Z61m upgrade from CD T2500 to C2DT7200

[Bu11dog]

Hello everyone

My Z61m has a CD T2500 processor and I am thinking to upgrade it to a C2D T7200 processor. Has anyone done this already? Any suggestions or warnings?

One final question, is the performance improvement noticeable? Or I should upgrade to a C2D T7600 instead.

Thank you.

[bontistic]

To answer your first question, I've done it before on a Z61p, since it is sharing the same BIOS/EC with the Z61m, Im thinking it might work. If you're willing to put your warranty on the line, I think Brent is still selling one. Cant find the link though.

Good luck!

[sickity]

I have a C2D T7200 in my Z61M, just got it for cmas, as far as a comparison I can't say as I have not had the other one, however I do love it....

[dsalyers]

From my understanding the Core 2 duo should work just fine with your system, as no other major system component has changed.

Here is a site with a direct comparison between the two processors:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... spx?i=2808

Basically, the Core 2 Duo is nice for a couple of reasons:
1) 64bit support (assuming OS is 64bit)
2) faster in CPU bound applications.

As the two chips you mention are both 2.0Ghz, you are unlikely to see much of a difference in games, because most games are not CPU bound, but the bottleneck is the graphics cards.