I found a 2013 ThinkCentre M93p in the trash a few months ago. It included the optical drive and the power adapter. Swapped out the original CPU for an Intel i7 4770, installed an SSD in place of the original HDD, new CMOS battery and 16 GBs of RAM. Updated the BIOS and firmware. Spins like a top. Love it.
I recommend the 10th gen intel M90q variant as it has retained the 2nd m.2 port from the P340 tiny. However the P360 was just announced with 12th gen intels with DDR5, that is a big boost for the integrated graphics if you want to upgrade the pcie slot later with a gpu.
@@LaptopRetrospective If my memory serves me right the M80q is a M70q with pcie expansion ready (only need a 90 angle pcie bracket from lenovo as it is not 100% the same socket) the M90q adds the 2nd m.2. So it is a cheap P340 alternative. The pcie expansion is 16x wired up to 8x so sff video cards can fit in like the quadro p1000/t1000 and the new amd rx 6400. Technically you can push the graphics to 75w. But with usually these cars going around 50w, with the 35w cpu you can peak at 90w. Really nice pocket rockets to be honest. ;)
Nice review and good to see something different. I've recently started looking at little devices like this for a variety of uses. I hadn't seen this m70q but one I did buy fairly cheaply from ebay was a Dell Wyse 5070 Extended. The normal slim model is completely passively cooled while the Extended model is slightly thicker but fits a half height PCIe card. Mine came with an AMD GPU in the slot which has now been replaced with a 4 port network card. Neither are particularly powerful but the are great for little projects such as OPNsense/pfsense etc. I'm thinking of getting another one and putting a PCIe eSATA card in there with port multiplier, connected to an external 4 or 5 bay eSATA enclosure and using it as a NAS with unraid. These little devices can be bargains and different ones can be used for all sorts of little projects.
I've been on the lookout for a newer second hand Lenovo mini PC because my m715q cannot upgrade to windows 11. I kinda hope people don't realize what nice everyday PCs these little machines make because they're pretty much the best PC I can afford lol. I paid $80 for my m715q
Hi John, many thanks for all your vids. I have a X220 which is ace, i have upgraded the RAM to 16GB but its its still a bit slow using Photoshop, & Lightrooms, do you think the M70q would be a good upgrade ? Cheers Fon
Don't know who John is but I'm sure they're nice. It depends on what CPU you end up getting. There are a lot of good options out there for this chassis that should handle both of those applications very well. The X220 is an older, mobile CPU so it will struggle with some complex tasks.
@@vlarney6623 At base +300Mhz and At boost +200Mhz. With 6 cores it is a significant increase, especially when cpu can boost. However the difference is lesss than the 8th gen variant where the 8400T has abizmal base clock.
I found this information for the i9 version. I suspect you can find the others here as well. www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-computers/details/2354965
Kinda unimpressed but good enough for office work and better than what some businesses use on their production lines as it does get very annoying when a machine is lagging lot when scanning customer orders.
Bought one yesterday i5 10400 brand new in unopend box for €350-- here in the Netherlands Europe. Friend of my is going to installed this Sunday on my new Lenovo q27q-20 monitor.
Heh yeah this is both great and it sucks. Price of them will go up second hand as soon as people realise you don't need a big ole tower PC for everyday use. Only good thing is they often get liquidated in huge lots when businesses upgrade their computers.
I found a 2013 ThinkCentre M93p in the trash a few months ago. It included the optical drive and the power adapter. Swapped out the original CPU for an Intel i7 4770, installed an SSD in place of the original HDD, new CMOS battery and 16 GBs of RAM. Updated the BIOS and firmware. Spins like a top. Love it.
I used a 4770K as my daily driver for 10 years. I know exactly what you mean.
And if you want to, the 4th gen is a perfect candidate for "retro" Win XP gaming.
I recommend the 10th gen intel M90q variant as it has retained the 2nd m.2 port from the P340 tiny. However the P360 was just announced with 12th gen intels with DDR5, that is a big boost for the integrated graphics if you want to upgrade the pcie slot later with a gpu.
Thanks for sharing this information!
@@LaptopRetrospective If my memory serves me right the M80q is a M70q with pcie expansion ready (only need a 90 angle pcie bracket from lenovo as it is not 100% the same socket) the M90q adds the 2nd m.2. So it is a cheap P340 alternative. The pcie expansion is 16x wired up to 8x so sff video cards can fit in like the quadro p1000/t1000 and the new amd rx 6400. Technically you can push the graphics to 75w. But with usually these cars going around 50w, with the 35w cpu you can peak at 90w. Really nice pocket rockets to be honest. ;)
Quite a neat machine. I sure didn't expect to see a socketed CPU.
Me neither.
Nice review and good to see something different. I've recently started looking at little devices like this for a variety of uses. I hadn't seen this m70q but one I did buy fairly cheaply from ebay was a Dell Wyse 5070 Extended. The normal slim model is completely passively cooled while the Extended model is slightly thicker but fits a half height PCIe card. Mine came with an AMD GPU in the slot which has now been replaced with a 4 port network card. Neither are particularly powerful but the are great for little projects such as OPNsense/pfsense etc.
I'm thinking of getting another one and putting a PCIe eSATA card in there with port multiplier, connected to an external 4 or 5 bay eSATA enclosure and using it as a NAS with unraid.
These little devices can be bargains and different ones can be used for all sorts of little projects.
Totally agree. Lots that can be done with them.
I've been on the lookout for a newer second hand Lenovo mini PC because my m715q cannot upgrade to windows 11. I kinda hope people don't realize what nice everyday PCs these little machines make because they're pretty much the best PC I can afford lol. I paid $80 for my m715q
Not a bad purchase price!
You can install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware.
Hi John, many thanks for all your vids. I have a X220 which is ace, i have upgraded the RAM to 16GB but its its still a bit slow using Photoshop, & Lightrooms, do you think the M70q would be a good upgrade ? Cheers Fon
Don't know who John is but I'm sure they're nice. It depends on what CPU you end up getting. There are a lot of good options out there for this chassis that should handle both of those applications very well. The X220 is an older, mobile CPU so it will struggle with some complex tasks.
@@LaptopRetrospective lol, cheers for the reply, ill save some dosh and go for M70q i5 maybe. Take care and many thanks.
@@owenwilliams9582 If you can go for the 10500 (can be more expensive) or the 10500T. Avoid the 10400 and T variants.
@@adamzahoy1749 why avoid the 10400T the different is small though?
@@vlarney6623 At base +300Mhz and At boost +200Mhz. With 6 cores it is a significant increase, especially when cpu can boost. However the difference is lesss than the 8th gen variant where the 8400T has abizmal base clock.
I'm trying to reset one of these but I only have the ease of access button on the login menu I can't follow any of the tutorials I find
When you say reset, what are you trying to do?
I got in with flash drive all good.
found this 2 days ago at a second hand shop for 5 dollars brand new
Nice buy!
planning to upgrade the parts such as the cpu? Since this is a lower end model compared to M75, m80 and m90
The new owner might. This was just passing through.
Can this be upgraded to output 4k video?
The PSREF should detail maximum resolutions possible.
Does M70q has PCIE slot so that we can put riser for external card?
It is pretty cramped in there. Not sure how well that would go. Hardware maintenance manual might give you some ideas.
Hi can i use anybrand keyboard and mouse pls reply😢
Yes.
Is it supported to replace cpu from 10th gen to 11th?
Will the wifi work without antenna? Im planning to get one but the version available here in out place has no antenna
Can't guarantee how well.
eaby
What's the power consumption?
I found this information for the i9 version. I suspect you can find the others here as well.
www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-computers/details/2354965
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks!
Kinda unimpressed but good enough for office work and better than what some businesses use on their production lines as it does get very annoying when a machine is lagging lot when scanning customer orders.
I'm pretty satisfied with it, especially given this is essentially the slowest version.
Nice little machine, an i5 10400 would be nice in there!
Indeed!
Bought one yesterday i5 10400 brand new in unopend box for €350-- here in the Netherlands Europe. Friend of my is going to installed this Sunday on my new Lenovo q27q-20 monitor.
Very cool!
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks !! I'm very happy with my new monitor + the Lenovo thinkcentre i5 10400 gen 2 , it has 16 ram ! + 512 SSD. Greetz Glenn
Sounds like an excellent setup.
Can we use the monitor and connect it to bigger PC? I don't have knowledge
Hey there, I'm not sure I fully understand your question. This is a miniPC.
Hdmi port works for a 4k 60hz monitor?
Best to check the PSREF for this model to get the exact resolution supports.
Heh yeah this is both great and it sucks. Price of them will go up second hand as soon as people realise you don't need a big ole tower PC for everyday use. Only good thing is they often get liquidated in huge lots when businesses upgrade their computers.
Yeah, the volume that these show up can keep the price down.
I bought this used from a local PC store for $340 just for the purpose of streaming lol.
Not bad. 😁