[jychang]

This DEFINITELY doesn't count as Ship of Theseus. All those parts are designed to be replaceable on the Thinkpad.

If you really want to talk about Ship of Theseus-ing a Thinkpad, the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. These "frankenpads" include the X62 (Broadwell CPU and motherboard in an old X61), T70 (Kaby Lake CPU in a T60), X210 (Kaby Lake R CPU in a X200 body). They also rip out the LCD and replace it with a modern IPS display. They sometimes also rip out the keyboard to replace it with an older keyboard- T420 keyboard in a T430 is common.

[xondono]

> the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU.

So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions?

The LCD upgrade is also on the wishlist..

[einr]

> So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions?

Are you asking how replacing the motherboard in a laptop with a custom third party hobbyist replacement is different from putting a faster CPU in a CPU socket?

[hashhar]

I think most people are not aware that there was a time when laptop CPUs were replacable and not soldered on.

[xondono]

I had confused the model with a non socketed one

[ohazi]

This kind of CPU upgrade was all but supported by the manufacturer.

Unlike modern laptops, the T430 motherboard had a socketed CPU (like a desktop motherboard). Upgrading the CPU was only marginally more difficult than upgrading the RAM (as long as the replacement CPU had the same package/pinout and was supported by the chipset). Lenovo datasheets would even give you a table of every CPU configuration they tested.

The "hardcore guys" mentioned by the parent are installing bodged motherboards that were never designed to fit in a given model's enclosure, occasionally doing major board surgery to make it work.