Subj : Re: T60 + ram limits..
To   : August Abolins
From : Ky Moffet
Date : Tue Mar 10 2026 11:20:00

AUGUST ABOLINS wrote:
> Hello Ky!
> 
>>> I've had a few instances with Supermium when the whole XP pc gets "stuck",
>>> and the mouse/trackpad is nolonger responsive, and only ctr-alt-del works
>>> to bring up the Windows Task Manager.
> 
>> What is your swapfile setting? that sounds like running out of swapfile
>> space.
> 
> I have an SSD in it now.  I turned off most swapping.

The problem is when you have really low RAM *and* a small swapfile, you 
bang up against the limit-total that much sooner. And a small swapfile 
is a lot busier, so making it small to "conserve" the SSD is 
counterproductive.

And that is why the Chrome engine (Supermium) is locking up the system. 
Modern full-featured browsers are hogs, no way around it.

>> Using an adblocker helps. UBlock Origin still works on Supermium:
> 
>> https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnh
>> cphjbkeiagm
> 
> I'll look into that, thanks.

Makes a huge difference. I don't know how anyone uses the web without it.

> 
>> Real Chrome needs this one, and Supermium might after v138:
> 
>> https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafb
>> ddmgiahcphecmpfh
> 
> That one could be useful on my T540p whih has both Chrome and FF.  I do have
> an adblocker with FF that works well.

Ads suck up 90% of the bandwidth, and equally suck up CPU and RAM, 
because ad scripts are fairly CPU-intensive.

> 
>>> Yes, the 3GB limit sucks.  My T60 can support 4GB and even the 64bit
> 
>> T60 Thinkpad?
> 
> Corret.

A pretty good workhorse in its day.


>> https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/pd008795-detailed-specifications-
>> thinkpad-t60-t60p
> 
>> Crap... Core2Duo normally supports 8GB RAM, but that mobile Core2 only
>> supports 4GB.
> 
> Back when I was considering the T60, 4GB seemed plenty.  :(  I had a T40p at
> the time.  I think it has even less ram.

Yeah, I remember when I was thrilled that the 486 had a whopping 4 MB of 
RAM....

>>> instruction set.  But since I run XP/32, I reduced the actual physical to
>>> 3GB on purpose so that I could use a 2GB module in a another laptop that
>>> only had 2x 1GB.  It too is an XP/32 machine.  Now they both have the
>>> "max".
> 
>> Well, that's the best they can do, then.
> 
> https://kolico.ca/tmp/t60-ram1-photo_2026-03-09_08-20-31.jpg

DDR2, probably cost you under $10 for a matched pair of 2GB sticks.

>> I have never seen a computer with a 3GB limit.
> 
> Yep.. I have eMachines that clearly specifies "3GB maximum" in BIOS setup.

There was ONE "Brookdale" 845 chipset that only supported 2GB DDR or 3GB 
SDRAM.

You got a weird combo, but eMachine was kinda "how we get rid of all the 
QC seconds". Some were pretty good, others were crap.

> The eMachines supports 64bit instruction set.  It has booted run and with
> several different 64bit linux OSes quite fine.

You got lucky, not all 845-compatible CPUs supported x64.

The big advantage of x64 is that it runs at about 4x the speed of the 
same OS in x86.

> One of the Mints has run quite fine on the T60.  Seemed responsive enough.

It will be until you have a busy browser!

> So, you're saying that 1GB is always reserved as overhead, even if I have 3GB
> installed for a mac of "2GB useable"?  I am not sure about that.

Yes, and one of your images clearly shows that.

> ### 2. Dual-channel performance trick
> ? Most cost-effective upgrade: 2 GB + 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2

It is always more cost-effective in the long run to max out RAM, and it 
does more for performance than anything else (other than switching from 
spinning rust to SSD).

> "If you're working with older ThinkPads (T40p ? T60 generation), there's also
> a little-known trick involving the T60 chipset and a modified BIOS that
> allows faster CPUs and SATA-II speeds. I can explain that one too if you're
> interested.
> 
> And yes.. I was curious about the modified bios "trick", but I'm not going to
> look into for the T60 which is performing reasonably well with the SSD as-is.

I'd be leery of modifying the BIOS.
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