Lenova Think Centre DVD replacements & upgrades

If this is something your planning to do in your own machine then be aware of one VERY important fact. Despite the fact the front folds upwards that feature is merely to allow easy removal of the leads from the back, to remove the actual drive itself fold the carriage flat and lightly pull the dvd eject cover down then push the dvd from the back out the front of the case.

Dont try what I did and try to remove it from the back by pushing the front, its physically impossible.

Anyway the new dvd-rw is now fitted, a Samsung SH-S222A. The master/slave dipswitch was already in the correct position thankfully so all it needed was to be cabled up. Its currently doing its 1st burn as a test. Which seems to play ok in the computer so thats a good start.

Installing a PCI Graphics card into a Lenovo M52

Well my card arrived today and its now in the machine and working, there was a bit of fiddling around to both physically fit it and to get to working properly in Windows but as promised heres the walk through.

Open the case (use the buttons on the side).
Remove the riser array (I had to use a screwdriver here).
Fit card on riser and replace riser array.
Close case and put video input onto PCI card.
Boot machine and enter BIOS (press enter).
Press F1, go into Devices then Video Setup.
Change "Select Active Video" to PCI and press F10 to save settings and exit.
Boot, if boot fails enter safe mode.
Enter Control Panel and Disable all Intel video drivers.
(if machine still wont boot then update ATI drivers from cd)
Boot machine, it should now login with your new card all working.

Finally bought a dedicated graphics card

After putting up with the inboard Intel graphics chip that gave an ok picture but lags like a bastard even on certain flash internet browser games I finally purchased a Sapphire RADEON 9250 PCI 128MB card today off Ebay. I've heard there can be quite a few issues about installing a PCI graphics card into a Lenovo like mine so I will document the complete procedure when it finally arrives. Watch this space for more details.

At least I know the card WILL fit inside the machine and it should be ok for power too, I have read that possible stumbling blocks may involve flashing my systems BIOS, disabling the current onboard chip in the BIOS and altering other BIOS settings where necessary.

Lenova M series upgrades you can't do!

Do you own an IBM/Lenova ThinkCentre? M series? Is it an M52? An 8215? A CTO?
Want to fit it with a PCI Graphics card better than the on board 128 Meg piece of crap it has?

Well you can't! Because your PSU won't handle it.
The machine only has a 225w PSU and every graphics card above 128 Meg needs at LEAST 250W.

So your fucked. Just like I am. This means I won't be playing Portal until I buy a new computer.
So basically never then.
Thanks to the wankers at IBM for fitting a PCI slot for graphics & for fitting a FUCKING low wattage PSU.
WANKERS!