4 ms·

If you are ever bored, maxing out a T440p, T430, or T480 is a fun exercise and not very difficult nor expensive. CPU, RAM, SSD, coreboot, modern LCD panel, Lit

by kev009 8mo ago

If you are ever bored, maxing out a T440p, T430, or T480 is a fun exercise and not very difficult nor expensive. CPU, RAM, SSD, coreboot, modern LCD panel, Liteon keyboard. Load with Linux, BSD, OpenCore.

stuxnet79 8mo ago
> nor expensive With OpenAI completely destroying the component supply chain in 2026 I think this requires citations
- nine_k 8mo ago
  DDR3 was not so much affected as DDR4 or DDR5.
nine_k 8mo ago
I had al of these. The CPU is the weakest component here, and only T480 supports 32 GB RAM. (Typing this from a T14 gen 1.)
- thrtythreeforty 8mo ago
  I've got a T480s that has 40GB of RAM (32GB SODIMM + 8GiB soldered). Works fine. Is the T480 different?
  - kev009 8mo ago
    My T480 running NetBSD: [ 1.000000] total memory = 65411 MB
  - nine_k 8mo ago
    T480 has 2 RAM slots and S has soldered RAM and 1 slot. OTOH unofficially T480 (not S) can work with two 32 GB SODIMMs. I did not try that. (I wish the AMD-based thinkpads supported ECC RAM. Ryzen 7 mobile CPUs technically allow for that.)
  - drillsteps5 8mo ago
    T480 has 2 RAM slots and can support 64Gb (32+32). The reason it's "unofficial" is that when they designed it (and wrote PSREF) the 32Gb RAM wasn't a thing.
- etyhhgfff 8mo ago
  The T480 i7 with 64GB RAM is still a very decent machine in 2026 even when used by a browser tab messy with a bunch of electron apps opened all the time.
leidenfrost 8mo ago
I have a hard time finding a good battery. I bought an internal and external battery and the external one quickly started bloating.
opan 8mo ago
Sadly the T440p (my main machine for several years) and T420 run insanely hot even with fresh paste and a cleaned fan, at least while docked and in continuous use. Could not for the life of me overcome it. Got a T14 Gen 5 and it's a solid 40 degrees cooler now on average. Big relief. I'm guessing T480 is decently cool but haven't daily driven one to be sure.

by kev009 8mo ago

stuxnet79 8mo ago

> nor expensive With OpenAI completely destroying the component supply chain in 2026 I think this requires citations

nine_k 8mo ago
DDR3 was not so much affected as DDR4 or DDR5.

nine_k 8mo ago

I had al of these. The CPU is the weakest component here, and only T480 supports 32 GB RAM. (Typing this from a T14 gen 1.)

thrtythreeforty 8mo ago
I've got a T480s that has 40GB of RAM (32GB SODIMM + 8GiB soldered). Works fine. Is the T480 different?
- kev009 8mo ago
  My T480 running NetBSD: [ 1.000000] total memory = 65411 MB
- nine_k 8mo ago
  T480 has 2 RAM slots and S has soldered RAM and 1 slot. OTOH unofficially T480 (not S) can work with two 32 GB SODIMMs. I did not try that. (I wish the AMD-based thinkpads supported ECC RAM. Ryzen 7 mobile CPUs technically allow for that.)
- drillsteps5 8mo ago
  T480 has 2 RAM slots and can support 64Gb (32+32). The reason it's "unofficial" is that when they designed it (and wrote PSREF) the 32Gb RAM wasn't a thing.
etyhhgfff 8mo ago
The T480 i7 with 64GB RAM is still a very decent machine in 2026 even when used by a browser tab messy with a bunch of electron apps opened all the time.

leidenfrost 8mo ago

I have a hard time finding a good battery. I bought an internal and external battery and the external one quickly started bloating.

opan 8mo ago

Sadly the T440p (my main machine for several years) and T420 run insanely hot even with fresh paste and a cleaned fan, at least while docked and in continuous use. Could not for the life of me overcome it. Got a T14 Gen 5 and it's a solid 40 degrees cooler now on average. Big relief. I'm guessing T480 is decently cool but haven't daily driven one to be sure.