Acer 6930G CPU Upgrade

Hello,

At the time I purchased my Acer I assumed that the T6400 Core 2 Duo included the "Intel Virtualization Technology" feature...sadly, it did not . I use virtualization software for technical labs and the performance is lagging. I'm about ready to buy a new CPU, however, I want to make sure that I can simply upgrade the CPU and be done. If I can get additional performance, great! What CPU models would be compatible with my system that I could simply replace without any worries of system or BIOS compatibility issues? Thanks!

 

Every Penryn cpu till T9600/P9600 should work without a problem. By the way, what's your budget ???

T9800, T9900, P9700 should also work in theory but i can't assure they will. Plus they're overpriced for the moment.

 

Before you upgrade check whether it is possible to enable BIOS VT feature using
this

 

I'd like to keep this upgrade around $200, if possible. I've looked at some of the current Acer models and out of 3 different chips, only the SU9400, which is a slower chip. A couple of folks recommended the T7250 or T7500, however, these are 65nm chips, not 45nm like my T6400?? Maybe the T8100? I can say that Acer hasn't been much help via email support.

 

Forget the T8100, it's almost clocked the same than your T6400. You won't notice any difference.

For 200$, i would try to get a used T9400 on ebay. Look at this one : http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core-2-Du...in_0?hash=item3a51f79417&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

It's a pretty good price and a very decent processor. And it's OEM not ES.

If you find this too expensive, well, you could probably get a used P8600 for about 150 $, it's a good cpu too.

 

I managed to install a T9900 and lucino managed to install a X3100. I managed to snag a T9900 for $410 on ebay. Just look around for one.

 

Is your chipset the PM45? If so, look at the P8600. The OP doesn't need much more performance but VT is critical, so for <$200, you don't have too many options.

 

I paid my OEM P9600 260$ (and sell back my crappy T5800 for about 50$ so it cost me around 210 $). I almost cried when i sent the payment ;-) .Can't imagine 410$...I would have probably died even if it's a T9900.

By the way maybe you could get 60-80$ selling back your T6400. So don't forget to take it in consideration in your budget ;-)

 

Yep, chipset is PM45. I will look over these recommendations and see what's what. Kallogan, you make a good point about getting some $$ for my T6400 after I upgrade

I just pulled up an acer support page for this model notebook and quite a few chips were available for it...and I had to pick the one with the T6400 Talk about lessons learned! No more complaining...I will pick one of the recommendations and get this done already! I will post back with an update

 

Can anyone post some pics or links of actually removing the cpu from this model or one that is very similar. I'd like to have an idea of how to go about the disassembly, as I’ve never taken apart an acer before. Acer doesn’t make public any service manuals

Thank you!

 

Post deleted

 

You can check my thread describing how I did my upgrade in my Acer 6930G.
Acer 6930G Upgraded to T9300
It is not the best guide. It is a bit risky but it is quick.
If you have any questions you can post them in that thread.

 

Did you "snag" that T9900 from a user named digitalbargain2you? I think I saw his T9900 sold for $410 way back..

Anyway, if it were priced less a T9600 would be nice, but for the least worth of money you could grab a T9400.

 

Urrggg, Creepy....

 

Why?

I just had this slightest hunch..

 

T9300 could be a good option too. 6mb cache 0,5x less than t9500
9X against 9,5X

 

OK, I found a P8600 on ebay for under $175. Seller has good rating and provides a pretty good return policy. I'm going for it!

 

Woot! Though you will not have fun cleaning the heatsink using nclive's method.

 

Update: After replacing the existing CPU with a P8600, the system would not boot. I placed my original CPU back and the system boots up fine. I tried this two times and no joy. It doesn't even get to the BIOS splash screen. I'm thinking I need to return this CPU back to seller. Your thoughts?

 

The P8600 should work in the Acer Aspire 6930G. Which BIOS are you running?

 

System BIOS Version: v0.3204

 

It's the same as mine....It should work. Do you have another laptop to verify that the CPU is faulty?

 

I do have a Dell Lattitude available. I guess I can take that apart real quick to see if that is even recognized. What else could it be? This should pretty much be a plug and play chip, no?

 

It should work assuming that you applied the paste correctly and screwed the heatsink down tightly.

 

I honestly don't think its the paste or the heatsink, only because I tried it twice, switching out the new with the old and back again, just to isolate the chip from anything else. It should work, my chipset and this CPU should play well together...the specs I read should be OK, nothing out of range. Maybe I will try it on another laptop.

 

I just looked at the Acer Support page and there is a new BIOS version available for the 6930G. It's listed as version 3236! I guess I will install this new version and try booting with the new chip.

 

I upgraded the BIOS and tried the new chip...no joy I guess this is game over. Any ideas?

 

Did you try it in your Dell Lattitude as you mentioned?

 

The P8600 should work just fine, there are many Acer 6930G available with P8600. Since you can put the old CPU back, I don't think you misplaced the new one.
What's the sSpec number of the CPU? It should be something like SLB3S. It is written on the front side, top black box, second row, last word with 5 letters. It should be either SLGFD, SLGA4 or SLB3S.

 

The spec number is SLB3S.

 

I'm going to try it on either a Dell or HP tomorrow. I will post an update with results.

 

Update: It turns out that the HPs we have here at work use the P8600...woot! I removed the chip from an HP laptop and inserted it into my Acer....VICTORY!!! It worked!! BIOS recognizes it and Virtual PC also recognizes the system as having the virtualization technology. Woot Woot!!

Now I have to try and get a hold of this seller on eBay to send me a replacement or give me a refund...they haven't responded to my two messages

 

Hi! I'm constantly monitoring your post about VT on aspire 6930G. I have the same laptop, and I also want to use VT but my cpu is T5800 and it does not support VT so Im really thinking of upgrading to P8600 just like what you did, but before I upgrade I want to be sure that the bios will detect the VT of P8600.

Im glad that you got a success on P8600, plz keep updating your post for more information about VT on 6930G. It will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

The BIOS will detect the P8600...no question. There are currently two BIOS versions on the Acer support site for this notebook, upgrade to the latest version (v0.3236) if you don't have it to be safe.

The eBay seller finally responded to my messages and I shipped back my dead CPU yesterday. Now I have to try and find another P8600 for under $175

 

I don't know where are you from, but if you are from the US you can try to look on newegg.com. I found a brand new P8600 there for $219 with free shipping. If you will buy something as delicate as this, I will go for brand new rather than second hand. I think your budget is around $200, just add a little more and you can have a brand new one.

I hope you can have a your P8600 soon coz im really excited to know if VT can really run on 6930G.

Keep on posting...thanks!

 

Just a little more...I was trying to update my bios to 0.3236 version but unfortunately I can't flash my bios thru windows vista home premium x64. If I click flash bios button on winphlash.exe an error 1275 appear that said that I dont have administrator privileges, but my account is administrator so Im not really sure what is the problem. I google this problem and some result said that winphlash is not compatible with windows vista x64, and I should flash it through boot up process. Im a technical person but when it comes to something like this (flashing a bios) I am cautious. Can you plz guide me by giving me the step by step procedure that you did when you flash your bios to a new version. Thanks..

 

You need the 64-bit version of WinPhlash.

 

Echo, can you post a link to that download? I couldn't find it.

I too am running x64 Vista and what I ended up doing is using the 32-bit phlash util after booting into BartPE...worked like a champ.

 

That is what im planning to do, boot to winpe and then run the 32 bit version of winphlash. I search for 64 bit version of winphlash but no luck so far.

 

If you look in the Acer support page for other laptops like the AS 5920G you might find that some of the BIOS updates have the 64-bit Winphlash.

 

Paisan, do you already have your P8600? Does the VT of P8600 automatically enabled?