Thinkpads Forum

Does anybody know if it is possible to changeover the CPU of the W700 within the actual range of W700 models, in particular to upgrade from an INTEL® Core™2 Duo mobile processor to an INTEL® Core™2 Extreme mobile processor resp. to an INTEL® Core™2 Quad mobile processor subsequently?

According to this dealer (unfortunately, this website in German only), who offers a CPU upgrade for the W700, the changeover should be possible in principle.

Any further informations about this topic, guys?

The CPU is socketed. I don't know why you'd have a problem swapping it. Lenovo may not like it.

I agree. However, I was worried a little after a talk with an experienced dealer about this question recently, when he told me that there are no reliable informations on this topic available by LENOVO so far, even on request. BTW, I cannot see any replicable reason why LENOVO should be "not amused" if a dealer or a customer would upgrade the CPU subsequently. A procedure like this should be comparably easy to handle (apart from some jumper settings) like an upgrade of RAM or switching a HDD, given a careful approach. May be the LENOVO limited warranty goes out in the case of successive damage. Otherwise, a RAM upgrade by a customer is not banned by the warranty regulations, so far I know.

Wilhelm wrote:I agree. However, I was worried a little after a talk with an experienced dealer about this question recently, when he told me that there are no reliable informations on this topic available by LENOVO so far, even on request. BTW, I cannot see any replicable reason why LENOVO should be "not amused" if a dealer or a customer would upgrade the CPU subsequently. A procedure like this should be comparably easy to handle (apart from some jumper settings) like an upgrade of RAM or switching a HDD, given a careful approach. May be the LENOVO limited warranty goes out in the case of successive damage. Otherwise, a RAM upgrade by a customer is not banned by the warranty regulations, so far I know.

Certainly, I don´t know if there exist different BIOS versions of the various W700 models, because the Extreme versions of INTEL CPUs are allowed to overclock at least by changing some BIOS settings.

You should be fine, as Lenovo is selling the Core 2 Extreme's too, so BIOS-wise, you shouldn't have a problem. This will officially void your warranty, so KEEP the original CPU, so that if you need warranty work done, they won't make a fuss. I did the same thing on my T60p, and I'm getting a W700 as well.

Lenovo just put a new Quad core, and the 3.06GHz T9900. Are you getting the Q9300x one??