Upgraded Acer 3680 Celeron CPU to a T5300!

Thankyou for your help guys

well if I can find one and for cheap enough I will give the t1500 a go and let you guys know how it turns out, as far as the t1350 goes is it worth the upgrade keeping in mind i have an older Celeron M 410 than most who seem to have the 420 or 430, I mean minus the ram upgrade am i going to notice a significant difference with upgrading to the t1500/t1350.i have the 2gigs ram sourced out already and am planning on installing Bluetooth and a new hard drive

 

I'd say you will notice the main difference with the 2Gigs of RAM and a 7200RPM HDD. Those will dramatically increase your performance and loading times.

Because you can only get a T1350 (or T1500) the increased CPU performance will not be all that much but both of those have higher clocks so things will run generally better not to mention cooler because of Speedstepping which will also give you better battery life.

Given that the T1350 is cheap (I got mine for $20USD) I'd say its worth it. If you were paying $100+ then its not really worth the expense. You may not notice a HUGE difference like a Core 2 Duo T7600 would give you but I love my T1350 way more than my old Celeron M 420.

Another thing to note about the T1500 is that it supports VT which may not be useful for everyone but I do a fair bit of virtualization and wish my T1350 had VT.

 

yeah i think i might go for it,get the 2gigs,CPU,and bluetooth in there first and follow that up with the 7200RPM HDD,im on a budget so ill get the cheaper things in there first.i will look for a T1500 so i can test that out and let you guys know how it works but otherwise i will go for the T1350

PS. what is Virtualization?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization#VT-d_.28Intel.27s_hardware_virtualization.29

 

Success! I upgraded my 3680 to a T5600 and up and running now with the faster CPU. PC Wizard 2008 shows my T5600 is running at 1000mhz, is this speedstep?

 

Congratulations!

Yes, Speedstep will downclock your CPU when you do not need the extra power and when it does need it, it will push the speed up using multipliers. If you want to do a stress test on your CPU you should use Orthos.

How are the temps on the CPU?

 

do you guys think a t1400 core solo will work oin my 940GML chipset and if so what is beter the t1350 or the t1400

Core Solo T1350 1866 MHz 2 MB 533 MT/s 14x 0.762/1.3 V 13.1-27 W Socket M
Core Solo T1400 1833 MHz 2 MB 667 MT/s 11x 0.762/1.3 V 13.1-27 W Socket M

 

The 940GML chipset doesn't support dual core so the best would CPU would be the fastest clocked Celeron or Core Solo. The other limitation is the FSB which is supposed to be clocked at 533Mhz but the i943 is also supposed to be clocked at 533Mhz but people have tried CPUs with 667Mhz FSB and they worked fine.

As far as I know no one has tried a 667Mhz FSB in the 940GML so that's why the best suggested CPU is the T1350. If the 940GML can support 667Mhz FSB then you should be able to use a T1500 (2000Mhz).

But remember there is no guarantee that the T1400 or T1500 will work. It would probably be best if you could find a seller who had a T1400 and a T1350 so you could trade it in if it didn't work just to be on the safe side.

 

I think chances are very good that a T1400 would work. I have yet to find a 943 chipset that did not work with 667 MHz FSB, so chances are good that 940 chipset works with it, too.

In my experience, testing the T5200 (1.6GHz) versus the T5500 (1.667GHz), the video performance is boosted much more than the 4% increase in clock speed. Most likely, the T1400 will have the same sort of impact and therefore outperform the T1350. Of course, remember that you might need to change your RAM if it's too slow.

 

I have no idea. How can I tell?

BTW Orthos confirms the CPU runs at full-speed at load.

 

Download RMClock, HWMonitor or Everest Ultimate for looking at your temps. They are all freeware except for Everest Ultimate but I think they have a free "Home" version.

RMClock is my favorite because you can also use it to undervolt your CPU to make it even cooler. If you are interested, this thread explains how to undervolt.

Did you use AS5 (thermal paste) or something similar when installing the new CPU?

 

yeah but the t1500 is an absolute pain to get a hold of whereas there are loads of 1400's around at the moment and I think I found a seller that has both the 1400 and 1350 so I am going to go ahead with the 1400

 

Good luck, let us know how the upgrade goes and if the T1400 is successful.
If it works that is good news for my 940GML!

 

I have been reading through this thread the last few days. I have a 3680--now about 2 years old, with 1.5G of RAM, stock HDD, etc., running Vista Home Basic. I use it for basic word processing, internet work, etc., some business presentations. It's a basic, reasonably light, cheap laptop--I think I paid $299 for it at Microcenter, and even with upgraded RAM it was cheap.
BUT: before I get into upgrading the processor--which it looks like I can do, and do for $25-30--how much performance increase can I expect with an upgrade like the T5200? Would it be smarter just to go to XP instead of Vista--not an option at the time, but one I could do now?

Rich

 

Welcome to NBR!

Firstly upgrading from a stock Celeron at 1.8Ghz to a C2D T5200 at 1.6 may seem like you are losing processing speed but because the C2D features 2 cores you are essentially running at 3.2Ghz. That is not to mention that the T5200 has Speedstepping (which will help with battery life and heat) and is 64-bit compatible if you ever want a 64-bit Windows. The T5200 will give a huge boost in load times and any type of multitasking that you do.

Secondly, if you are just downgrading to XP you still have the same hardware so you will still be limited by the Celeron, which is quite a severe limitation in my books. You may see an improvement in load times and whatnot because XP is made to run on less requirements but a simple $30 upgrade will make a world of a differnence.

Personally, I think its a no-brainer. While the prospect of opening up a laptop may put some people off, I believe its an educational experience and loads of fun.

 

Thanks for the insight. I've been "under the hood" of most of the computers I own personally, including getting into my wife's Averatec to solder down the power connector, a common problem on the model she owns. Having downloaded the service manual for the Acer, I don't think it'll be difficult, though it makes it look like a lengthy process to get right to the CPU.

Rich

 

Its not all that difficult, its just annoying to take almost every screw out to get something that should be so easy to access. Some of the screws are in odd places and since I did it without a manual it took me around 20 minutes to get the thing apart. Now I can do it in less than 5 minutes.

 

Just fried my mobo by pulling out the LCD power when I thought the laptop was off but I still had the battery in. Schoolboy error...

Anyone know if it is possible to replace the little bit (I forget its name, see pic for details)? The motherboard still works fine and will display on an external monitor but won't push the pic to the LCD screen.

Edit: oops, no pic, I'll upload it when I'm back home. Its the little black thingos on the other side of the white LCD connection.

 

ohh ouch! >_< um, I don't see any attached pic, but if you're referring to a motherboard part, it may be impossible. if you can give a pic or more descriptive name I might be able to help.

 

Hmm, looks like these: https://www.auk.co.kr/kor/01_products/products_highlights.asp?pno=S72N33SF

I would guess they could be replaced. Is one popped? If so, something else could have received a bad level of voltage, too, but if you have a bad ZR1 board handy, it's probably worth trying to swap 'em.

Oh, and I have a couple dead boards if anyone wants 'em. I'd take just shipping cost for them. I don't know what the forum rules are about that, though.

 

Deals are only allowed in the NBR Marketplace.
If you want to give away free stuff check the Pay It Forward sticky thread. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

 

Thanks again, ATG! Meegulthwarp, or anyone else interested, I posted in Pay It Forward.

 

Yeah that looks like the bit that popped. I'm trying again with the pic.

Well it boots fine and I booted Ubuntu off the optical drive with it hooked up to an external monitor so I don't think anything else is damaged.

 

I'm willing to bet that that's simply a transistor that switches inverter power on and off.

 

Hmm, interesting, so does that mean I could bypass it?

 

I wouldn't try to bypass it, because in addition to turning off the CCFL if the lid is closed, it's probably intended to delay the startup. you could probably try a jumper over it (if you can figure out which leg is which) to make sure that it would work, but then I would definitely try to replace the part. should be too bad to desolder...not that many pins.

 

I've got Acer Aspire 3682WXMi
Intel Celeron M420 processor
Intel GMA950 graphics card

Bios version 1.3221
Code from the back of the laptop start from MBTEB06003

Result of the lspci command (i am using linux):

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 14)
0a:03.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC (rev 01)
0a:09.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
0a:09.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)

Is my chipset compatible with Core 2 Duo T5300?

 

Sorry, it isnt

 

No.

Your laptop has the 940GML chipset which means you can upgrade to CoreSolo only. I think T1350 is confirmed to be working.

 

I made a comparison between Core Solo T1350 and Celeron M420 on cpu-world.com and T1350 seems to be only a little bit faster than M420. The only reason why I am considering upgrade is the speedstep function that Celeron lacks. What about battery life on T1350? Can anybody with T1350 CPU say how long does laptop work on standard 4000mAh battery? With Celeron my laptop works about 2 hours (battery has 2 years and it lost only 15% of its capacity).

 

That's better than mine.I get 15 to 18 minutes.New,I barely got 48 minutes.

 

I got a 5% - 10% increase in battery life. With the M420 it lasted around 1.5 hours now with the T1350 I can get around 1.6 - 1.7 hours.

Also along with longer battery life, speedstep also means that the laptop will run cooler when doing browsing etc. as the CPU will step down. Along with the fact that if you are installing a new CPU you will use a better thermal paste (and clean out the internals) than what Acer gives you as stock. This should help with a cooler laptop and less of that annoying fan noise.

The M420 ran wPrime 32 @ 110 seconds whereas the new T1350 does it in 95 seconds.

All in all it isn't a huge upgrade over the M420 but given the fact that its only a $20 investment I think its well worth it.

 

Also don't forget the 64-bit Celeron M 520's if you want to do A/V transcoding, and they usually cost about $8.50. it won't help your battery life, but it has SSSE3 (and of course EM64T). it's not for everyone, but it's perfect for some people.

 

I've finally got around to updating this thread. I have temps of 63-63C in RightMark. I used some spare thermal paste I bought from Best Buy.
I also discovered something really unfortunate, my T5600 CPU supports hardware VM, but w/o BIOS support, it won't work. I tried Windows 7 XP Mode, and VirtualBox, both reported BIOS support is needed even if the CPU has the support built-in. VirtualBox at least can run w/o hardware VM support. I really doubt Acer is going to update the BIOS to support an unsupported CPU upgrade.

 

Yeah, I forgot about Acer and its hatred for VM. Are those temps on idle or under full load?

 

Hi! I'm new on the forum but have been reading this tread for the past week or so. I decided to take the plunge and ordered a C2D T5200 but didn't work. So before i order another could someone please let me know which chip would be best for this laptop. Thanks

MANUFACTURERGeneral Information :
Product : TravelMate 2490
Version : V3.60
Serial Number : LXTEQ060356410F33B1601
Unique ID : E869974B-9105CFFE-2A680016-D456A38C
SKU : Unspecified
Family : Unspecified
Start mode : Power Switch

MAINBOARD
General Information :
Manufacturer : Acer
Product : Grapevine
Version : N/A
Serial Number : LXTEQ060356410F33B1601
Support MP : Yes, 1 CPU(s)
Version MPS : 1.4

Chassis Information :
Manufacturer : Acer
Type : Notebook
Version : N/A
Serial Number : None
Asset : Unspecified

On-Board Device Information :
Device : HD-Audio (Sound)
Embedded Controller : Yes

Slots Information :
Slot PCI : In Use (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
Slot PCI : In Use (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
External Connectors :

CHIPSET
General Information :
NorthBridge : Intel i943/940GML
SouthBridge : 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Controller

NorthBridge Information :
Architecture : Direct Media Interface (DMI)
Manufacturer : Intel (Acer Inc)
Codename : Lakeport
Revision : A3
Bus Speed : 133 MHz
FSB Frequency : 532 MHz (QDR)
FSB max. Support : 667 MHz
RAM max. Support : DDR2 (667 MHz)

Memory Information :
Type : DDR2-SDRAM PC2-4300
Frequency : 266 MHz
DRAM/FSB Ratio : 2/1
Supported Channels : Dual (128-bit)
Activated Channels : Dual
ECC Diagnostic : No
CAS Latency (tCL) : 4 clocks
RAS to CAS (tRCD) : 4 clocks
RAS Precharge (tRP) : 4 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) : 12 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) : 16 clocks
Shared Memory (video) : Yes

PCI-Express Information :
Number of ports : 4 - (x1, x1, x1, x1)

Video Information :
Integrated Controller : Yes
Enabled : Yes
Frame Buffer : 8192 KB

Functionality :
SATA AHCI Enabled : Yes
RAID 0/1/10 Enabled : No
RAID 5 Enabled : No
PCI Express x1 Enabled : No
Intel AMT : Yes
Intel QST : No
SPI Interface : Yes

Device Capabilities (PCI) :
I/O Access : No
Memory Access : Yes
Bus Master Capable : Yes
Special Cycle Recognition : No
Memory Write & Invalidate : No
VGA Palette Snoop : No
Parity Error Response : No
Cycle Wait : No
System Error Line : Yes
Fast Back-to-Back : No
Detects Parity Errors : No
User Defined Format : No
PCI 66Mhz Bus Support : No
New Capability List : Yes
PCI Support : Vendor-Dependant

MOTHERBOARD MODEL ON RAM BAY
MBAFL02OO1640600701601

 

I have started to read through the entire 3680 thread (only on page 52), and got excited and bought a T5600 processor (ebay $35), I have a 3690 with the following info.

Acer 3690-2970
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Celeron M Processor
Processor Number: 520
Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Front Side Bus: 533 MHz
Mobile Technology: Other
L2 Cache Size: 1 MB
System Chipset: Intel 943GML Express
Memory Speed: PC2-5200 (667MHz)
Memory Type: DDR2-SDRAM
Installed Memory: 2 GB

I was just told that it will not work with my chipset, is this correct as I see the original poster had a celeron M 520 as well. If you guys have any insight it would be great, I expect the processor sometime this week and will try it, but since you all seem to be quite knowledgeable on the subject I figured I was ask you.

Thanks for any information

 

@ latics4ever
If the T5200 didn't work that could mean you have a 940GML chipset or you do not have the latest BIOS/your BIOS does not support the T5200.

If the problem is the former then the best you could use is the Core Solo T1350, if it is the latter than you just need to update your BIOS. But this is all based off what I know of the Aspire 3680 and seeing as you have a TravelMate it could be a completely different story. What CPU are you using right now?

Do you still have the T5200 with you? If so then you could try updating your BIOS and retrying the CPU to narrow down the problems.

@ Hessmachine
Yes your chipset (i943) should support the T5600 but your BIOS may not support it. I don't know too much about the 3690 but if it uses the same or similar BIOS to the 3680 then you shouldn't have a problem. Just make sure you download the latest BIOS for your laptop and hope for the best. I think ben2go had and upgraded his 3690 but the forum maintenance (aka 404) is making it quite difficult to get around at the moment.

 

My CPU is a Celeron M 410 @ 1.46GHz and i've got the latest bios update version 3.60. I've even tried the t5200 CPU in a Toshiba Satellite Pro L40 with a Intel GM965 chipset and still no joy. Was wondering if i had a faulty CPU.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the info, that is what I thought. I have downloaded and installed the lated Bios for my computer. Now my biggest problem is actually getting the processor....the seller is taking his good old time in shipping. Its been 2 weeks and I still have not seen it.

There was a thread started about the 3690 upgrade, but its all but dead. That is where I was told it will not work in my laptop. So as you say, hope for the best.

 

Hi everybody.

My sister has an acer 3680-2682 with a celeron m 1.86ghz.

She used the laptop in the bed a lot of time, now the laptop won't start.
We took it to a technician who told us the motherboard was fried of overheat.

Maybe you guys can help me locate a replacement motherboard for it please.

Here is the number on the ram bay.
MBAZL06003716114F52500

Please help me get a motherboard for it.

 

If you live in the UK then you can find some replacements here.

Otherwise you can find them on ebay every now and then.

There is also a Canadian site that sells refurbished ones but I cannot remember the address at the moment.

Seeing as the motherboard is dead it might be worth investing in a new laptop and I would also suggest getting a notebook cooler for when using a laptop in bed to avoid this happening again in the future.

 

Well I got the new processor today (T5600). I am very happy to report that it in fact does work in a Acer Aspire 3690. I upgraded to the latest bios, v3.10.

Now the next question I used CPU-Z and I can only access 1 processor. One the front page it doesn't allow me to choose the processor. The drop down menu is not available for me to select. How do I know if both are working properly? When I do a system check it says T5600, 1.83 1.83, so I know the computer recognized them both. Is there a different program that I can use to to verify that both cores are working?

Thanks

 

I see no reason why the 2nd core wouldn't be working but one way you could check is by running a wPrime 32 test and the T5600 should get around 50 seconds with 2 cores and around 90 seconds with just the single core. You can download it for free here.

I also believe Everest will show if both cores are working but I'm not at my home PC so I can't check that at the moment.

What are your idle temps like with the T5600? Notice any difference from before?

 

I just ran the test and it came back at 46.283 seconds. So I guess it is working just fine. How do I find out the idle temps of each core?

Here is the next problem I have just noticed, when the computer goes to "sleep" ie close the lid for more then 10 minutes. It locks up, I have to do a hard shut down and reboot. Is there some setting that I am missing or is there something I should change. I did have this problem with my M 520 but it was a once in a great while (maybe once a month). Since I have installed the new processor, about 24 hours. It has happened about 7 or 8 times.

What should I do? What information do you guys need to help me out?

Thanks

 

RMClock, HWMonitor or Everest will all show you your temps.

RMClock also has the ability to undervolt your CPU if you are looking to get your temps a bit lower.

Not really sure about the sleep problem, are you using Vista or XP?

 

I am using Vista Home Basic, What is happening is say when I am done using the computer, I usually just shut the lid. Now say I come back in 30 minutes to use it again. The power light is lit, but I can not get the screen to turn back on (wake up). I have tried typing key as well as touching the track pad, and mouse buttons, but it does not respond to anything. I just have to do a forced shut down by holding the power button and then restart the computer. Once it is running again, everything is fine until I let it sit and the computer "goes to sleep." Then I am back to a blank screen.

 

could you tell me that with my acer's specification i am able to upgrade it. thank you very much.

intel celeron m430 @1,73GHz Yonah socket u2ei/479mPGA
video card mobile intel 945GM chipset expres family 32-bits
chipset intel GMA 950 (using TuneUp Utilities) Intel i943/940gml
bios acer v 1.3206


bring the good news for me folks


best regard
yosia

 

From you specs it looks like a i943 but could you tell me what the sticker on your RAM bay says (its located behind the access panel on the bottom of the laptop)? Then I can tell you exactly what you can upgrade it too.

 

are you sure that t5200/5300 can be installed to acer 3680 w/ gml 490/493 calistoga? cause when you opened your laptop you did see the chipset was i493?
can you give me information on your acer 3680 laptop? mine are 3682, asia region w/ celeron 1.73Ghz, chipset 940/943 calistoga, bios v 1.3203.

thank you so much