IBM Thinkpad\Pentium III question.

Currently running the original Pent. III on my old Thinkpad T21. XP reports it as a 796 MHz model. Doing some checking I know it is an "M" = mobile. The T21 will support up to a 1 GHz. I believe I have tracked some down at excellent prices on e-bay. But.....have always been an AMD guy so Pentium nomenclature confuses me. Any one care to lend a hand in pointing me to the right processor so I can avoid the potential headaches of purchaseing the wrong one?

 

An extra 200MHz is noise for a modern PC. You're not going to notice any change with your Mobile at 1GHz. Bumping RAM to at least 386MB is the most effective method of boosting system performance. A clean install of Windows should also help if the OS partition is several years old.

 

I know the gain will be minimal. But will also max out the RAM at 512 currently 256. The OS is a fresh install of XP Pro so that is not an issue.

 

Just a little bump for the Pentium Gurus.

 

The main thing you're going to want to know about is the motherboard. You might get something like SIW that will tell you the motherboard and chipset, and look up the features. It sounds like you've got a pretty good start, however, there wasn't a lot of variation in the P3's, that I can remember. As long as the socket type is the same and you're sure the motherboard handles it, you should be fine. Furbali was right, though, I don't think you'll be very impressed with the speed increase.

 

Thanks for the info. Notok. E mailed the e-bay seller to see if he could shed some light. I realize the gain will be minimal. How ever we know that many times we are only gaining a second or two per tweak (hardware or software). But when you start combining them is when you see the difference. If it is the right processor, can`t beat $28.00 (includes shipping) with a non-DOA guarantee. Maxing the memory will be next (can only handle 512) . Has a fresh install of XP Pro on it fully updated with a few tweaks. It won`t be a game player by any means but should do what I need it to do and then a little bit more.

 

You may want to do more research.
According to this, your max is 850MHz.
I couldn't dig up a lot of detailed specs on your model, IBM had many submodels of the T21.
General IBM T21 info
General Intel Mobile P3 general and here
Intel Mobile P3 package types
Mobile P3 lookup tool (useful)

Laptops are a pain to work with. Everything is small and very delicate. Connectors break easily and wires are thin and interconnections abound.
I would not recommend a laptop as your first CPU upgrade.

If you do find that you can upgrade it to 1GHz, then here is the Hardware Maintenance Manual.
I agree with Notok and Furballi, RAM will be much more important and continue to research for more detailed specs.

 

It is the 2647 -8AU. From the manuals I have read it will handle the 1 GHz. But I`m getting conflicting reports on the max memory accepted. IBM says 512. SIW says 1 gig. Got to go with what IBM says.......but one gig sure would be nice.

While this is my first dealings with a laptop, it is far from my first venture into hardware. I do in home warranty repair work for a living.

 

That's the thing that always drove me nuts about notebooks; they rarely give you much info about what exactly the hardware is and is capable of. They'll tell you what it comes with in the different models, but not much about the options you have for upgrading.

In the P3 days it wasn't uncommon to see motherboards that could handle a pretty limited range of speeds. The socket may be the same for a wide range of speeds, but the motherboard may only have a couple different multplier settings, really limiting the speeds it can run. You don't see this so much anymore, but it was pretty common back then (you know, ancient times.. like 5 whole years ago..). Generally speaking, though, if you've got a processor from the same family it should work, even if it's a bit under-clocked.

 

Heh, I learned that one the hard way.. other sources looked at the chipset for my laptop and recommended DDR2, but it turns out they only put DDR memory slots in it. So the chipset is able to take more, but not the rest of the hardware. It also turns out that the RAM timings are hard-coded and cannot be changed

 

and people that do not work on PC`s wonder why carry a bottle of Excederin in my tool box.

 

Just a quick update and another word of Thanks to those who assisted. Just got and installed a 1GHz Pent III M on the old ThinkPad. A used unit from E Bay, but at less then one third the cost of a new one, If you can find one I am not going to complain. It works and also a slight but noticable increase in speed. Now.....on the the memory.

 

Want some DDR2?

 

If you think I can make it work sense mine only calls for the old PC100...... Maybe we can make a deal.