Fastest 770z CPU Upgrade - P3-500 or faster?

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cmeilahn · #1 Post by **cmeilahn** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 3:38 pm

This is because I'm curious... I will be "building" a 770z P3-500 with all PC100 memory shortly and I want to know if I can get a faster CPU later on.

What is the fastest successful, error-free CPU upgrade that you have heard of for the 770z? I have been able to find both error-filled and error-free P3-500 upgrade stories, but nothing faster.

1) What is the fastest CPU, without errors?
2) Is the max CPU based on the SpeedStep vs. non-SS CPU? Non-SS max's at 500 MHz, but SS goes much faster.
3) What other variables need to be considered (FSB, Memory speed/upgrades, etc.)

Thanks.

------------------
Carl
770ED, P2-400, 288MB PC66, WinXP

G-Man · #2 Post by **G-Man** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 3:52 pm

Read this thread.

Regards,
G-Man

cmeilahn · #3 Post by **cmeilahn** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 4:05 pm

Thanks... already read that thread... even contributed to it. I'm looking for more.

mdbrown · #4 Post by **mdbrown** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 4:32 pm

cmeilahn wrote:Thanks... already read that thread... even contributed to it. I'm looking for more.

I'm sure heat will be an issue but it seems to me that you *might* be able to get a faster CPU IF one is available on MMC-2 that has a low speed faster than 500Mhz since a SS enabled CPU will default to low speed in the absence of the proper support. So if, for instance, an 850Mhz MMC-2 PIII were available and low speed was 650Mhz that would be an option. That being said, I have no idea of the speeds and what was available via MMC-2. Should be worth a look though. Will be interested to see what you discover as I am preparing to move my 770x to a 500Mhz PIII.

cmeilahn · #5 Post by **cmeilahn** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:13 am

Interesting point about the SS enable CPUs. From what I understand, MMC-2 spec is the 440BX chipset, so it's possible that any MMC-2 would work. After some brief research on Intel's site, it looks like the following might be candidates for the 770x/z series:

MMC-2 w/ 100 MHz FSB
PML - P3 w/o Speedstep (256kb on-die cache)
450
500

PMM - P3 w/ Speedstep (256kb on-die cache)
600/500
650/500
700/550
750/600
800/650
850/700

PMN - Celeron (0.18 micron, 128kb cache)
450
500
550
600
650
700

-------------------------------------

MMC-2 w/ 66 MHz FSB
PME = P2 w/o on-die cache (512kb cache)
233
266
300

PMG - P2 w/ on-die cache (256kb cache)
266
300
333
366
400

PMI - Celeron (128kb cache, on-die)
266
300
366
400
433
466

This is probably not a complete list, and doesn't take into account the core voltage requirements. It looks like the fastest you could go is a P3 850/700 with SS or a Celeron 700. Any thoughts, etc. from anyone?[/u][/i]

mdbrown · #6 Post by **mdbrown** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:04 am

IIRC, the Celeron is out of the question. Don't remember the specifics but it does not work in the 770 series laptops. You'll have to go the PIII route. Looks like there are some interesting options though. Tempting!!

shined · #7 Post by **shined** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:29 pm

It is interesting to pursue the ultimate TP770 series.

I heard that TP770/770E/770ED don't take a MMC-1 Celeron. I have
not found anything but reports of failure in this upgrade. But I'm not
totally sure about that. Please correct me if this info. is wrong.

I found one success story that TP770X worked fine with MMC-2
Celeron at 700MHz. So this upgrade path may be worth thinking.

I recently obtained a MMC-2 PIII-800 (thanks James!) and put it into
my TP770X. It works fine at 650MHz. I spent quite a bit of time trying
to figure out how to go to SS performance optimized CPU freq, but it
seems there is no one in the world who successfully did this. So I believe
the fastest CPU TP770X/770Z can take is MMC-2 PIII-850 working at
700MHz.

After replacing the CPU of my TP770X from PIII-500 to PIII-800
working at 650, I checked the CPU temperature using MobileMeter and
found that it is actually cooler than PIII-500, thanks to the lower core
voltage. So the heat shouldn't be a problem as long as the CPU is
working at SS lower freq.

#8 Post by **pkiff** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 5:05 pm

Can you clarify whether or not you have to perform the escape key sequence during startup with this PIII 800MHz chip running at 650MHz?

I assume yes, but I've lost track of whether this thread is tracking the fastest possible CPU under any circumstances or the fastest possible CPU which is recognized correctly and without any strange bootup problems. Both of these cases might be considered "successes" if they function but different people have a different idea of whether the PIII installs are successes if they require function/escape key sequences.

I understood that nothing over a non-speed-step PIII 500MHz would boot completely cleanly, without requiring any key sequences, in the 770X or Z. And even then, you need to swap the 66MHz memory out of the motherboard and replace it with 100MHz memory. Is that still correct?

Phil.

JHEM · #9 Post by **JHEM** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 5:48 pm

Phil,

pkiff wrote:I understood that nothing over a non-speed-step PIII 500MHz would boot completely cleanly, without requiring any key sequences, in the 770X or Z. And even then, you need to swap the 66MHz memory out of the motherboard and replace it with 100MHz memory. Is that still correct?

I can't give you a final answer on this yet as I haven't been able to swap the 500MHz MMC-2 in my test-bed 770Z since arriving back home. (*)

But, with the 500MHz MMC-2, two 128MB PC100 sticks and one 256MB PC100 stick the unit started with no complaints and no additional keystrokes.

Regards,

James

(* I arrived home from DC and wound up having a bit of emergency surgery, so no playing with the machines for a few days, sorry.)

Tarkus · #10 Post by **Tarkus** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:47 pm

Hey all,

Any updates on success/lack-thereof with the 800Mhz MMC2?

shined · #11 Post by **shined** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:09 pm

My TP770X works just fine with PIII-800, the clock is set to the SS lower
frequency of 650MHz though. It boots up cleanly simply by following the
bios modification explained in the thread.
"770Z CPU Upgrade Problems - PIII 500, 100MHz Mem, 127 Error"
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1199

sickofit · #12 Post by **sickofit** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:31 am

Shined....Seeing as you are the only one i've heard of trying this mod out...do you happen to have the power saving set to always on????...as I know with laptops that have SS,if you don't set them to Always on,they automatically scale down.....therefore if you don't have it set to always on,it may slow down,but MAYBE if set to always on,it will run full out...???

Definately would like to know...!!!!

Later....

Greg St.L

Guest · #13 Post by **Guest** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:47 am

Hi, Greg.

What do you mean by "power saving set on"? Do you mean the power
management setup in WinXP or Win2k? If so, no matter how I set it up,
the CPU clock does never go to the SS higher freq. I think this is simply
due to the lack of hardware support of SpeedStep technology in the
TP770X systemboard. There is no software cure to get around.

FYI, this genius guy found a way of setting the CPU freq of his TP600E
to the SS higher freq. This involves some hardware modification.
"IBM Thinkpad 600E bios mod for processor update"
http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4046
I assume similar modification would be required to go to the SS
higher freq in a TP770X/Z.

shined · #14 Post by **shined** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 12:50 am

Oops. I again forgot to log in when posting the above message.

ndoggfromhell · #15 Post by **ndoggfromhell** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:22 pm

Ok... I've ran my laptop for 2 weeks with a Celeron 500 in it and it ran fine. Faster than the 400mhz PII i had in here.

Now i've upgraded to a 700mhz PIII and it's running at 550, which actually is a bigger difference in speed. for example, PowerDVD stays at about 50% CPU usage now, before it was peaking at 100% with the Celeron in there. Oh, and battery life is alot better.

WOOT!

JimmyD · #16 Post by **JimmyD** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:47 pm

If anyone locates a source for a MMc-2 850 or 800 , i'd sure like to try one. I'm running the 500 MHZ now, on my 770X. With 2k PRO and the new CPU it run's pretty sweet.
Been looking on E-Bay but no luck. Jimmy

bikereff · #17 Post by **bikereff** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 4:59 pm

Hello to All,
Been following the upgrade saga on the 770Z machines and 770. I have noticed that several persons have said that the Celeron 500 will not work in the 770Z and others say that is does.

I tried the Celeron 500 upgrade and installed a 128MB pc100 chip on the system board (the hard to reach one) in my 770Z. When I attempted to boot, all I get is one long beep followed by a couple of short beeps and no screen. I tried to boot several times and get the same result. I was waiting for the required key stroke sequence (esc followed by F1 and such) and it never appeared. I replaced all parts back to original configuration and it booted just fine.

Any thoughts on what might have gone wrong? I am thinking about trying to get a PIII-500 without SpeedStep, but there are a few available with SpeedStep. Which would probably work best? Is SpeedStep a hindrance or will it still work? Also there are PIII-650 Mhz cpu's available as well but all that I have found have SpeedStep.

Just trying to find the most stable configuration.

Thanks for any help

Fastest 770z CPU Upgrade - P3-500 or faster?

Fastest 770z CPU Upgrade - P3-500 or faster?

Re: Fastest 770z CPU Upgrade - P3-500 or faster?

That's 650MHz with startup key sequence errors right?

Re: That's 650MHz with startup key sequence errors right?

MMC-2, 800 or 850

770z CPU Upgrade

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