I have a pretty nice t61. It came with the fastest cpu available at the time, and nvidia graphics. It was one of the last to come off the line as a custom build so it has the reliable gpu. Replaced the fan 5 years ago and been running strong. Its my dj rig running real time linux , and I updated the bios for faster ssd speeds.
Useful to my T60 CPU upgrade thx. I've got a rumbling fan as well. And the screen is rather dim. Put in two 2Gb RAM sticks. Reads only 3Gb of course. SSD disk with Linux Mint. Standard graphics - still it's amazing how well these old ThinPads still work.
Faster tutorial: 1. Unplug all cables 2. Take off battery and hdd 3. Remove all screws holding keyboard and palmrest 4. Remove keyboard and palmrest (dont need to be unpluged just move them down) (if you dont know to how carefully remove keyboard and palmrest and what screws remove, watch video) 5. Remove cooler holders (small metal peices) 6. Remove cooler 7. Unscrew screw next to CPU and carefully remove it 8. Give there new 9. Also dont forget to remove thermal paste from coller, give thermal paste to new CPU and remove old on GPU and give there new. 10. Give everything back how it should be. EDIT: before giving cooler back, check all cables if they are "free" to prevent them breaking, escaply the fan cable.
I just upgraded a beaten up T60 (to the T7400 CPU) and I forgot to update the BIOS in first try and it hit me like a brick that I had to do that in my failure feelings and after putting the old back. With my pretty T61 I'm now at a BIOS 2.30 and I picked up the T7700 processor in the "Post Office" today.
Not sure if you had a follow-up to this video but you can buy the all-in-one fan+heatsink for about $15 US on eBay. It's the entire piece that you pulled out.
I had the same problem with the fan that seemed too big to me, really that's not a problem because the fan spins under and not inside that round space. You could also omit the tape since it's quite stable without it.
The fan does run more often but that's it really, and of course it does run the battery down faster. Still better than my previous laptop which had a P4 Prescott (!)
Hello ta all. I have question: Just got used T61 and put 2x2GB of RAM but the laptop can recognize only 3GB of RAM. What i the problem? It run Windows XP pro, 32 bit. Thank you
Your problem is likely the 32-bit version of Windows. Depending on the computer, how much RAM is shared for graphics etc, a 32-bit Windows typically can only use about 3.5GB of RAM. To use 4GB or more, you will need to change to a 64-bit version.
@@mariok6519 No problem for the laptop at all. It will not damage anything or cause instability. I have 4GB in mine also, but since I run 64-bit Linux I can use all of it (except that which is shared with the IGP)
I upgraded mine to a T7800 which is the fastest you can run on the official BIOS. You can upgrade to a 3rd party BIOS which supports Penryn CPUs too, but the thermal sensor support for those is incomplete, apparently. (Due to hardware limitations)
A Core 2 Duo T7800, sSpec SLAF6. The fastest officially supported CPU by my motherboard version, which can only support Merom CPUs. See: thinkpads.com/t61/
I have a pretty nice t61. It came with the fastest cpu available at the time, and nvidia graphics. It was one of the last to come off the line as a custom build so it has the reliable gpu. Replaced the fan 5 years ago and been running strong. Its my dj rig running real time linux , and I updated the bios for faster ssd speeds.
Nice work and good explanation! I like my T61 - Looking for old school games to play on it!!
Thanks! Plenty of classics on Good Old Games :)
Useful to my T60 CPU upgrade thx. I've got a rumbling fan as well. And the screen is rather dim. Put in two 2Gb RAM sticks. Reads only 3Gb of course. SSD disk with Linux Mint.
Standard graphics - still it's amazing how well these old ThinPads still work.
Faster tutorial:
1. Unplug all cables
2. Take off battery and hdd
3. Remove all screws holding keyboard and palmrest
4. Remove keyboard and palmrest (dont need to be unpluged just move them down) (if you dont know to how carefully remove keyboard and palmrest and what screws remove, watch video)
5. Remove cooler holders (small metal peices)
6. Remove cooler
7. Unscrew screw next to CPU and carefully remove it
8. Give there new
9. Also dont forget to remove thermal paste from coller, give thermal paste to new CPU and remove old on GPU and give there new.
10. Give everything back how it should be.
EDIT: before giving cooler back, check all cables if they are "free" to prevent them breaking, escaply the fan cable.
Precisely 10000 views nice video
Thanks!
Just got one of these will be doing this soon.
Thank You!
No worries, glad it helped!
I just upgraded a beaten up T60 (to the T7400 CPU) and I forgot to update the BIOS in first try and it hit me like a brick that I had to do that in my failure feelings and after putting the old back. With my pretty T61 I'm now at a BIOS 2.30 and I picked up the T7700 processor in the "Post Office" today.
I stopped listening at 28:24 when you said you not going to change the fan...was looking forward to it ...
Not sure if you had a follow-up to this video but you can buy the all-in-one fan+heatsink for about $15 US on eBay. It's the entire piece that you pulled out.
Thanks for the info - I haven't done the fan replacement yet, it's still working and I haven't been bothered with it.
I had the same problem with the fan that seemed too big to me, really that's not a problem because the fan spins under and not inside that round space. You could also omit the tape since it's quite stable without it.
Thanks for the tip!
When you upgrade to a core 2 duo T9300 your laptop can play youtube 4k on a lenovo t61 i'm using this laptop every day the battery ist really good
That sounds like some great performance. I may try a T9300 if I ever find one cheap. But it looks like I need a new battery on mine before that...
Agent24 but my touch pad not working the cable is broken
Agent24 but core 2 duo t9900 is better than my cpu
i picked up a T61 with T9300 cpu off ebay.. added SSD and such and its working pretty fast.
Will it work with T7700?
My Thinkpad T61 came with a T8300 and 4GB of RAM
what where the benefits of the upgrade in daily use pls?...…...nice and simple work through, cheers
A small, overall performance increase. Better than nothing, but nothing amazing. The Intel GPU is still bad for anything other than 2D graphics.
Have r61i and its nice tank :) my have c2d 1,83ghz, 3gb ram, 160gb hdd.
In my country t7500 2,2ghz are very cheap, maybe i upgrade too :)
Almost been a year. Have you had any heat issues?
The fan does run more often but that's it really, and of course it does run the battery down faster. Still better than my previous laptop which had a P4 Prescott (!)
I'm not too sure about the amount of thermal paste though... seems a little too much to me.
Hello ta all. I have question: Just got used T61 and put 2x2GB of RAM but the laptop can recognize only 3GB of RAM. What i the problem? It run Windows XP pro, 32 bit. Thank you
Your problem is likely the 32-bit version of Windows. Depending on the computer, how much RAM is shared for graphics etc, a 32-bit Windows typically can only use about 3.5GB of RAM. To use 4GB or more, you will need to change to a 64-bit version.
@@Agent24Electronics I see. Thank you for your fast reply. So may I leave this T61 with 2x2GB RAM, is it problem for the laptop?
@@mariok6519 No problem for the laptop at all. It will not damage anything or cause instability. I have 4GB in mine also, but since I run 64-bit Linux I can use all of it (except that which is shared with the IGP)
New CPU?
I upgraded mine to a T7800 which is the fastest you can run on the official BIOS. You can upgrade to a 3rd party BIOS which supports Penryn CPUs too, but the thermal sensor support for those is incomplete, apparently. (Due to hardware limitations)
how to enter the BIOS which combination of keyboards you put
Alexandre Suarez on startup hold f12
The F1 key is used to directly enter the BIOS setup utility.
What cpu did u place on this?
A Core 2 Duo T7800, sSpec SLAF6. The fastest officially supported CPU by my motherboard version, which can only support Merom CPUs. See: thinkpads.com/t61/
someone know about a video of this but not long as a marvel movie?
You could use the PDF guide I linked to in the description.