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Is it possible to make an older IBM ThinkPad T41p laptop a little bit faster? Yes, it is if you upgrade the CPU as it explained in this tutorial.
I learned that with a simple BIOS flash, the original 1.7 ghz pentium M “Banias” CPU (130nm process, 1mb L2 cache) that came standard with the T41p can be upgraded to a 2.0 GHz Pentium M 755 “Dothan” CPU (90nm process, 2mb L2 cache) which was available in the later T42 models.
For this upgrade you’ll need:
1. IBM ThinkPad T41p hardware and maintenance guide. The maintenance guide will help you to remove the keyboard and palm rest and get down to the CPU socket.
2. Small Philips screwdriver.
3. Thermal compound. Before you mount the heatsink back on the CPU, you must apply new thermal compound on the top of the CPU. You may consider Arctic Silver thermal compound. This stuff will keep your CPU cool and stable.
4. A can of compressed air. That’s would be a great idea to blow off dust from the cooling modules while you are replacing the CPU. Removing dust from the heat sink will help to prevent laptop overheating.
Before I go any further, you should know that this upgrade is not for the novice or fumble-fingered. There are any number of ways you can completely destroy your computer during an upgrade of this type. From losing tiny screws to shorting out the motherboard with static electricity or dropping ascrewdriver into the open computer, this is not a project for someone who is not already fairly competent wielding a screwdriver and performing computer upgrades.
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January 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Does it also work for my IBM ThinkPad T41? Thx in advance…
Rubz
January 20th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Rubz,
According to this overview page for ThinkPad T41 and T41p, both models are very similar.
I’m not sure what the difference between these two models. Maybe the screen size?
Otherwise, specifications for both models are the same.
I assume this upgrade will work on a T41 laptop too.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
This is exactly what I’m looking for.
Are all T41 mobo will accept Dothan ?
You;ve said that it will need BIOS upgrade– I assume BIOS upgrade must done before replacing the processor, is it ?
April 11th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
How do I flash the BIOS? Also, looking to upgrade to the largest possible hard drive (still workin off my stock 60 gb!)
Thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated
April 12th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
James,
Go the the manufacturers website and find the latest BIOS update. Most likely you’ll find the BIOS update instructions in there too.
What is the model of your laptop? If it works with a 60GB drive, most likely it will work with a 120GB drive too.
April 14th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Thanks so much for replying!
I have a T41p…Was looking to put in a 500gb, but will something prevent me from doing so? Perhaps a 500 gb portable drive would be a better idea?
Thanks again!
April 19th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
James,
I’m not sure if your laptop can handle such a large drive. Also, I believe you have an IDE drive inside your laptop and I really doubt that you can find a 500GB laptop drive with IDE connector.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am
You can only replace your internal with an ATA6 drive (IDE). Newegg has a 320 gig’r for $90 (old tech here). Honestly folks, even moving to a M755 (should you be able to find one) will net you a relatively small jump in performance as this processor is at least 5 year old technology. I agree with the OP’s original point in that this would be a fairly difficult hassle. Much easier just to ebay the t41 now and get $100 and apply it to a newer model for sub $500 will get you a huge leap in performance.
Sorry to be a killjoy
On the other hand if your nerd juices are really flowing, rip that bad boy a new one!
August 12th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Hi there,
I just received an M735 that I bought on eBay ($18 shipped!) and installed it in my T41 (2373-7FU) – with no luck! Computer powered on, but screen stayed blank. No beeps, nothing. Holding down the power key for just a second or so turned it back off. I put my old CPU back in and everything worked fine again.
Is it safe to assume the M735 I got (SL7EP) is a dud?
I bought this T41 on eBay a while ago because I love the old ThinkPads and have since added a bigger battery, maxed out the RAM and replaced the WiFi with 802.11g (it had b), and am looking forward to swapping out the drive for an SSD soon when prices come down a little more. I KNOW I could have a faster, newer computer for the money I’ve spent so far (~$350), but pimping my T41 is fun!
August 12th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Tim,
I assume the new CPU was installed correctly and you locked the socket before turning it on, correct?
Yes, it does sound like you got a bad one.
August 12th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Hi Laptop Tech,
I was careful to take both of those steps, and again, just to be sure, I ran through the whole exercise twice.
The eBay seller has agreed to send me another CPU, hopefully this one will work out!
Thanks for the reply.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:38 pm
T41 can be equipped with a large 2.5″ SATA disk (I use 500 GB) by using a bay adapter, that is placed instead of the CD/DVD drive.
December 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Hi Laptop Tech, I now own a T41, type 2373 which is running a 1.6ghz cpu at present, was wondering about doing CPU and Hard drive upgrades and was hoping you can tell me what the maximum cpu speed will be and max hard drive size would be. A cpu model number would be great.
Many thanks in advanced,
Chris.
January 9th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Hi Chris
I have a T41 type 2372 im running 2gb Ram and have a Samsung 160b hard drive, Im running Windows 7 32bit.. and my machine fliesim well happy with my upgrades. Only thing im upset about is the video card in compatibity (ATI RADION 7500 only has 32mb memory) so can run windows media centre, Whch would of given me the icing on the top of my cake!! wish there was away of it working my fooling windows or something as i believe the video card is built onto the motherboard…
Regards
P
January 24th, 2010 at 2:32 am
i have a t41p which i’ve upgraded. currently i’m running dothan 2.1ghz, 2gb ram, 120gb SSD, 128mb mobility FireGL t2 video, windows xp. i’m looking to upgrade the OS to win7 and hope i can find video drivers for my card. psych, try using the omega radeon drivers.. they work great on xp(not sure how they are on win7).
January 29th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I want to upgrade my cpu. Is there a maximum L2 cache a MOBO will support or doesn’t it matter how high I go on L2 cache?
July 31st, 2010 at 1:00 am
Am running T41 Upgraded to 2 gg Ram 120g drive 1.8ghz Dothan .. went through 1,7ghz on the way lol, got DVD rewriter ebay (from Latvia) picked up a hong kong bay hard drive cradle … suffers from the heat related (dry joint) vid problem though .. this only manifests on cue club the only addictive game i play, otherwise i love it … win XP Pro, P/Shop cs .. plenty of power.
Anyone addressed the problem of vid via reflow services or such like??