Upgrading my CPU on ALienware M11x R1

Hey dudes, I have a question hoping you will clear it. My Alienware CPU on M11x (R1) is quite out-dated (Intel SU7300) its a Penryn-3M, Ultra low voltage CPU. Now im asking you if i can upgrade to a normal voltage CPU or high voltage CPU, because my motherboard supports Socket P, i will not have any problems with it?

Because theoreticaly i can choose from all the processors that are supported by Socket P, I just want to be 100% sure.

Also i found a list of all Socket P processors. (Again, can i choose any processor from here, i should right?)

Socket P

Socket P supports some Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual-Core and associated Celerons based on Merom and Penryn cores. These chips were produced from 2007 to the present.

Core 2 Duo

Merom-2M

Core 2 Duo T5250 1500 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5450 1667 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5550 1833 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5750 2000 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5850 2133 2048 667

Core 2 Duo T5270 1400 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T5470 1600 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T5800 2000 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T5870 2000 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T5900 2200 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T7100 1800 2048 800
Core 2 Duo T7250 2000 2048 800

Merom

Core 2 Duo T7300 2000 4096 800
Core 2 Duo T7500 2200 4096 800
Core 2 Duo T7700 2400 4096 800
Core 2 Duo T7800 2600 4096 800

Penryn-2M

Core 2 Duo T6400 2000 2048 800 35
Core 2 Duo T6500 2100 2048 800 35
Core 2 Duo T6570 2100 2048 800 35
Core 2 Duo T6600 2200 2048 800 35
Core 2 Duo T6670 2200 2048 800 35

Penryn-3M

Core 2 Duo T8100 2100 3072 800
Core 2 Duo T8300 2400 3072 800

Core 2 Duo P7350 2000 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P7370 2000 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P7450 2133 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P7550 2233 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P8400 2233 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P8600 2400 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P8700 2533 3072 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P8800 2666 2072 1066 25

Penryn

Core 2 Duo T9300 2500 6144 800 35
Core 2 Duo T9500 2600 6144 800 35

Core 2 Duo P9500 2533 6144 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P9600 2667 6144 1066 25
Core 2 Duo P9700 2800 6144 1066 28

Core 2 Duo T9300 2500 6144 1066 35
Core 2 Duo T9400 2533 6144 1066 35
Core 2 Duo T9550 2667 6144 1066 35
Core 2 Duo T9600 2800 6144 1066 35
Core 2 Duo T9800 2933 6144 1066 35
Core 2 Duo T9900 3066 6144 1066 35

Chipsets

GM965 533/667/800
PM965 533/667/800

GM45 533/667/800/1066
PM45 533/667/800/1066

Core 2 Quad

Penryn QC

Core 2 Quad Q9100 2266 2/6144 1066 45
Core 2 Quad Q9200 2400 2/6144 1066 45

Penryn QC-6M

Core 2 Quad Q9000 2000 2/3072 1066 45

Core 2 Extreme

Merom XE

Core 2 Extreme X7800 2600 4096 800
Core 2 Extreme X7900 2800 4096 800

Penryn XE

Core 2 Extreme X9000 2800 6144 800

Core 2 Extreme X9100 3066 6144 1066

Penryn QC XE

Core 2 Extreme QX9300 2533 2/6144 1066

Chipsets

GM965 533/667/800
PM965 533/667/800

GM45 533/667/800/1066
PM45 533/667/800/1066

Pentium Dual-Core

Merom-2M

Pentium Dual-Core T2310 1466 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2330 1600 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2370 1733 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2390 1866 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2410 2000 1024 533

Pentium Dual-Core T3200 2000 1024 667
Pentium Dual-Core T3400 2166 1024 667

Penryn-1M

Pentium Dual-Core T4200 2000 1024 800

Chipsets

GL960 533

GM965 533/667/800
PM965 533/667/800

GM45 533/667/800/1066
PM45 533/667/800/1066

Celeron M

Merom-L

Celeron M 520 1600 1024 533
Celeron M 530 1733 1024 533
Celeron M 540 1866 1024 533
Celeron M 550 2000 1024 533
Celeron M 560 2133 1024 533
Celeron M 570 2266 1024 533

Celeron 575 2000 1024 667
Celeron 585 2167 1024 667

Merom-2M

Celeron Dual-Core T1400 1733 512 533
Celeron Dual-Core T1500 1866 512 533

Celeron Dual-Core T1600 1666 1024 667
Celeron Dual-Core T1700 1833 1024 667

Penryn-3M

Celeron Dual-Core T3000 1800 1024 800
Celeron Dual-Core T3100 1900 1024 800

Chipsets

GL960 533

GM965 533/667/800
PM965 533/667/800

GM45 533/667/800/1066
PM45 533/667/800/1066

LV and ULV

Low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage processors are usually soldered to the motherboard and therefore unassociated with a particular socket. You will unlikely be able to remove or replace a low-voltage or ultra-low-voltage processor.

Pentium M

Banias, LV

Pentium M LV 1.1 1100 1024 400
Pentium M LV 1.2 1200 1024 400
Pentium M LV 718 1300 1024 400

Banias, ULV

Pentium M ULV 900 900 1024 400
Pentium M ULV 1.0 1000 1024 400
Pentium M ULV 713 1100 1024 400

Dothan, LV

Pentium M LV 738 1400 2048 400
Pentium M LV 758 1500 2048 400
Pentium M LV 778 1600 2048 400

Dothan, ULV

Pentium M ULV 723 1000 2048 400
Pentium M ULV 733 1100 2048 400
Pentium M ULV 753 1200 2048 400
Pentium M ULV 773 1300 2048 400

Core Solo

Yonah, ULV

Core Solo ULV U1300 1066 2048 533
Core Solo ULV U1400 1200 2048 533
Core Solo ULV U1500 1333 2048 533

Core Duo

Yonah, LV

Core Duo LV L2300 1500 2048 667
Core Duo LV L2400 1666 2048 667
Core Duo LV L2500 1833 2048 667

Yonah, ULV

Core Duo ULV U2400 1066 2048 533
Core Duo ULV U2500 1200 2048 533

Core 2 Solo

Merom-L, ULV

Core 2 Solo ULV U2100 1066 1024 533
Core 2 Solo ULV U2200 1200 1024 533

Penryn-3M ULV

Core 2 Solo SU3300 1200 3072 800
Core 2 Solo SU3500 1400 3072 800

Core 2 Duo

Merom, LV

Core 2 Duo LV L7200 1333 4096 667
Core 2 Duo LV L7400 1500 4096 667

Core 2 Duo LV L7300 1400 4096 800
Core 2 Duo LV L7500 1600 4096 800
Core 2 Duo LV L7700 1800 4096 800

Merom-2M, ULV

Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 1066 2048 533
Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 1200 2048 533
Core 2 Duo ULV U7700 1333 2048 533

Penryn, MV

Core 2 Duo SP9300 2266 6144 1066 25
Core 2 Duo SP9400 2400 6144 1066 25
Core 2 Duo SP9600 2533 6144 1066 25

Penryn, LV

Core 2 Duo SL9380 1800 6144 800 17

Core 2 Duo SL9300 1600 6144 1066 17
Core 2 Duo SL9400 1866 6144 1066 17
Core 2 Duo SL9600 2133 6144 1066 17

Penryn-3M, ULV

Core 2 Duo SU7300 1300 3072 800 10
Core 2 Duo SU7800 1400 3072 800 10

Core 2 Duo SU9300 1200 3072 800 10
Core 2 Duo SU9400 1400 3072 800 10
Core 2 Duo SU9600 1600 3071 800 10

Atom

Diamondville

Atom N270 1600 512 533
Atom N280 1666 512 667

Silverthorne

Atom Z500 800 512 400
Arom Z510 1100 512 400

Atom Z520 1333 512 533
Atom Z530 1600 512 533
Atom Z540 1833 512 533
Atom Z550 2000 512 533

Celeron M

Banias-512, ULV

Celeron M ULV 800 800 512 400
Celeron M ULV 900 900 512 400

Dothan-1024, ULV

Celeron M ULV 383 1000 1024 400

Dothan-512, ULV

Celeron M ULV 353 900 512 400
Celeron M ULV 373 1000 512 400

Yonah-1024, ULV

Celeron M ULV 423 1066 1024 533
Celeron M ULV 443 1200 1024 533

Merom-L, ULV

Celeron M ULV 523 933 1024 533 06

Celeron ULV 573 1000 512 533 10

Penryn-3M

Celeron M ULV 722 1200 1024 800 06
Celeron M ULV 723 1200 1024 800 10
Celeron M ULV 743 1300 1024 800 10

Penryn-3M

Celeron SU2300 1200 1024 800 10
Celeron SU2500 1300 1024 800 10
Celeron SU2600 1400 1024 800 10

 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but it's impossible to upgrade the CPU on the M11x. It's soldered onto the main board and a non-upgradeable part.

 

Pretty much. I haven't heard of anyone attempting to replace the CPU yet. Way too much work when you could just sell it and buy an R3.

 

well, the agent from alienware told me and i also found a lot of info that it isn't soldered on the motherboard, but i don't know i was told that way. :S

 

It is soldered. I actually have a r1 mother board right in front of me now.

I have had the thought of de-soldering the chip and putting in a su9600 though.

 

Would there be much of a performance difference with the su9600?

 

the su9600 would be like a overclocked su7300. Its a 1.6ghz processor.

So the jump would not be huge, but if you can overclock the su9600, then it would put it up there in power.

 

yea but you are talking about ALOT of time and effort for maybe no benifit at all. If you really want a performance boost try a pinmod

 

Yes a pin mod is a better option for most. If I ever come accross a cheap su9600 though, I am buying it and giving it a shot.

 

I think you'll still need a pin mod for it to be faster as the higher multiplier would be negated by the multiplier lock with what appears to be the BSEL method which locks the CPU to 6x in Overclock mode. That's my theory anyway, go for it.

 

Looks like with a pin mod and a voltage mod you can get the su9600 up to 2.53GHz. Thats a pretty nice little bump. Would put this cpu up there in the bf3 very playable rates.

 

i would be really interested to see if its possible to actually do this. if so that would be pretty amazing.

 

The problem I am coming into is finding a su9600 that I can solder in... all of the ones I have been finding are designed for actuall socket mounting.

 

that sounds intresting do you have a SMD oven or would you use a heatgun?

 

I would probably use my heat gun.

 

that sir, would be bada$$!

 

Well, I guess I need some test motherboards to start with...
I need a few failed pin modded mother boards. Who has some?

 

first thing id do is try to find a laptop motherboard with the 9600 in it.

 

Yea, I guess thats probably going to be the harder part.... r1 mother boards are easy to find.

 

scavenge ebay. 99% of the time a failed mobo still has a working CPU on it. normally its the video chipset that fails.

 

Yeah, All the motherboards I have found are refurb lenovo tablet ones for like 400$

At that price I can buy a new hp envy 13 to part out.

 

Well, okay, but can't i select any core2duo which is supported by Socket P (478)??

 

Or do I only have an option to choose frome su9600??? beacuse that would be stupid, anyway how do you unsolder a cpu from the motherboard?

 

Not trying to be mean, but if you have to ask how to un solder the cpu, you probably should not even attempt this unless you dont mind not having a working computer.

Wait untill I get it working, then I will show you step by step with pictures how to do it.

 

yea... this is in the realm of advanced upgrades.

as in, high chance of bricking your PC if you mess up.

 

I think there is a higher chance of it starting on fire afterwards...

I will have my fire extinguisher handy when I start this.

 

I think about this every once in a while, but the cost/benefit analysis always says no. Too risky, and best-case scenario: I get a slightly faster but still 2 generations old processor.

 

I just sent off a email to a retailer that used to carry the su9600 BGA cpu. I hope they still have some left. They are engineering samples, but I dont care, This is more of a does it work, or does it start things on fire test

 

Roll the cameras. I want to see that fire!

 

lol, I will make sure I have a camera pointed at the board when it gets turned on for the first time.... I will end up just having a motherboard with a hdd hooked up to it, no laptop case, so I can keep the damage to just my work station.

 

I hope it goes smoothly without any fires... it would be pretty funny to see if you had it on camera though

Which R1 will receive the upgrade? Portal White or Cosmic Black?

 

Well If it works out on the test motherboard then it will be put into my black one. My wife got a look at the white one and decided she wanted that one, saves me some money of not having to buy her a new computer though.

 

If you have a old motherboard about that you are going to test this out on then try removing the processor before going to the expense of buying a new one first. Some manufacturers inject epoxy between the chip and pcb after soldering to ensure reliability, but this would obviously make it much more difficult to get them off and leave the PCB in a reusable condition afterwards.

 

I talked to a refurbisher about it, he said that they cpu is just soldered down, no glue. So I should be good. But I have to order up a motherboard since my only spare one is bad.

 

At least thats something in your favour If you do manage to get everything working you should probably consider finishing it off with epoxy, without a full x-ray setup it will be difficult to tell just how good your hotair gun soldering has turned out. Epoxying the CPU in place will reduce the risk of a joint cracking under thermal stress.

 

Update? ? ?

 

Still CPUs available right now

 

So, I know that this thread is long dead, but I'm finally hitting a performance wall with my M11x and am exploring the avenue of processor enhancement. Any update on replacing the processor in your M11x?

 

Should know in under 20 days if it will work. At the start of next month the guys can do BGA work again (court order will be lifted)

 

Is there someone who tried to solder SLGFN SU9600 in m11x r1 motherboard?

Will bios support SU9600?