Upgrade processor in X20 2662-11u

[EvilH]

I have recently come across an X20 2662-11U and was wondering if there was a way to upgrade the Celeron 500 to a PIII 500 or better?

[Terrahawk]

The answer is no, unfortunately. I have a 2662-11M and it's stuck with a celeron-500 too. The processor is soldered in, and it is surface-mount.

If you were to try to upgrade it, you'd most likely destroy the board without specialised equipment.

[EvilH]

Well that sucks. Would have made a nice light internet surfer. Though I suppose it could still be that albeit slow ;(

[pianowizard]

EvilH, how much memory does the X20 have, and what's the hard drive's speed? If the RAM is maxed out to 320MB, and a 5400rpm or even 7200rpm is used, the machine should run pretty fast despite its 500MHz Celeron.

But I think the best thing to do is sell it and get an X20 with 600MHz PIII instead. The processor is slightly faster, but most importantly you get a screen with higher resolution, 1024x768 versus the 800x600 that you currently have.

[EvilH]

The memory is maxed out at 320mb and has a 10gb 4200 rpm hard drive. fairly speedy with win98 but was going to put 2k on it or maybe linux with fluxbox as the window manager. Know anyone selling an X20?

[The Spirit of X21]

I have an X20 that I might want to sell. The exterior is really beat up, but the motherboard has a 600MHz PIII that works just fine. PM me if you want to talk....

[pianowizard]

I have an X20 that I might want to sell. The exterior is really beat up, but the motherboard has a 600MHz PIII that works just fine. PM me if you want to talk....

EvilH, this is a good opportunity! Your 500Celeron X20 has a thinner LCD assembly than the 600PIII version, but I think you can still swap most other parts to make this beat-up unit look nicer.

[EvilH]

so i would take the innards of the p3 600 and put them in my x20? i dont mind the slightly thicker lcd. 800 x 600 is really small but i might be able to ignore it since i will be putting Fluxbox on it.

[pianowizard]

so i would take the innards of the p3 600 and put them in my x20?

Nope. Instead, transfer the keyboard, palmrest etc. from your current X20 to the 600PIII X20. This is much easier than moving the internal organs especially the motherboard.

Because they use different LCD assemblies, you won't be able to swap those.

[tom lightbody]

or, you could avoid hassle & stick w/ what you got

> 500mHz celeron x20 w/ linux

yes--great idea. As p.w. points out, the 11&12u
are smallest of the x20s, good at the email store.
And avoiding the so-called desktop environments
*nome and *DE you get snappy performance (I use
fvwm2 as window manager, no icons, 6 virtual
consoles mostly xterms). And I personally prefer
the slightly furry feel--some call it rubbery--to
any of my other TPs including even the 600.

and personally again, I find the somewhat larger
letters at 800x600 easier on the eyes than
squinting at those tiny ones on higher res
screens.

Unfortunately the XGA x20 is not onboard, so direct
comparisons are impossible.

[EvilH]

So i would replace the beat up exterior on his with good ones from mine? Sorry I just had teeth removed and am a bit loopy from the pain meds.

[The Spirit of X21]

So i would replace the beat up exterior on his with good ones from mine? Sorry I just had teeth removed and am a bit loopy from the pain meds.

Hm, good question. Our friend pianowizard might know the answer to that. The only screens I have swapped out were a T40 with a T42, and both of those were XGA. My X20's XGA is a bit heavier than the SVGA on your X20, but it might be thin enough to put in your machine...

[pianowizard]

So i would replace the beat up exterior on his with good ones from mine?

Exactly. The caveat is that you most likely won't be able to swap the display lid, so you ought to ask The Spirit of X21 for some photos of the lid to see if its cosmetic blemishes are okay to you.