Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

R400/R500 Series
Post Reply
Message
Author
Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#1 Post by Omineca » Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:55 am

Quick and easy questions for the experts out there.

Context: I have to replace the fan on my trusty R500. It's ordered. Arctic Silver 5 ordered as well.

The questions:

I have a P8400 CPU. I can get a T9600 on eBay for CAD $18.
  • will my current heatsink/fan handle the upgrade?
  • and is it worth bothering, performance-wise?
I already have an SSD installed, and I've read that the SSD and RAM upgrades make the most difference.
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

ajkula66
SuperUserGeorge
SuperUserGeorge
Posts: 17303
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:28 am
Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#2 Post by ajkula66 » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:28 am

Omineca wrote: will my current heatsink/fan handle the upgrade?
Yes.
and is it worth bothering, performance-wise?

I already have an SSD installed, and I've read that the SSD and RAM upgrades make the most difference.
Well, it's not a lot of money to invest IMO, but do bear in mind that a T9600 will run warmer and return less battery life.

Will it be a night-and-day difference in *any* respect? No.

Your ThinkPad, your $$, your call.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: RE: Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#3 Post by Omineca » Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:04 am

ajkula66 wrote:
Omineca wrote: will my current heatsink/fan handle the upgrade?
Yes.
and is it worth bothering, performance-wise?

I already have an SSD installed, and I've read that the SSD and RAM upgrades make the most difference.
Well, it's not a lot of money to invest IMO, but do bear in mind that a T9600 will run warmer and return less battery life.

Will it be a night-and-day difference in *any* respect? No.

Your ThinkPad, your $$, your call.
Thanks! The money and battery life don't matter, so I think I'll do it.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

jaspen-meyer
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 837
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
Contact:

Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#4 Post by jaspen-meyer » Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:49 am

I have similar machines with P8400 cpus and others with P9600, which is very similar to the T9600. The P9600 gives a nice little boost.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: RE: Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#5 Post by Omineca » Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:23 pm

jaspen-meyer wrote:I have similar machines with P8400 cpus and others with P9600, which is very similar to the T9600. The P9600 gives a nice little boost.
Thanks. Nice to hear!

Sent from my BlackBerry Q10 using Tapatalk
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#6 Post by Omineca » Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:37 pm

I hate waiting. CPU is here. Paste is here. Fan is not here. :(

Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

jaspen-meyer
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 837
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
Contact:

Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#7 Post by jaspen-meyer » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:41 pm

On some of my T400's I run coreboot and it doesn't require the fan be installed?!
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: RE: Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#8 Post by Omineca » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:16 am

jaspen-meyer wrote:On some of my T400's I run coreboot and it doesn't require the fan be installed?!
That must be a very light system. The machine still runs, although the fan kicks in and buzzes occasionally. I guess Debian must not tax the system much either. So it's still usable. I just want to do the upgrade!

Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

Omineca
Sophomore Member
Posts: 215
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:40 pm
Location: British Columbia, Canada

Re: R500 CPU Upgrade Questions

#9 Post by Omineca » Sat Feb 10, 2018 8:58 pm

So I finally got around to doing this upgrade. The parts came a long time ago, but I got busy with other things, and it seemed like maybe the T9600 upgrade wasn't a good idea for a machine that already ran a little on the hot side.

Well, the T9600 and the new fan are installed, and the machine runs much cooler. Found the culprit: https://flic.kr/p/G6Yqhd

I guess you were right, jaspen-meyer. You don't need a fan. Mine couldn't have been accomplishing anything.

Anyways, right now my cores are running at 36C and 39C, which is at least 15C lower than before.

Edit: I just watched some Youtube, and the cores fluctuated between 40C and 42C. Tasks that used to drive my CPU usage to 50% are now only putting it into the 30-35% range. I'm quite pleased.

Edit 2: Well, I must not have seated the CPU correctly (or I have a different loose or damaged connector somewhere). If set the notebook down (I think bumping it from the bottom is the issue), it freezes. Back into the guts of the thing I go!

Edit 3: Rookie mistake. I thought the CPU lock screw turned 90 degrees, but it turns all the way around to 180 degrees.
Home: L440 | R500 | X120e Server
Work: ThinkPad Yoga 260 | Dell Latitude 5320

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “ThinkPad R400/R500 Series”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests