keep x301 or buy x1 ?

nice machine but I still prefer the more clear original design and colour... the palmrest on that model probably doesnt even have the typical rubber finish which I liked a lot also in the X1.

nando4, unfortunately I dont have enough skills to make those modifications which are relatively easy for you! but I can't hide the fact that i'm so tempted to attempt these moddings ... but as you say, its better to sacrify a "not perfect" machine... we will need to wait still...

 

Feasible mods to extend the working life of a Lenovo X301

Just in summary, the following three mods would extend the working life of a X301:

1. a dual-IDA modded bios, no whitelist, SLIC 2.1 (contact middleton - a request has already been made). This would allow a U9400-1.4 to run at 1.6Ghz and a U9600-1.6 to run at 1.8Ghz using Throttlestop's dual-IDA mode.

2. A PLL 200->266Mhz PLL pinmod. Combined with (1) would see a U9400-1.4 running at 2.13Ghz and a U9600-1.6 running at 2.40Ghz.

This would involve changing the the FSL_B pin from logic 1 to 0 as seen in the X301 schematic snippet below. I'd solder a < 100ohm resistor to the right leg/side of the R763 resistor then run it to GND to accomplish that.



This may require increased voltage supplied by doing VID mods on the voltage regulator pins to support the higher running frequency. See the X301's voltage regulator snippet below:



3. patch through a sata 2.5" drive connector directly from the sata controller, bypassing the sata-to-pata bridge used to connect the 7mm PATA optical drive. This would allow a 7mm 2.5" SSD or HDD to run on the faster native SATA interface. This could be fiddly work as depends on how accessible the 4 RX/TX SATA lines are near the bridge chip. They are shown in the schematic snippet below. Hope there are resistors or vias nearby to attach wires to as attaching to the bridge chip pins would be painful.



My previous offer of a X301 donation stands if anyone wants me to kickstart these mods into guides for others to replicate. A sacrifice machine ...

REF: Lenovo X301 schematic (Kodachi2)

 

If the X301 affectionados want to start a X301 Owner's Lounge then feel free to post the above info into it. It would be a better place for it than this thread. Can use the 2510P/2530P/E4300/2560P links in my sig as a template of the sort of information you may want to include in the lounge.

 

Did you manage to do the mod? I belive you're aiming way too high with the Dual IDA + PLL mod on a SU9600. TDP for a P8600 (which would be the equivalent running at 2.4 GHz and 1066 MHz FSB) is 25W but the X301 only has a 10W cooling system. It's going to overheat badly.

PLL only mod on a SU9400 is far more realistic (you don't need to adjust anything manually as with Dual IDA) and is quite a jump in performance already. I belive that it won't even need voltage adjustments. Plus 1.4 GHz machines / motherboards are far more common than 1.6 GHz ones which makes it far less expensive to experiment.

 

A SU9400 would probably be a better candidate to try the 200->266 FSLx pinmod on. There it would run at 1.86Ghz or 2.13 (Dual-IDA).

Core2Duo CPUs can often be significantly undervolted to run at their specced highest multiplier so TDP values are then way off. Eg: I was pleasantly surprised to find a P8400 I checked recently could run 0.875v @ x6, near the 0.85v @ x6 a ULV CPU can run at. A L9400 could only run at 0.925V. @ x6.

No X301 to try such mods. Though happy to accept a X301 donor machine to demonstrated them.

 

nice mod, but i think i like my X301 the way it is.

 

I will not be of much help there because I don't even have an X301 myself, just the original X300. But I've been watching eBay lately and X301s are selling now for a reasonable price of $400 or so. If you're willing to buy one and do the mod I'll gladly donate $50 for the cause.

Indeed, the C2D is fantastic. My machine uses the L7100, still built on the 65nm process yet it undervolts nicely. I've got mine running at 0.9v for all frequencies except IDA, which works stable at 0.95v. But as good as it is, I don't think it's possible to go much beyond 1.86 GHz con this machine. It simply doesn't have the cooling capacity (my processor idles at about 50 °C).

I've been thinking about upgrading it, though. Do you think it's just a matter of swapping the motherboard and base plastics?

 

You sending it back when they're done?

 

I'll be happy to send mine. Shipping will be $1000.

You'll receive an X301 in mint condition with 8GB of RAM, brand new 160GB Intel Series 320 SSD, and a brand new expansion bay battery.

 

Appears middleton did make a dual-IDA bios for a X301 and released it via the German Thinkpads forum. X301 owners may want to track it down to gain an extra 200Mhz dual-IDA overclock on their systems and link it on here for other English speaking owners to benefit from.

REF: Dual bios for IDA X301 (3:15 to 1:05) (google-translated).