Acer Travelmate 7720 - CPU/Other upgrades?

Hey hey,

I just stumbled upon this forum a few days ago, been reading through as much as I can. Amazing stuff! Makes me even more happy I've been an Acer guy as long as I have.

Anyway, I have two acers, this post is about the Travelmate 7720 (ATI HD2400XT).

I'm looking to upgrade it, and I haven't noticed anyone here really discussing upgrades to it.

I know that I can MXM the video card (yay!), but my question is about the CPU. Is it possible to put a Intel T9500 in it? I have the service manual, which doesn't say that it is possible, but the Intel website says it is the same chip pin out. Just wondering if anyone has done it? Anyone definitively say no?

Secondly, is there anyway to put bluetooth into the laptop? I have the physical switch, but not bluetooth module.

Thirdly, any advice on SSDs? I can't quite make heads or tails of all the advice about SSDs and the importance of the controllers (Indilinx, Intel, Sandforce = Good, Others= Bad) or their reliability. Has anyone here put in an SSD and can recommend one they're happy with?

Cheers!

 

Welcome to the forums, Acerbhattac!
You certainly can use the T9500 - the 7720G uses the PM965 chipset from Intel, which supports the T8100, T8300, T9300, and T9500, along with the previous generation of Core 2 Duo CPUs. At most, you'll need a BIOS update; it uses the same CPU socket and should be a drop-in upgrade.

Bluetooth? That's tricky - as I understand it, it's a motherboard module that can't easily be obtained or installed. Better off to just get a small USB dongle.

Can't say I've done anything with SSDs more than slobber over them. The major teething problems with the controllers seem to have stopped, but as I understand it, people are still waiting for Intel's 3rd-gen SSD and Indilinx's newest controller.

 

Hi.

Regarding bluetooth module... I have obtained one on ebay and put it on my 5520G and it works like a charm... And it uses built-in bluetooth switch for power-on/off...

 

Any thoughts on running the bios update in windows 7 x64 professional?

I keep getting a open flash.sys fail error, even if I run the update in windows xp compatibility mode + administrator privileges.

Thanks!

 

I believe that is because the BIOS flashing utility is 32-bit only - 32-bit drivers (like those needed to flash a BIOS) can't be used in a 64-bit environment, even though 32-bit programs work just fine.
You can run it through a bootable DOS USB key, or through a command prompt in a 32-bit Windows Recovery DVD (there's a guide online somewhere to do that workaround).

 

So, one more question to forum users.

I am deciding between an ati hd 3650 with only 256MB of ddr3 ram and a hd 3650 with 1gb of ddr2 ram.

I currently have a hd 2400 xt with 256mb of ddr2 ram.

what would be the better purchase gaming wise? I'm leaning towards the 1gb ddr2 3650.

I would have gotten the hd4650 1GBB, but it looks like no one has supplies anymore anywhere.

 

Remember - it's not how much video memory you have, it's how fast it is.
256MB of GDDR3 will be faster than 1024MB of DDR2, keeping the GPU core the same; trust me.

 

Thanks for the insight. Yeah, I wasn't sure if the tradeoff for speed versus space for textures was worth it or not. But it sounds like it might not even be a trade-off.

Cheers!

 

so i took my laptop apart with the service manual to orient myself (been having a spate of randomly induced windows 7 bsods - i suspect the mbr has gotten corrupted somehow).

i was looking at the ram, and it turns out that with the t7300, acer only shipped 667MHz ddr2 in my unit, not 800MHz ddr2 as advertised! :/

I'm going to be upgrading to either a t9300 or t9500. is there any reason to spend money on the 800MHz ddr2 ram? i'm imagining the performance increase would not be worth the cost? or would 667MHz ddr2 be a serious bottleneck on a t9300/t9500?

thanks!

 

That's actually expected - the PM965 chipset has a RAM speed limit of DDR2-667, even though the FSB can reach 800 MHz. Only the 4 series chipsets can handle DDR2-800, and even then most have DDR3 in them.
That's why most if not all xx20G systems here on NBR (including my own) are running DDR2-667. No bottlenecking whatsoever.

 

Though I'd post an update to my adventures.

I moved from 2GB stock to 4GB of ram, no effect on sysmark scores.

I swapped out for a T9300 from a T7300. That led to a new sysmark score of ~4000, up from the ~3600 my system was getting at stock.

I have windows 7 pro 32-bit installed at the moment.

I also picked up a hd4650 from ipc.de, as per the mxm card thread. But, haven't been able to swap it in as of it. I need to find myself some threaded nuts into which to screw the retaining clip that keeps the heatspreader in contact. I also messed up one of the screws - wore down the screwhead when I was tightening the stock card back down. So I'm also going to have to deal with that next time I open her up.

Apart from that, it appears the stock heat spreader is fine for the 4650 board. Once I figure out the threaded nuts I'll update with whether it works, i.e. whether it is BIOS compatible and whatnot.

Suggestions from all on where to find thin threaded nuts are welcome.

Once everything is confirmed working, I intend to go back in and stick in copper shims. I'll take some pictures to set up a how-to guide then.