Microcode for CPU in Bios N100

[kamencho]

1st post here, Greetings to all

So, I have a silly question - what happens if I upgrade my Lenovo laptop with CPU which is not bundled in any available configuration?

I speak of
Intel Core2 DUO Merom 2.33G 4Mb T7600 SL9SD
(t7200 and t7500 are available).

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63472

Laptop model is 0768

(to answer to a question no-one asked - I took N100 because it had low price and it was next best to ThinkPad)

[Harryc]

What CPU does your laptop currently have?

[kamencho]

What CPU does your laptop currently have?

Autodetected by Support activex on Lenovo site

Product: 3000 N100 0768-4FG
Operating system: Windows XP
Original description: Celeron M 420(1.6GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15.4in 1280x800 LCD, 64MB nVIDIA GeForce FX Go7300, CDRW/DVDRW, 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, IEEE 1394, Fingerprint reader, Camera, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

(I added 512 RAM more)

Everest tells me this (among other things):
CPUID CPU Name Intel(R) Celeron(R) M CPU 420 @ 1.60GHz
Platform ID 20h / MC 20h (Socket 479)
CPU Alias Yonah-1M
Stepping C0

[Harryc]

Phycically (socket) and electronically (voltage) it should work. The FSB is also correct (533Mhz) and the Chipset supports it. Whether or not the BIOS will support it is another story. You need to find someone who has done this upgrade or try it yourself. Generally speaking I don't do CPU upgrades unless it is supported in the family of machines and BIOS. In your case I'd probably try a T7200 upgrade, in fact I did this exact upgrade in a Z61T. Also, check the parts manual for different fans. Lenovo often uses different fans for higher speed CPU's.

[kamencho]

I was thinking exactly about t7200 but since the price is very similar I had to think about t7600 same everything and all...

About the fan and dissipitation unit - I saw that in the N100 there is a second option but I think I got the better one since the 0768 is the one that can handle higher end CPUs...

Actually I payed for the CPU on ebay and am now waiting for the part. Currently I am in Prague CZ so it will take some time, if it ever gets here... This I consider an improvement - originally I am from Bulgaria. No one ships there, no one accepts Credit card from there - too much bad Carma I guess

Thanks for all Harryc...

[kamencho]

I want to report that this upgrade works perfectly - in the laptop mentioned earlier I put the T7600 and it works.
I am currently writing from that laptop.
Will monitor temperature and overal behavior for a while with more care than usual...

Cheers

PS
I noticed allot of dirt (textile origin) on the heat sinks, will have to clean them more often I guess...

[kamencho]

Just to report.

CPU stays at 43-49C at idle time (internet, text edit, MP3) and NHC is doing a great job keeping the CPU at 1GHz - in Custom Dynamic Switching I set 500ms delay at speedup which filters allot of going up and down of CPU Clock.
I barely hear the system fan and the system is running noticeably cooler than with the original Celeron 420. It used to be unpleasant to keep hands on the surface close to keyboard (turns out that "29W all the time" is much less then "34W almost never"). This possibly could have been caused by the dust and dirt I cleaned...

I used a thermal paste by http://www.jetart.com/ CK4000 I never saw this one before but it was metal based and was available in the local store. Does anyone have experience with that one (should I change it)?

Interesting observation - when I removed the old CPU the thermal compound was thicker closer to one of the edges of CPU crystal, is it possible that assembly or some part were not exactly max quality. It was good enough, I guess - working well for almost 2 years without a hitch. Anyway I plan to open it soon again to check layer and spillage of paste...

[Harryc]

Anyway I plan to open it soon again to check layer and spillage of paste...

Whatever floats your boat . It really is not necessary to check on Thermal compound if it is working.