Thinkpad Quad-Core hardware mod

[@aster_nova]

You're probably the single most watchable tech youtuber I've seen. Part of that is your tone and cadence, which isn't patronising, and part of it is your approach to presentation, which is extremely accessible and honestly very good. I don't normally watch tech youtube videos in this style and I certainly do not subscribe to them, because it just turns my brain off, but you succeeded in not only not doing that but in being entertaining too. Your passion shines through when you speak and the music choices are great, and there is so much more I could gush about! Definitely a subscribe from me and I'll be sharing it too :)

[@TechyySean]

Seriously! What a great channel to stumble upon

[@r-ea]

Holy shit dude! the video quality is stellar, I really thought this was a channel with a million subs or something. Keep at it! subbed.

[@revraitah]

Great video! Funnily enough when watching this vid I have Toho Bossa Nova 2 also playing in the background. Great music taste as well~ keep it up!❤

[@gnuPirate]

Dude, amazing video! I found a link to it on the libreboot page. Top work. Can't believe the small sub numbers. Instant sub from me. I learned a lot from this. Off to go chip hunting.

[@Being_Joe]

Your laptop looks sick man, I dig it. I bought a T500 not too long ago for $15. After maxing out the RAM, putting in a spare SSD, and installing Linux it is actually a very usable system. I don't know if I need a quad core CPU but I have been thinking of installing Core/Libre Boot at some point and maybe even installing OpenBSD.

[@johanndaart7326]

Its GPU sucks though. When I enable hardware acceleration in Chrome, KZbin vids start lagging.

[@caleblagrange7164]

This is an awesome video man! Just want to specify if other's are wondering, it's 30AWG wire you need to jump the connections. I use a T400 with a QX9300 as my daily driver and it's awesome.

[@sirguacalot472]

Are there any potential thermal issues with the QX9300? (I've read recommendations for the Q9100 over the QX9300) If there were any issues what did you do to mitigate them?

[@caleblagrange7164]

@@sirguacalot472 I did go ahead with the cooling mod, but even before that I was sitting around 55-60 Celsius. More like 45 to 50 now. It's really not bad at all with the default scheduler.

[@sirguacalot472]

@@caleblagrange7164 Wow that's awesome! Thanks for sharing your results. I might consider the QX9300 now. I'm planning on doing the mod on my W500. I also have the 2503 Advanced Dock but I have no idea if libreboot will be compatible with it. Might be too good to be true.

[@JH-wg2dc]

Right now all I got is 24AWG, is that far too much copper for what I need?

[@caleblagrange7164]

@@JH-wg2dc I'm almost certain that you 24 will be much to large to fit in the holes. I believe it's still doable without actually putting wire through the hole but it will be less robust, much harder to do, and 30AWG is cheap and ships decently fast from amazon.

[@goryramsy]

reporting from 2023: t440p is now librebootable!

[@jack8407]

This feels like a video from a channel with 1mil subs! It's unbelivable how little subs tou have Also, one more thing: what video editing software do you use?

[@tedkz6155]

Underrated af

[@daddysakurai1594]

Quality Content

[@stephenwilson0386]

How do you only have 750 subs? I have a T500 that I upgraded to a T9600 dual core and runs pretty well. Honestly probably won't mess with the quad core mod (too much expense and hassle, since I don't have the needed equipment to do the motherboard mods and BIOS flashing) but your presentation is better than some MUCH larger channels I've seen. You gained at least one new sub today, kudos!

[@Luis-xt8sk]

started watching because i'm thinking about installing a quad core in a Dell Latitude e6400 i got for free, quickly realized i don't think there's much i can do about the dell bios unless it magically works without mods. Stayed and watched the entire video because you made it super interesting to watch great video man

[@archygrey9093]

Subbed for the upcoming videos!

[@MykeBatez]

Great video!

[@Tarvoskemwer]

you sound like the guy who narrates "how is it made"

[@hamalaw4490]

didnt know about that battery def getting one, thanks a bunch

[@stridervanmeter8409]

man, i love the look of your thinkpads. great looking mods.

[@TheCarlos206]

Hello!, Nice video !!! THX, I have a Q9100 and I a R500 would work in there instead of T500 ?

[@wardenpotato]

Wow amazing video, nice work dude

[@imode256]

It'd be beneficial to use tweasers for pin extraction.

[@FrostKiwi]

I thought so too! In reality it's surprising how close those pins are to one another and it's really hard to get tweezers in without bending neighbouring pins. (Gap is just 1.27mm as per spec)

[@YuriShevchouk]

very good video.

[@xToTaLBoReDoMx]

Bro it's like 2 years later now where's the GPU video?

[@hedraun9289]

Well crud, I was here for a juicy X200 mod for the CPU and then he says its not possible. Damn YT, they put this video in the search results. Well, I guess everyone else have fun modding.

[@FrostKiwi]

It was suggested on the coreboot libera.chat channel, that you could theoretically replace the CPU with a BGA rework station. Though that is beyond what mere mortals can get their hands on and afaik no one attempted it yet. On the more realistic side of mods are: replacing the panel with an IPS one for better viewing angles, eGPU via ExpressCard or a simple USB3.0 ExpressCard for faster connectivity.

[@OwnedByWuigi]

What kind of casing is on that X200? Looks cool.

[@FrostKiwi]

Standard x200 case, sanded down and given to a car paint shop to color it gray, then again taped off for the green sports car like accents and given to a car paint shop to spray on those

[@MezeiEugen]

Konnte die deutsche Version nicht finden. Wäre ja auch schwer gewesen darauf zu verlinken.

[@sigsol8620]

Hi there!!! since you seems to be a bit familiar with the mother boards, I wanted to ask are there any open source mother boards that I can use to test my firmware skills? I am using coreboot and tianocore but the mother boards that they are using are not open source.

[@FrostKiwi]

Whilst many boards like the one from these Thinkpads have been reverse-engineered to the point they run purely, on blob-free open source firmware, open source hardware is of course another thing entirely, as you mentioned. On the small end, there are many small projects under the banner of Open-source hardware (OSH) and the www.oshwa.org/ . On the big end, if we talk full blown computer motherboards, only computers of the RISC-V architecture come to mind. #LinusTechTips actually did a video on this some years ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmnNonqFnKisa68 The first RISC-V dev boards, which are not expensive as sin, are slowly coming in, like the "HiFive-Unmatched-Mainboard". Though I don't know if this specific one complies with Open source hardware standards...

[@johanndaart7326]

If modding it was fun, it's not a waste of money ;) Even with T9600 (+SSD), this T500 can run 720p KZbin vids without a problem. For browsing and text editing on Linux it's still "okish" laptop. It's GPU sucks though (with hardware acceleration enabled, KZbin vids are choppy).

[@FrostKiwi]

>with hardware acceleration enabled Via a browser, KZbin is a no-go. Via Browser -> MPV everything plays fine though. 1080p60 without frame drops. As long as it's 8bit only, everything plays fine, even 4k. (On the 4-core that is, 2 core 1080p60 is roughly the max) There is no hardware accel though. Technically this generation has a h264 decoder, but it is only supported by an outdated Arch-linux branch ( libva-intel-driver-g45-h264 ) and is a terrible idea, because drawing the screen already taxes the GPU and video decoding on top just crashes the GPU driver with anything above 480p. So even if you enable hardware decoding, there is no such thing actually runs, decoding is always in software.

[@johanndaart7326]

@@FrostKiwi Damn, you are really knowledgeable about all of this, thanks for the tips! Just out of interest, are you from Germany? :)

[@FrostKiwi]

@@johanndaart7326

[@johanndaart7326]

@@FrostKiwi Your language skills are very impressive!

[@saganandroid4175]

What about the ThinkPad W500? Is rather similar to the T500.

[@FrostKiwi]

@@saganandroid4175 The same applies one to one. Libreboot has a ROM prepared for the W500, even with the June 2024 release of Libreboot and Coreboot has a selection to compile for the W500 in its "make menuconfig"

[@andrewh3503]

where can I find this video in other languages?

[@max_cherny]

Hi folks! Could I have a link for this video with Russian sound track?

[@myyoutubename152]

Can we get a follow up video on the performance of the new CPU and iGPU?

[@FrostKiwi]

The next episode regarding external GPUs will cover the iGPU performance a bit. As for the CPU performance, the short version is: single-threaded performance is (of course) unchanged, and multi-threaded performance is (almost) doubled for perfectly-multithreaded workloads. Compiling firefox from scratch runs now in almost half the time. Now that I got access to my account again, gotta release the other languages first, banging my head against KZbin support for a whole week blew up the my timetable >.

[@myyoutubename152]

@@FrostKiwi very impressive. Didn't know if cooling or power delivery could handle it.

[@FrostKiwi]

@@myyoutubename152 Many thanks! That's a good point actually: Those Thinkpads had two different power bricks. The 70W and the 90W Version. With standard firmware and the 70W version, the CPU get's throttled to 1.6GHz if you have just the powerbrick and no battery plugged in. So there was a concern about that by the manufacturer. I did some powersaving measurements for DragonFlyBSD and split the cable: i.imgur.com/1Nw6rbA.jpeg and measured true power-draw: i.imgur.com/ZBqTfMc.png With WiFi on full blast downloading + Synthetic benchmark on all 4 cores + 1920x1200 screen with after-market LED strip mod = I did in-fact reach 92W max. With no battery present, there is definitely the possibility of damaging the 70W power brick.

[@memeoid1]

@@FrostKiwi can you elaborate on the screen and the LED strip mod?

[@FrostKiwi]

@@memeoid1 Basically, for the x200 you may swap to a panel, that has really good viewing angles, like a modern IPS panel (Though technically the technology is called AFFS/PVA , the predecessor to IPS). On the T500 you may switch to a high-res 1920x1200 panel (Though you have to be specific about your window manager / driver setup to make sure you stay above 60hz, as driving that resolution on the iGPU is close to the limit. ). Among those high res panels there are no IPS panels, only TN panels with aweful colors and viewing angles. The best among the TN panels is a panel made by sharp, which has surprisingly good viewing angles for a TN panel. And although the colors don't quite POP as with that x200 panel, they are still very respectable. That is the extend of screen mods existing for this generation of thinkpad. All those mentioned screens are unfortunately CCFL based though. Most of those CCFL bulbs are quite dead by now. This is also unfortunate for the resellers of those screens, as they don't have a nice way to test screens before shipping them and often sell "broken" screen because of that, because the CCFL bulb just died. There are LED backlight version, but they are quite bad on the panel side. You can purchase LED replacement strips + driver board and replace those CCFL bulbs with an LED backlight. There are a bunch of chinese resellers doing that and a bunch Thinkpad forums collect mass purchase requests to buy these in bulk at a lower price for the individual. thinkpad-forum.de stopped doing this a year ago I believe, may be wrong though. The very very VERY best among those LED replacement kits is one made by monty. people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/thinkpad/led-backlight.shtml There is a kit called the "daylight mod". This LED stip is color calibrated with love and absolutely strong in brightness output, to allow for outdoor use. However, monty stopped making these years ago, but the schematics and parts used are open, so one may try to replicate his designs. That is the extent of both Screen and LED mods. edit: corrected typo, the T500 has a 1920x1200 option, the x200 does not

[@make0urday66]

you are awesome my dude, have a sub.

[@make0urday66]

You should fully upgrade a T430 next :D

[@Mad-Coo]

Is this possible on my T61 socket P? Currently T9300

[@FrostKiwi]

Yes, the mod should be possible. The T60 is supported by Coreboot / Libreboot, but the T61 is not. However, there appears to be a modded bios, which you can use instead. Checkout Forum.Thinkpads.com thread "Successfully fitted 1066MHz FSB onto T9550 onto T61" post 46, where User el-sahef explains a Quad Core Mod. The Mainboard and CPU modifications are identical (though the Mainboard Wire has is connected differently). The Bios part is achieved by modifying another modded BIOS to enable core 3 and 4 - SpeedStep. Personally not in possession of this Laptop, so cannot confirm those steps.

[@Isaia-w7o]

Did anyone else have a CPU become useless for multi core use? cpu2 outright fails to communicate with the system with cpu3 crashing the system cores no longer working correctly First 2 cores seem to work correctly, had been working correctly for months up till this point, after being forced to cut the power two times in a row due to weird behaviour it just started freezing on boot with issues with those cores. Is it possible the mod doesn't have any overcurrent protection like this? Would a resistor or diode help? Or is the slightly different pin out all it takes for this to happen if machine gets abruptly shut off a few times in a row? I have a spare CPU but would rather not risk it till I'm sure

[@FrostKiwi]

@@Isaia-w7o What CPU, what Motherboard / Laptop, what Firmware are we talking about? I did not observe such weird behavior. Only thing that comes to mind, is that mounting the cooler is surprisingly difficult, as the two dies need to contact the cooler at the same time, with the air-gao between the dies. That could overheat one die whilst leaving the other operating correctly

[@Isaia-w7o]

@FrostKiwi temps never reported over 55c granted I've not seen temp with GPU in use yet, and definitely made contact with both dies as i took it off after a test to ensure pressure, as for laptop its w500 running seabios/libreboot, also I didn't have any issues with cooler going on My laptop came with the larger cooler I have a photo of the error and a short video of the behaviour which I've put in video and community tab of channel Doesn't make weird sound any more so can't demonstrate that, if no one has an idea I might disassemble it and check for any obvious burn marks taking a photo of the mod itself and the bottom of the CPU to see if there is anything obvious, though was working for quite awhile before this happened Could be possible that something has gone wrong with OpenBSD and or it's trying to use a feature of the CPU it doesn't have though don't think that's the case Trying memtest86+ which seems like it's working, granted doesn't seems to be as smooth as I remember last test, but that might just be my memory acting up See if that pulls any errors anyways Update: cpu is not fried I think the problem is microcode patch to the kernel on OpenBSD as it's booting on the usb and memtest86+ passed Also remember I updated the firmware before the funny noise 😂 In saying that, still doesn't explain why the kernel patch would break it? Meltdown is a timing attack right? So could it be something to do with that and the rerouted wire or firmware not bring supported? Though I'm still on the fence if there should be a resistor or diode on the wire now, some thoughts on that? Also might I have better luck compiling coreboot myself? Can't have systems randomly breaking after updating 😅 CPU: Q9000 | Q9100 as spare

[@k0m3n9]

Hi.. this might be abit off-topic but does my Acer laptop Aspire 4937G which comes with Core2 duo P8400 cpu need to do same modification as in this video or can it be upgraded to Core2 quad cpu without any modification?

[@WahirBartigom]

Great!

Please do a video on Intel Managment Engine

[@atomicorang]

The microphone covers your face. I’m legally deaf and I read lips.

[@FrostKiwi]

Thx for pointing it out.

[@rioferianto1278]

man, how to acces the 日本 video version?

[@meithecatte8492]

日本語の動画はどこにありますか？

[@FrostKiwi]

すみません、アカウントはブロックされましたので、予定が遅れています。3週間ブロックされていました。>.< 日本語版がドイツ版の公開すること後で公開します。

[@pyromisery1638]

is it same process for gm45 core 2 duo t9400

[@FrostKiwi]

Going from a T9400 to a Quad-Core on the same T400/T500 motherboard? Yes.

[@pyromisery1638]

@@FrostKiwi mine installed is acer 5738z T4400 800mhz then i have t9400 which is 1000mhz

[@eitantal726]

Why is removing these pins increases performance?

[@FrostKiwi]

It doesn't. It's what you have to do to stay within spec. The motherboards were produced before the QuadCore was released, so some pins have to be modded for proper function.

[@eitantal726]

@@FrostKiwi what happens if you don't remove these pins? It sounds odd that removing pins solves a problem, instead of creating one

[@gnuPirate]

​@@eitantal726 To be honest, your questions make me think you just should not be doing any hardware modifications for the time being, full stop. This video explains all that is required to be known about this process. You are asking questions that are answered very, very clearly in the video. If there are things that don't make sense to you, I honestly suggest you start by learning some general electronics, and basic digital electronics will give you an idea. Other than that, if you just follow the instructions closely, it will work, but again -- I just don't think you are paying the attention required for this process, and there is some basic background knowledge you don't have and is not in the scope of something like this -- so don't screw up good hardware! Sell it to somebody who can use it properly. In the future, with more work and attention, you can do this : If FOSS hardware hasn't already happened by then!

[@einfacharthur]

ich lass mal ein abo da :) muss mal schauen, ob ich mir ein x200, t400 oder t500 zulege.. wobei das x200 anscheinend einfacher zu flashen ist, da der Flashchip nicht auf der Rückseite zu sein scheint, sondern vorne unter der Tastatur

[@truckslove]

I love Anime Thighs

[@brutusthebuttress1476]

This guy is very cash money

[@sophie5040]

日本語はどうやって勉強しているの？よつばとでしょう。自由にしゃべれるの?

[@jogandocombololo8862]

The very best youtube tech video I ever seen. Please, make the video explaining the IME habbit hole!

[@robinrai4973]

Very great video!

[@grabarzponury9868]

You earnd my subscribe Sir. Splendid video. A pleasure to watch.

[@radicalracing09]

underrated this really helped me core2 quad modding my t500

[@JessicaFEREM]

You can use mechanical pencils with a metal tip to bend the pins. it's way less risky and easier.

[@uni-byte]

Hmmm, you can double (triple, quad, etc..) up the .5mm pads with little or no consequence to get whatever thickness you need.

[@antonhartinger8226]

very good video, the Dell Inspiron 1545 model is it necessary to modify the board? or just remove the pins from the processor.

[@noahpaulette1490]

Thanks for showing this mod in a video. Looking forward to your future videos.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

where exactly are you from? o:

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

your accent makes no sense. Terminal /i:/ seems to become /ei/ in some places - meaning you rhymed "socket P" and "me" with "day". Dgmw, you're mostly understandable and even nice to listen to but I cannot for the life of me put a finger on where you're from and also where you learned English.

[@FrostKiwi]

@@ellenorbjornsdottir1166 Originally from Belarus, but lived most of life in Germany. Learned English like most of my classmates: through playing way too many online games XD That's the accent of countless hours of counter strike.