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by xondono 1623 days ago
> 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..
2 comments
einr 1623 days ago
> 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?

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hashhar 1623 days ago
I think most people are not aware that there was a time when laptop CPUs were replacable and not soldered on.
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xondono 1623 days ago
I had confused the model with a non socketed one
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ohazi 1623 days ago
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.

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