Craigslist Find `O the Week - T60

I'm typing this on a pristine T60. Looks like it was used in a docking station for at least 90% of its life. Even the factory stickers are pristine.

Specs:

Core Duo T2500 2GHz
1GB RAM, 100GB hard drive, DVD Multiburner
14" 1400x1050 display, ATI X1400 with 128MB
Intel 3945 WiFi, Bluetooth, Sierra EVDO broadband card
Fingerprint Reader
6-cell battery (functional)

$150

I'm tempted to pull the keyboard and swap it with my T400 prior to handing it off to a friend --this one is incredibly firm. Even the Trackpoint cover is like it was never used.

I probably have a Core 2 Duo I can swap into it easily, and maybe some RAM.

 

Hi!!!

If I'm not mistaken. the t60 hardware is limited to 3 gb.

Renee

 

Hey Renee!

ThinkWiki lists 4GB, but you could easily be right, I recall it being mentioned. I'll need to look into it.

I'd love to replace the Intel 3945ABG card with an Intel 5100 too, but I doubt even a Lenovo-brand card will pass BIOS-spec unless I use a modified BIOS, so we'll see on that.

EDIT: Crucial lists it as 3GB. Sad, but it should still work out. I'll probably swap in a Core 2 T7xxx.

Also wondering if the EVDO card would work okay in the T400, being an older model. I don't need it now, really, just curious.

 

You can physically put 4GB in a T60, but it's the chipset that's the problem. It won't allow access to more than 3.2GB. Kind of sucks when it'll take a 64bit processor just fine.

I run 2GB in mine though, and Win7 32bit and it's plenty snappy for me.

 

I'm sure it would be --I've run Win7 on 2GB, and it does fine. Dedicated graphics make a difference, too.

I still wonder what IBM/Lenovo did --aren't there are other Intel i945 chipset laptops out there than can do the full 4GB?.

 

no, the best i have seen is about 3.5 gigs, but the person had to remove lot of hardware to achieve that. Usually 3.25 gigs are about the highest one can achieve with full spec machines. HP bios is also locked.

 

I wondered where I'd come up with that thought, and then I realized.

My boss had a Dell Mobile Precision Workstation M90 die a few months ago. He wanted me to fix it, but the new graphics card for it was killed by the old mainboard, and it would have taken a new mainboard and graphics card to fix it --cost-prohibitive. But, it had an Intel 945 chipset, and it could take 4GB of RAM.

I'm sure it's an anomaly; I just wonder what makes it different.

 

So the Dell allowed the user full access to all 4 gigs of ram?

 

Yes. Or at least, under an OS that would recognize it. As does the Dell Inspiron E1405 with the same 945GM chipset as the M90.

Question --just for fun, I put two 2GB DDR2 modules in the T60. The BIOS currently says 4096MB of RAM (I have the latest version 2.26). Does it say that on the systems people have only managed 3GB with?

I'm only running XP Pro at the moment, so I can't confirm 4GB will show on a 64-bit OS. For additional reference, this is a Type 2326.

 

The BIOS will say 4GB. It's what it says under the Windows Task Manager that counts.

 

4GB of RAM won't show up under an x64 OS. The T60/p is chipset limited to 3GB, unfortunately. I had a T60p with a C2D that I was running on Vista x64 rather well, though.

 

I replaced the Core Duo T2500 with a Core 2 Duo T7600. It's a thing of beauty.

I now have it at 2.5GB of RAM, and will bump it to 3GB when I have a 1GB stick lying around. I also put my friend's 500GB Scorpio Blue in it for him. I think it'll do him well for some time to come.

 

Actually, two different questions are being asked. The first question is: How much memory is there? The second question is How much of that memory can your chipset address?

And hello to you Lonewolf.

Renee

 

Funny thing is, with 4GB of RAM, the BIOS can recognize it, but even a 64-bit OS can only recognized 3GB of it, on the T60 anyway.

I'll have to compare some other 945GM chipset laptops to see, but Crucial lists the T60 as only taking 3GB of RAM, whereas it lists the Dell Inspiron E1405 and the Precision M90 (both of which have 945GM chipsets) as taking 4GB of RAM. I'm thinking it's a design limitation of the T60, maybe some others, but not of all 945-chipset laptops.

 

The bios may be answering the two different question. It may be reading pins on the ram for how much memory it has. Not executing code to do it.

Renee

 

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/309219.pdf

read the system address map starting on page 319.   notice that the 945 chipset doesn't support memory addressing above the 4GB threshold, therefore limiting the maximum amount of addressable memory to 4GB minus any hardware addresses.   that leaves only about 3GB maximum that can be addressed by the OS.   this is why the OS cannot utilize what's known as "memory hoisting" to push hardware addresses above the 4GB mark.   simply put, there's nowhere for those addresses to go except somewhere within the 0GB to 4GB range.

the BIOS recognizes 4GB because the chipset recognizes 4GB.   this occurs long before the OS starts seeing what's left of the memory after hardware addresses have been allocated.

devices are typically given an address range whether they need the entire range or not.   if other manufacturers' systems with 945 chipsets can address more than 3GB then it's because they've mapped out entire devices (legacy ports, for example) or painstakingly calculated address space for every hardware device to free up system memory.

while you could theoretically rewrite the BIOS to shrink hardware addresses, the absolute maximum you'll gain is approximately 512MB depending on the physical hardware left enabled once you're done.   because you'll probably want to keep most of your ports working, that number will shrink closer to 128MB if not less.

with that said, if the difference between addressing 3.5GB and 3.0GB determines whether or not your system runs your specific applications correctly then you need a lot more than 3.5GB.

enjoy your T60.

 

Oh, it has nothing to do with that. I just have an interest in the finer technical points of things like a mainboard chipset. Much more interesting than whether I can get an extra .5GB out of a system. It's the mystery of why it seems it might work in some cases rather than others that's interesting.

Thanks for the chipset reference. My buddy already has the T60, and it's working out well.

 

I've seen a few of the Lenovo T60's go for under $200 on my CL, the best I saw was just like yours except with 2gb of ram/docking station included. Although I think that one had the 1300x not the 1400x, but I could be mistaken.

In fact I just checked now, few are under $200 atm not as good as that one but close enough.