, but it is cheap and nearby with cheap shipping from UK to Ireland. If it breaks in the future, I'll buy another on. I'm counting on my luck here and trying to keep cost low. This one would be under 40 EUR delivered quickly and without any Customs hustle. And it has the PCMCIA cage/slot that I read on theboardroom I need because the original one from T60 will not fit.

Here is more expensive alternative LENOVO FRU 44C3933 THIS IS A MANUFACTURE REFURB claimed to be still sealed. This would be about 60 EUR delivered from USA to Ireland, assuming that as mentioned in the listing tax is covered. Would it be worth it over the above? Other thing I guess it does not have the PCMCIA cage/slot, which I'd have to source separately. Additional cost and hustle.

T500/W500 discrete graphics heat sink 45N5492, 18 EUR delivered. Do I need new heat pads for it, I guess so. I already have MX-4 thermal paste for CPU.

T9300/T9500 CPU depending on how crazy I'll go, that's 20 Vs 40 EUR difference.

I've already ordered Intel AC 7260 WiFi card, I have adapter for it to extend to mount points . I have good experience with this card.

What an I missing? I'm looking forward to your comments.

Laptop has very nice stock SVGA+ (1400x1050) FlexView screen. I may consider later on swapping UXGA (1600x1400) screen from my R601F, or go bananas and but it "new" UXGA screen from China later on.

[ajkula66]

You can't use a board from a widescreen T61 for FrankenPadding, only a 4:3 one

[RealBlackStuff]

Can't say it better than George!

Here's a list of "possibles":
Intel GM965: 42W7648 Merom / 42W3807 Merom / 42W7872 Penryn
Nvidia NVS140M: 42W7649 Merom / 43Y9045 Merom / 42W7873 Penryn / 44C3924 Penryn
Nvidia Quadro FX 570M (T61p): 42W7650 Merom / 43Y9046 Merom / 42W7874 Penryn / 44C3926 Penryn

The above Merom mobos need Middleton's BIOS to make them Penryn capable.
But ALL of them need M's BIOS for SATA II speed and all his other goodies.

You can get 4:3 NOS (New Old Stock) NVS140M motherboards from TuuS, via my Boardroom website.

[Natakranta]

You can't use a board from a widescreen T61 for FrankenPadding, only a 4:3 one

Thanks! I don't know why I was under impression it's the 14" T61 widescreen board that is needed. I must have misread something in the past and just get this mistake stuck in my head.
Of course you are absolutely right. I took a look at my T60 15" and T61 14" widescreen and difference in ports location is obvious, like the audio jacks that are on left edge of T60 4:3 and on front edge of T61 14" widescreen.
So happy I asked before pulling the trigger.

[Natakranta]

Can't say it better than George!

Here's a list of "possibles":
Intel GM965: 42W7648 Merom / 42W3807 Merom / 42W7872 Penryn
Nvidia NVS140M: 42W7649 Merom / 43Y9045 Merom / 42W7873 Penryn / 44C3924 Penryn
Nvidia Quadro FX 570M (T61p): 42W7650 Merom / 43Y9046 Merom / 42W7874 Penryn / 44C3926 Penryn

The above Merom mobos need Middleton's BIOS to make them Penryn capable.
But ALL of them need M's BIOS for SATA II speed and all his other goodies.

You can get 4:3 NOS (New Old Stock) NVS140M motherboards from TuuS, via my Boardroom website.

I'm very familiar with Boardroom website
As much as I'd love to have one of these NOS motherboards, I am trying to keep costs down and wanted to check if I can get something cheaper.
Thank you for writing compatibile FRU numbers for Frankenpading T60. I did quick search on eBay and there is not much if anything there at the moment. I will keep on searching but most likely, at the end of the day, I'll be in touch for NOS motherboard.
What I found interesting is that you listed Nvidia Quadro FX 570M boards. Maybe I got something wrong again but I thought these are not a direct swap. Aren't there some modifications needed for these boards to fit in to 15" T60?
IIRC FX570M are more powerful graphics than NVS140, that makes them really interesting option.

[ajkula66]

What I found interesting is that you listed Nvidia Quadro FX 570M boards. Maybe I got something wrong again but I thought these are not a direct swap. Aren't there some modifications needed for these boards to fit in to 15" T60?
IIRC FX570M are more powerful graphics than NVS140, that makes them really interesting option.

As long as they're meant for the 4:3 units there's no physical difference between these two types of boards.

[wujstefan]

IIRC FX570M are more powerful graphics than NVS140, that makes them really interesting option.

Stronger, but not by much. NVS140m accepts overclocking (and those sold by Don - a _LOT_ of overclocking; I've succeeded in 50% OC with no voltage increase), making them almost as good as fx570m while consuming 3,5x less power (at least on paper - fx570m in 4:3 ratio is nerfed down to 128Mb VRAM only so I expect it to consume less than declared 35W; nvs140m consumes 10W only).

Unless you really need this single-digit fps more, I'd let it down. Some time ago I was excited about fx570m in those frankies, but the charm disappeared when resl-life tested what's the difference between nvs140m and 4:3 fx570m, and how much less powerful this thing is compared to its 16:10 sibling.

If looking for inexpensive nVidia or Intel boards I've got a couple of such, used, tested and working. As well as all the parts needed to perform the mod. I have more joy in modding R-series

[JBUK]

I have an Intel T61 mobo available. 25GBP plus shipping if that is of any interest. Complete with a CPU and fan.

[Natakranta]

I have an Intel T61 mobo available. 25GBP plus shipping if that is of any interest. Complete with a CPU and fan.

Thanks a mill for coming up, price is very attractive, and postage wouldn't cost arm and leg cose I'm in Dublin, but I'll be looking for board with NVS140m to get more punch. I already have R601F with Intel GPU and I want to make my T60 more graphically powerful if possible for better video playback.

[Natakranta]

Stronger, but not by much. NVS140m accepts overclocking (and those sold by Don - a _LOT_ of overclocking; I've succeeded in 50% OC with no voltage increase), making them almost as good as fx570m while consuming 3,5x less power (at least on paper - fx570m in 4:3 ratio is nerfed down to 128Mb VRAM only so I expect it to consume less than declared 35W; nvs140m consumes 10W only)....

I did more reading and came across this discussion somewhere here on forums, overclocked NVS140m almost matching 128Mb FX570m but with way less power consumption = cooler, quieter, longer battery life. So NVS140m will be my first pick.

R60 was nice to modify, see my thread in R section, if only not that I was unlucky to buy supervisor locked board and realise only after fully assembling it into my R60. Thankfully RealBlackStuff came to the rescue with pass removal and I'm enjoying my first R Frankie. Upgrading from Merom to Penryn CPU gave significant boost in battery life. Previously with T7400 it was doing about 1:15h of Internet browsing on max screen brightness, now with T9300 it's over 2h. Assuming it's due to chip move from 65nm to 45nm silicone .

[Natakranta]

Update.
Plenty of toys to franken this pad ordered. First one has just been delivered from China: 42W2820 heat sink with fan.
Two fresh pictures: Front and Back because 1 picture tells 1000 words.
Hoping NVS140M motherboard, CPU and RAM will follow soon.

[Natakranta]

Update!
New toys arrived last weekend - T61 NVS140M board
RAM slots view
old T7300 CPU still in place, will help to flash it with Middleton BIOS
It came still attached to metal frame
and in its T61 base of 8889-3TGType.
On top of that I got as well T8300 for the time being before I manage to get genuine X9000 and 2x2GB DDR2 RAM sticks for good start.
Huge thanks to @wujstefan for providing the parts

Middleton BIOS 2.29-1.08 for T61, T61p (all) - is it the one for the board above?

Ahhh, almost forgot, I got as well Intel AC 7260 Mini PCI-E Wi-Fi card and adapter to full size.

[atagunov]

2007-FVG T60 here, collecting parts too

[1]

Stronger, but not by much. NVS140m accepts overclocking (and those sold by Don - a _LOT_ of overclocking; I've succeeded in 50% OC with no voltage increase), making them almost as good as fx570m while consuming 3,5x less power (at least on paper - fx570m in 4:3 ratio is nerfed down to 128Mb VRAM only so I expect it to consume less than declared 35W; nvs140m consumes 10W only)

Anybody knows if fx570m 256Mb consumes more power "at rest"?
While browing/watching youtube/dvd-s/mp4-s?

[2]

I think I've developed an eye by now to quickly differentiate as unsuitable
- 14.1 T61 widescreen mobos on ebay/TaoBao: they got different ports on the left
- 14.1 widescreen whole T61-s - the shape of keyboard is different around ESC key

Can't fathom why some people scratch TYPE sticker off from the bottom..

[3]

This looks like a very nice list of T61 motherboard FRU-s - in case somebody not yet in the know visits this topic

[RealBlackStuff]

Rather than cutting out some piece of the 15" T60 frame, it's a lot easier to carefully "wiggle" the 14.1" T61 modem-connector left-right a couple of times (only millimeters!) until it comes off the motherboard.
After that, just put a piece of electrician's tape over the old spot.

[atagunov]

Still curious: W500 cooler I got has one part less compared to Natakrana's T61 one. A problem for me?
Interestingly W500 heatpipe touches radiator less but chipset more. W500 was supposed to be a tiny bit better?

My source: 45N5492 "for Lenovo ThinkPad T500 W500"
Natakrana's source: 42W2820 "T60 T60P T61 T61P R61I R61E"