Upgrade confusion for R51 2889

[rotarymike]

Hi all. I've been lurking and thrashing the search engine for all I'm worth, and I'm still confused. Whatever happened to the relative simplicity of my 600X days?

I'd like to upgrade the CPU and perhaps a few other things on my R51 to keep it fresh(er) until grad school is done. It is my main PC.

Here's what I've got:
2889-FS3 (UNC-Chapel Hill specific version) (more below), PM 1.5 / 14" Intel graphics
1GB mem (2x 512)
A/B/G wireless
250GB HD
extended battery
XP SP3 / Ubuntu 8.10

I use the computer at school all day, and on the dock at night. It gets shut down maybe 1x a month. I rarely play games, it's mostly data crunching and some coding.

cpuz says Ive got this: (slightly edited)
Name Intel Pentium M
Codename Banias
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1500MHz
Package Socket 479 mPGA (platform ID = 5h)
CPUID 6.9.5
Extended CPUID 6.9
Brand ID 22
Core Stepping B1
Core Speed 598.1 MHz (6.0 x 99.7 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 398.7 MHz
Stock frequency 1500 MHz
L2 cache 1024 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes
FID range 6.0x - 15.0x
max VID 1.484 V

What I'd like to put in it is something in the 2.0GHz range.

What I'm confused about is all the Pentium M/ P4M Banias Dothan stuff. I understand the FSB speed, and I've read that I can't use a C core stepping one (whatever that is). How would I spec out the proper CPU? Should I look at getting one of the fan/sink assy's that normally cools the GPU as well, or is my smaller one fine as long as its only cooling the CPU?

I'd like to add internal bluetooth as well since some of the data acquisition stuff we're working with is BT. I've seen that some versions of the modem have BT on it, but couldn't correlate FSU # with one that would work with my BIOS. Also, am I correct in stating that I'd just have to run another antenna wire up the side of the screen?

thanks, rotarymike (noob)
R51
T41 (wife's)
600X (serial port)
and some other hardware in the closet rack.

[rotarymike]

also wanted to add:

CPU-Z shows that one DIMM is PC-3200, one is 2700. So one does 133 and 166 MHz, the other 166 and 200. I'm not much of a BIOS cowboy when it comes to laptops, but is there anything I'd need to change to get them both to run at 166, or should I look for another PC3200? I do plan to push out to 2GB, but that will be some time coming ($ wise).

[richk]

First, the memory all runs at PC2700 speed. (166 mHz) If you had 2 PC3200 sticks, it would still run at PC2700 speed. That is how fast your bus runs, no matter what you do, unless you put in PC2100 memory (like from a T30/T40/R40). In that case, it would slow to 133 mHz. You can put a Dothan CPU in, but don't expect a big improvement. Adding BT involves changing the modem and adding an antenna. If I remember correctly, R51 only had BT on 15" screens, so you couldn't find one that really fits. You would need to fabricate and attach something or add a BT card that attaches via USB or PCMCIA (pc card). If you really want the internal one, I used to have some listed in the marketplace section for something like $15 + shipping. I still have some cards left. Send me a PM if interested. I have also heard of people who used the AUX wireless antenna (black wire) to connect to the BT modem. I would guess that it would work fine for BT, but might affect wireless signal strength or make the wireless work less-well in some locations.

[underclocker]

Welcome to the forum.

First of all, fix the title of your post, I believe it should read R51, not R52.

You can upgrade the CPU to a 2.1GHz maximum. All Pentium M CPU's above 1.7GHz are Dothan, so no worry there, however, you must use a 400MHz bus variety, so either a Pentium 745, 755 or 765 (1.8, 2.0 or 2.1GHz) are the faster ones. Don't be tempted by the Pentium 750, 760, 770 or 780 they are less expensive for the same speed, but won't work at their rated speed in your machine! I'm not sure if there are any worries about stepping with the faster chips, but I would avoid any 735A or 745A models.

You can upgrade to internal Bluetooth. You have to swap your modem CDC for a combo Bluetooth/modem CDC. You need the same part as from the T42, not from a T41 or R52, they would produce an error at boot time that prevents the machine from booting! The OEM antenna routing isn't that bad, once you have the keyboard and keyboard bezel removed, you take off the LCD bezel and installs in the LCD assembly frame.

As noted, PC2700 memory is the fastest, no matter what any utility says.

Good luck.

[rotarymike]

Thanks for catching the typo - fixed.

Thanks for clearing up about the CPU - there are all sorts of threads about the 1889 series R51s and the similar T41s but I didn't see anything about mine. Maybe my search-fu is weak today. Intel really went apesheet when they started into the M's / P4s and beyond.

I understand about the BT modem. External isn't really an option - I've broken/munged 2 of the tiny USB dongles already in the field. I will PM. So, looking at the HMM for a T42, I'd need:

13N5515 cable/antenna (which I'd probably have to hot-melt glue in place in the LCD frame)
91P7319 modem card (IBM's BMDC-2)

Thought about this one a bit, since I was cleaning a classmates' Dell (he spilled coke on it) and his modem card had the additional wire hanging there, That + Google = danger, danger.

My memory (head, not laptop) is fuzzy on when I bought the second DIMM; it might have been all I could find at the BX at the time. Sometimes your host country isn't the easiest place to buy electronics I just wanted to make sure that due to some BIOS option I hadn't set, the DIMMs were running mismatched or slowed to 133.

So, a Dothan with 2x the L2 cache and 25% faster at rated speed wouldn't be much improvement? I mean, I'd expect about 20% faster at least with overhead. When I'm crunching data in Excel or SMS I hit 100% CPU/memory pretty often. Sometimes I can offload those tasks onto my home server computer (S51) but usually I'm not home when I need it. I'd expect it to be the same normally, when it's stepped down in freq.

Any ideas on the heatsink/fan issue?

thanks folks!

Mike

[rotarymike]

OK, have installed BT and got it working just fine, and also found a decently priced 2.0GHz processor which is also working just fine.

Out of curiosity, can I install the T42 BT display parts to have an indicator light? It looks like hardware-wise I'd need:

14" inverter from T42
lucite panels for front and back of LCd cover
perhaps the LCD cable to carry the signal?

I have no idea if the BIOS or systemboard supports outputting that signal. Ideas? Facts? Guesses?

MikeH

[Harryc]

Did you install an internal BMDC200 card? If so, all you need are the clearplates for the bluetooth indicator. Also, if you've a mind to you could do me a large favor. Run tpfancontrol in BIOS mode for a day and note the high, low, and idle CPU temps. Post them here. Thanks

http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

[rotarymike]

Yes, I installed a BDMC2 internal card.

My (base) computer is an R51, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an LED on the board for the bluetooth. Otherwise I'd notice it lighting when I switch it on. Suggestions?

I'll d/l tpfancontrol and see what's what. I have noticed the fan running more when the PC is on the dock, but not so much when on battery (it's set to adaptive speed control in both schemes of BMM). Battery life is a little less, but I'm still getting ~ 4 hours from the extended battery, which is about 1 year old.

[Harryc]

If its a compatible IBM FRU# BMDC card then the light will come on if the bluetooth radio is enabled (FN-F5). You can't see it come on unless you have the correct clearplate because the old clearplate blocks the light (no cutout).

[rotarymike]

These temps are all recorded on AC power, sitting on a dock.

High: 60C
Low: 42C
Idle: 45C

fan comes on around 55C, off about 44C (in BIOS mode).

I peeled the clear cover off, no LED there.

[rotarymike]

I'm an idiot, the LED was right where it should be (as opposed to where I was looking). Ebayed the clear pieces for $1.

What's the consensus on those temps? I'm not sure what valid operating temps are for the thing, so at the moment I'm a little gun shy with TPFanConrol allowing the laptop to run hotter.

[Harryc]

The temps looks good to me, so good in fact that I ordered a 2GHz Dothan for my R51. I'll let you know how the temps compare later on in the week. By the way, I knew the bluetooth light was there, but I was being polite in not pointing it out again .

[sjthinkpader]

My wife's R52 15 inch SXGA+ with integrated GPU and P-M 750 routinely rise up to 80 deg+ when running YouTube. I replaced the fan, thermal compound and it is still the same. So I just unloaded NHC for now.

[Harryc]

@rotarymike, I just put the 2GHz Dothan in my R51 and my temps seem right in line with yours. Idle looks like 43*c and top end is @60*c. I suspect it will drop a couple of degrees in a few days when the Arctic Silver sets up. Thanks again for the input.

[rotarymike]

No problem. FWIW, those temps on mine were with the residue of whatever sink compound was on my heatsink to begin with. I just smeared it around to make an even layer over the chip surface.

My R51 is hotter when on the dock, which is about 60% of the time. At school, the fans rarely come on (but then again, I'm only doing Firefox, T-bird and OneNote usually).

Re: the LED - the reference pic I looked at seemed to have the BT LED to the right side of the clear pane, so that's where I was looking.

MikeH