Thinkpad X61S mobo: T7500 or T8100? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2023, 09:36:31 pm
content: so, I love my 12 inch laptop, not so much becauseI hate x86, but rather because, if I don't look at the assembly, well it's "just another GNU/Linux box" (light years better than my crappy ARM laptop) that also runs Windows XP does quite well, and other than that, it's a damn light, cheap and compact laptop.Now the mobo is fried and the CPU is soldered, but i can save the chassis, lcd, battery, ram (2x2GByte), msATA (256Mbyte), HD (160GB 5400rpm), and don't forget the wonderful pcmcia uart card with a quad 16C650 FIFOs @ 1Mbps!!! For which, I don't have any other laptop where I can plug it in and I love that board.All good, and I got the offer of a nearly free replacement, but the guy asks me if I want a T7500@1.8Ghz CPU or a T8100@2.1Ghz CPU.And this is the kind of question that makes me perplexed (due to my ignorance with intel technology, due to my bad feeling with their architecture, which makes me reluctant to read benchmarked pc magazines, which is illogical in this case, but it is):will the T8100@2.1Ghz drink the battery like pear juice?will the T8100 prove to be a staggering performance boost to justify the battery pear juice?what to do? what to choose? why? why not?

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 04:35:36 pm
content: #A, T7500@1.6Ghz#B,T75007700@1.8Ghz#C, T8100@2.1GhzActually now I have three choices.I am tempted for #A, so I will have more battery hours.edit:7700

author: 50ShadesOfDirt
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 06:09:12 pm
content: If linux, perhaps fixing the old laptop is all that's necessary to run linux well ...If Windows, I would've taken the opportunity of a dead laptop to upgrade to the latest tech, which is normally what I do every 5 years (laptop) to 10 years (desktop).In fact, I would take this opportunity to bypass linux and windows as a "one os on one pc or laptop" strategy altogether, and move to a virtualization strategy.I'd get the beefiest laptop/desktop I could (i7 or i9, 32gb ram, ssd; any similar architecture), and then run a host-os (linux/windows/whatever), and finally a virtualization layer (workstation pro, virtualbox). At this point, you can run numerous OS's (productivity, test, etc.). No more limits on which OS you use or why, as you can use them all.I do this on my almost 10y.o. desktop, and virtualization allows me to tweak any OS to the point where I make it my own, not the vendors'. When someone says "this is the best OS since sliced bread", I can test in 2 seconds, and decide to play further, or throw away. Many other benefits ...

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 08:41:29 pm
content: I need PCMCIA.Modern laptops provide PCMCIAexpress.Plus, I need to run XP on real hardware.I have some debuggers that don't work properly with USB virtualization pass-through.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 09:07:44 pm
content: Have you seen this article?https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=131146It claims that the X61S only supports 17W CPUs, so the T8100 would be on an X61 motherboard. Are you sure that will work in your X61s case?Also you list T7500 twice when I think you mean L7500 and maybe T7100? The T7500 is a 2.2GHz CPU and isn't listed in that article as an option.Anyway, you normally don't worry about getting a higher clock version of the same CPU since you can always underclock it, but in this case the 17W CPU will draw less power than a 35W CPU, so yes, go with the L7500. But if it's a choice between e.g. T7100 and T8100, pick T8100.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 09:26:23 pm
content: X61: Core 2 Duo T7100, 1.8 GHz, 2 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 35 WX61: Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.0 GHz, 2 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 35 WX61: Core 2 Duo T7300, 2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 35 WX61: Core 2 Duo T8100, 2.1 GHz, 3 MB L2, FSB 800, 45 nm, 35 W <------X61: Core 2 Duo T8300, 2.4 GHz, 3 MB L2, FSB 800, 45 nm, 35 WX61: Core 2 Duo T9300, 2.5 GHz, 6 MB L2, FSB 800, 45 nm, 35 WX61s: Core 2 Duo L7300, 1.4 GHz, 4 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 17 WX61s: Core 2 Duo L7500, 1.6 GHz, 4 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 17 W <------X61s: Core 2 Duo L7700, 1.8 GHz, 4 MB L2, FSB 800, 65 nm, 17 W <------You are right, it seems there is a different thermal shield.Anyway, options are those three

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 09:58:42 pm
content: If your old motherboard was an X61s, take the L7700.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2023, 11:57:26 pm
content: Thanks, I will follow your adviceThe dude aswered your question and said that the biggest difference between X61 and X61s is the cpu heatsink is fatter in the X61. But there are also *many* heatsink versionsAnyway, X61 mobo fits X61S frames.

author: DiTBho
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2023, 12:19:55 am
content: (then there is alsothiscrazy stuff."The X62 is a third-party custom-made successor to Lenovo's beloved X61 sub-notebook. Upgraded with a 5th generation Intel chipset and rare 4:3 SXGA+ IPS display"~700/800 euro)