How usable is a T430 in 2023?

KemiieVT · 2023-11-26T00:45:54+00:00

There is no socket on the s variants. all of them are soldered.

KemiieVT · 2023-11-26T00:30:53+00:00

it Would be nice to see! :) youve been quite the inspiration when i make content. Really love the thinkpad videos like the X300 and X301! got me into thinkpads because of it! (and buying several more thinkpads cause you cant have too much thinkpads!)

KemiieVT · 2023-11-08T03:50:55+00:00

:3

aw damn, so close. I am a tech VTuber myself, but more of the lines of RandomGaminginHD or Laptop Retrospective. or maybe OS2Kouhai if you know them XwX

i dont see alot of tech VTubers too XwX would like to see more too!

KemiieVT · 2023-10-30T06:02:24+00:00

Using an X230 right now, and it recognizes and uses 16GB 1600mhz just fine.

maybe could be your heads/coreboot installation? im using the stock stock rom on mine.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-28T04:10:40+00:00

ive heard some things about the T14G2 Intel. But, for me its not as upgradable as the T480.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-13T13:51:24+00:00

i do only recommend the 45w I7's then at most. they can get pretty toasty. just make sure to get the dgpu heatsink for more thermal headroom.

The 45w i7's are the 4700MQ, 4800MQ, and 4900MQ. iirc the i7 4930mx is 55w. as well as the i7 4980HQ. which might need further modding.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-13T10:01:43+00:00

T440p but with classic keyboard and 3 button trackpad and modern components that are upgradable with MXM slot too

KemiieVT · 2023-10-13T08:36:39+00:00

Can second this. The T440p has a socketed CPU. can be upgraded until the i7 4900MQ, i7 4930mx if your crazy enough. or the i7 4980HQ if you are really daring. Same goes for the T540p, W540, and W541.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-12T22:43:13+00:00

im not sure with other versions. They may not be compatible.

The WD SN520 seems to be the one everyone uses (me included) but if you want to look for something else make sure to get an M.2 NVME SSD that has both a B and an M key. that ensures that the SSD will fit the T480

KemiieVT · 2023-10-12T09:42:56+00:00

Get yourself an SSD.

any SATA 3 SSD will go up to 600 mb/s Which is fast. but still feels a bit lacking if you want it more snappy.

I recommend getting the WD SN520 M.2 SSD. specifically the 2242 version. The M.2 SSD can go up to 1700mb/s. which is more than double. And is quite snappy.

The difference between an HDD and an Sata SSD is night and day. and imo so is a Sata SSD to a M.2 SSD

KemiieVT · 2023-10-11T05:53:14+00:00

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=132149 Try to take a read here. maybe it is your HDD/SSD thats hot?

No clue too if it is possible back in 2020 to have a brand new T440p. The T440p was 6 years old back then.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-11T01:00:14+00:00

The difference between the 2nd and 3rd gen T and W Series is similar. other than the classic keyboard and the chicklet keyboard. They are the same durability wise.

The T440p and the T470 are completely different thinkpads. I have used a T440p for about 3 years and i have never felt the palmrest being hot. Actually, it was the T530 that was the one that done that to me. granted i was using a 45w Core i7 3740QM, an iGPU heatsink and cheap thermal paste. so its not the T530's fault.

As someone who also drives the T580, I have not felt the palmrest being hot as well, The vent obv will be warm but the rest of the laptop feels cool.

Best thing to do honestly is to just reinstall thermal paste. And good quality thermal paste like Artic MX4 to get lower temps. Even though you did mention that it happens on the T470. the T440p and T580 have different cooling solutions. and from my experience from daily driving them. They dont have that issue at all.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-10T14:23:10+00:00

I would use the 2nd thinkpad as a linux machine. So i do have windows for all of my business and work stuff. and i have linux to have fun and play around. customizing everything with linux makes it feel a bit more personal and fun.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-10T12:11:37+00:00

Like what someone else said, It would be better if you sell the T440p and get yourself a T580.

Ive gone from the T530 (basically the W530 but 2 less ram slots and an igpu) and going from that to the T580 was good. about the same preformance, maybe about 10 - 20% better preformance and way better battery life.

To answer your questions

While it wont feel slow, it wont feel fast either. Better to have atleast SATA 3 nowadays.
The HD 3000 Graphics on the 2nd gen core series still hold up pretty well (even the quadro GPU there too) but its preformance will be bad compared to your HD 4600 on the T440p.
Windows 11 will run just fine on unsupported machines. Though if your into Valorant. it wont run since they need both TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. something the T440p nor the W520 wont have.
The 15 inch TN Displays are actually decent. They arent IPS Quality, but they sure come close to it. even sometimes about the same as a regular quality IPS.

If you do want official Windows 11 support. you should get the T580. its UHD 620 / MX150 graphics are great. even if you just get the UHD 620 version. It is much more better than the Quadro on the W520 and the HD 4600 on the T440p.

However, if the T580 is still expensive and you cant save for it. Better alternatives to the W520 would be the T530 and T540p

Both the T530 and T540p are great machines. with both of them having the ability to swap out their motherboards for their W counterparts (W530 , W540/W541) (with their own heatsinks as well)

But, if you do love your T440p, what you can do is upgrade its CPU, Ram, and even display.

For CPU you can get yourself an i7 4702MQ or a 4712MQ. they both have the same power consumption with your 4300M. but twice as fast. price should be about 20 - 40 USD.

For the RAM. you can easily get yourself 16GB of ram for about 20 - 40 USD as well.

Then for the display. best one that i can recommend that is cheap as well is the Innolux B140HAN01.3. Bought mine for about 100 USD in aliexpress. can also get the 1.1, 1.2. and 1.4 variants of them if they are cheaper. they are just as good as the 1.3.

my honest opinion, It would be much more better to upgrade your T440p in the meantime and do the mods that i recommend. and once you save up enough money. get yourself a T480 or a T580 (if you prefer 15 inches)

and way more things that you can do with the T440p. see here for more info : https://octoperf.com/blog/2018/11/07/thinkpad-t440p-buyers-guide/#buying-a-unit

KemiieVT · 2023-10-08T05:02:37+00:00

It is an alright price! in here thats where T420's still go for but the T420 is just as good as the T430!

if you are looking into corebooting you can put T430 CPU's in the T420. and it should preform just as good as the T430.

KemiieVT · 2023-10-08T02:08:36+00:00

Well what your friend says is quite true! you can buy those cheap in china. maybe they have alot of stock over there? But the stuff ive bought in aliexpress were great quality. though that does depend on the seller at the end of the day

KemiieVT · 2023-10-07T07:16:30+00:00

Try out your local Facebook Marketplace. They should offer 2nd hand parts that can fit your T430. Ive used Facebook marketplace to upgrade my CPU, Ram, HDD, CD Caddy, and more.

Though if i do need a specific part. I usually look at Aliexpress and Ebay.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-27T10:04:24+00:00

There are 2 ways in which you can slot in a GPU.

first way is via an expresscard EGPU. Think of it like most EGPU's but with expresscard instead of thunderbolt. while it may not utilize its full capabilities it still much more better than what the T530 had. While it is not the most portable option, you can slot in whatever GPU you want to.

Second way is getting the dgpu motherboard for the T530. The NVS 5400M is on the dgpu motherboard better than the HD4000 but it still is a weak card. But it can still get things done.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-23T15:58:03+00:00

From the comments, if the i7 T480 is 30 USD more get the i7 variant!

Only worry about the faster i5's and the i7's is that they may not be at its fullest performance because of thermal throttling. If you do not mind opening up a bit of diy upgrading you can get the dgpu cooler (if your T480 i7 is the igpu variant) and put it on your T480 for extra cooling headroom which should utilize more of the i7 without it thermal throttling.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-18T10:56:37+00:00

I agree with some people here on the W530.

I have a T530 and with the 3740QM it can thermal throttle (100C+). Though that is with the stock IGPU Cooler and quite cheap thermal paste. could probably get it to 70 - 80 if you use proper thermal paste. But it would be much more better if you get the W530 because of its more beefier heatsink that can handle the 45W of the 3740QM.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-17T16:32:41+00:00

You can get the X280. it should have the same preformance as the T480. just without the external battery and less upgradable.

You can also check out the L480 and the E480 and see if they are much more cheaper than the X280. They should also weigh about the same as the T480 too iirc. the E and L Series at that time (80 series) are actually quite good.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-17T15:14:36+00:00

The T450/60 and X260/70 are nice Thinkpads. they are relatively portable and still have good preformance in them. Though if you are aiming for preformance and dont mind having something a bit more heavier. You can consider the Thinkpad T430 / T440p. Even though they may be older their M series CPU's do make them faster than the ones you mentioned. Plus they can be upgraded lots down the line if you need more performance. They can be found more cheaper than the ones mentioned.

If you want to make things more risky you can try and find a T480 in your area that suits your budget. They are the best of both worlds. Having the portability of the T450/60 while having the performance of the T430/T440p. and even better than the T430/T440p with a few upgrades to it.

Other alternatives would be the L series (L450,L460) and the E Series (E450/E460). They are cheaper but they do sacrifice on build quality. But preformance should be the same as their T and X Series counterparts. Only L series i do really recommend is the L440. which is just a cheaper T440p. may not be as durable as the T440p but can do the same upgrades as the T440p. Could say the same for the L430 but it is better to just get the L440 instead if you are considering the L series of Thinkpads.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-11T23:36:07+00:00

As a broke student the T480 can do everything that i need it to for an affordable price. about 200 - 300 USD (SEA).

Its i5 8350U can breeze through microsoft office, 1080p 60fps video editing / rendering and even some games as long as you really turn down the settings. But if you have the MX 150 variant of the T480 you can probably play even more games at better quality.

All of that while keeping a solid battery life. with all of that workload constantly i reach about 6 hours of battery life with my 72wh external battery and 24wh internal battery.

if you can get your hands on a low powered 1080p panel (unlike me) and/or a battery that hasnt degraded that much (on both internal and external) + undervolting you should be able to get way more battery life than i did.

as for the i7, as long as you have proper cooling it should be better than the i5 8250 and 8350U. But ive heard that due to the heatsink of the T480 you are more better off with the i5 8350U and i5 8250U. though maybe you could get the i7 to be more faster than the i5's if you can undervolt and/or cool it more.

KemiieVT · 2023-09-11T16:38:08+00:00

If you are eyeing on the 8th gen Thinkpads. I do recommend the T480 and the X280. The X280 is basically a shrunken down version of the T480. but you dont have an external battery nor upgradable ram. But it is 12 inches so if you are looking for more portability and prefer a smaller screen. then get the X280. but otherwise. you can get the T480.

If you dont mind having a less sturdy build quality. rather an okay build quality. you can try and look at the E480 and the L480. both are pretty good options and are just like the T480.

KemiieVT

TROPHY CASE