i7-3632QM Compatability With ThinkPad T420?

[SEGA_Genesis]

I was given a SONY VAIO to mess around with, and it has a quad core i7-3632QM inside. Anyhow, it has a dead motherboard along with a cracked housing and stuff, so it's not worth it to fix it up.

I'm getting a Lenovo ThinkPad T420 for college. Will I be able to use the i7-3632QM in a ThinkPad T420? I figured I could save a few bucks by just putting it in an i5 ThinkPad rather than buying one with an i7 already inside.

I looked it up to see if they even have the same socket, and I'm getting mixed messages.

Some people are claiming that Ivy-Bridge CPU's are incompatible with Sandy-Bridge devices on a hardware level. However other people are claiming you can, bet it's not supported in the BIOS, and you need to install CoreBoot. There are even people stating no modifications are required.

Which is correct?

Thanks guys, sorry for being such a novice.

[theterminator93]

It can be done but Coreboot must be flashed. There are a couple members here who have done it. I looked into it a couple years ago but never went through with it.

[SEGA_Genesis]

It can be done but Coreboot must be flashed. There are a couple members here who have done it. I looked into it a couple years ago but never went through with it.

Thanks very much for the clarification.

I'm assuming all I have to do is install CoreBootmon the ThinkPad, and then I'm good to go on the CPU swap? Also will it reset to the Lenovo BIOS if the CMOS battery dies or anything? I'd prefer to sell off the i5 when done.

[axur-delmeria]

"Just install Coreboot" is not as easy as it sounds, as it needs to be flashed externally. You need to connect a SOIC8 test clip to the BIOS flash chip, which is on the bottom side of the system board and requires complete disassembly to gain access to.

[SEGA_Genesis]

"Just install Coreboot" is not as easy as it sounds, as it needs to be flashed externally. You need to connect a SOIC8 test clip to the BIOS flash chip, which is on the bottom side of the system board and requires complete disassembly to gain access to.

Oh duh, how could I forget that part. I looked into it when wanting to mod my T30 BIOS. Sorry, I was up until 4 yesterday, being up for 20 hours isn't the best thing to do.

Thanks for the help bro.