Swap out Q9000 for X9100

Has anyone replaced their Quad-Core Processor with a Dual core? I am looking into costs of purchasing an X9100 to replace my Q9000, as I am not really happy with the performance of my M17 currently.

Any ideas where to get the best prices for the X9100?

Does the bios automatically figure out which processor is installed on boot, or is there some settings to configure?

Does Alienware give some kind of rebate for turning in your old processor for an upgrade to make it any cheaper?

Just some questions I'm looking into, thanks for any answers you might have.

 

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=x9100&_sacat=See-All-Categories

take your pick. as for the swap, should really be "plug 'n play".

 

If you're not flashing an Whitebook BIOS for overclocking then check out the T9900. Offers the same clocks as a X9100 and draws 9w less power.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=intel+t9900&_sacat=See-All-Categories


Or if you don't mind going ES/QS you can opt for a Q9100 or Q9200.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=intel+q9100&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

Does the standard AW bios support these chipsets though? i.e. does the AW bios have the right multipliers etc for chipsets that AW doesn't offer with the M17?

 

The T9900 should work no problem as it's just a T9800 with the multiplier of a X9100 (11.5).

The other two CPUs would depend on AW's version of the BIOS. The Q9100 is offered by Xotic on their Force Extreme 840 and Killer Notebooks offers the Q9200 on the Nagamaki so the basic Whitebook BIOS does support the CPUs.

If AW's M17 BIOS does not support the Quads by default you could flash the Whitebook BIOS to your laptop...but that would void your warranty.

 

to clarify it would void it but in the event something happens flash it back you would be fine.

also when you change the cpu it will void the warranty but if something happens put in the original CPU and it will not be voided

 

According to the "What Will Not Void Your Warranty" post updating your CPU won't void your warranty unless you break something while upgrading.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=375100

 

Why would you replace a Quad with a Dual Core?

Quad, even with the varying speeds, would have more processing power considering it has 2 more cores, wouldn't it?

 

I don't know what kind of "headroom" is built into the T9900, but I've got the X9100 in my rig and I love it.

It easily overclocks to almost 3.6ghz using Setfsb with good temps and is very stable.

I highly recommend the X9100!

 

Some programs aren't set up to even run on two cores let alone 4.

I don't know but I'm very interested in finding out what the max overclock on the T9900 is as well. Most of the people who have posted about upgrading to it have put it into machines that aren't commonly overclocked rigs...like the Gateway FX.

 

me to t9400 in the whitebook is 3.14 but its unstable

 

I've seen a T9800 2.93Ghz overclocked to 3.51Ghz on an MSI GT725 so at the very least the T9900 should be able to match that....and a 3.6Ghz OC may very well also be possible.

 

Because of all of this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4869426#post4869426

 

the quad issue is completely fixed

so why?

 

Sorry for dual post

 

Says who? Did Alienware ever come out and say "Oh yes, there is a flaw in the design which causes Quad-Core's to have issues when playing games and you can't play your game correctly, so please send in your computer and we will repair it to make it work for you". Umm no. Some people put copper on the NB (voiding their warranty for sure) and say its not NB heat related. WHAT??

Until Alienware officially recognizes an issue with the design (yah they didn't design it, i got it) and makes it right, I'd rather have a working dual core installed then a Quad core which causes my games not to play right, and have to reboot 1,000,000 times to play for a few hours. Heck, my game doesn't even use all four cores anyway.

My HP dv9700 never had these kinds of game issues, until it finally failed due to a faulty GPU from nvidia.

 

LOL the warranty is not voided

... ok just telling you the truth i unno what your problem is but ....the quad would work.


and if your not gonna play any games that use all 4 core ok but dont say the quad doesn't work

 

I didn't say the quad doesn't work, I said that "if the copper mod fixes the laptop design (with quad cores, cuz apparently the dual cores dont have the issue) then there is a design flaw with the laptop"

Because according to donda:

 

that is correct the heat sink does not sit properly if you have a quad but it is an extremely easy to fix

but i do halfway understand where you are coming from

a Dual core is the way to go for now i recommend a x9100 if you were to flash your bios so you can overclock

or t9700 or t9900(not sure if bios supports them wanna try ?)

 

So is the T9900 the latest in the range?

Had any offers yet Mr Moo on your M17? are you selling it so you can get the new "allpowerful?

 

wow, Im a notebook consultant....yeehaaa!

 

Yeah it was just released this month along with the P9700 2.8Ghz with the 25w draw.

 

i wonder if either of those is supported in the bios

 

The t9900 isn't unlocked like the x9100 is it?

 

If you want to sell that Q when your done im pretty sure there is a hundred of us lined up. Personally already blew 260 on my T9600 so I can't afford it but a few of us want to know if it works in the G50 series.

 

Nope T9900 is a T9800 with an extra half multiplier.

 

Give me a price lol

 

this problem has been out since the whitebook has been released in nov/dec of 08. flextronics/arima, ocz, asimobile, or alienware HAS STILL NOT PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY KNOW THIS ISSUE AND ARE TRYING TO FIX IT. THIS ISSUE WAS OUT BEFORE ALIENWARE EVEN HAD IT IN THERE HANDS. EVERYONE ON THE QUAD CORE THREAD ON NBR WHO HAD DONE A COPPER MOD HAS NOT STUTTERED. I DON'T STUTTER. HALOGOD2007 DOESN'T STUTTER OR ZFACTOR DOESN'T STUTTER. hellcry's problem was fixed by using a thermal pad. what he did i don't know. omega used a gpu pad and was fine for a few days and it came back.


everyone help with drivers, software, vista, win7, ram, cpu's, ssd, hdd, raid format, and many different ways to solve it and it didn't stop the stuttering until we copper modded it.

if you don't want to do it then don't. buy a dual core x9100 which you don't want the ocz bios on it so it renders that fact that you have an extreme useless. so get a t series dual core. and you'll be fine.

if you followed project freeze at all, you would of saw that zfactor tested it himself and said that HEATSINK ISN'T FULLY TOUCHING THE NORTHBRIDGE.


i understand your reasoning for not being responsible for something that isn't your fault but the manufactures but when it's been this long and NOTHING what are you gonna do. you can copper mod, deal with with, sell your system(which is not the reason i'm selling mines. i don't stutter at all.) or buy a dual core. for me, i had a t9400 and went to a qx9300 and it's the best move i ever made for my whitebook. then the stutter was there. i thought about all the hard money and time i took to get it and i'm not going to sit here and take it. and i'm sure many people said this.


it took a month and WE NOT FLEX... ETC. have solved the issue.


if you want to wait longer for alienware then you can. (which i wouldn't they can't even tell quanta to make a better hinge for the m15x much less tell flex to make a better heatsink. and flex don't care and doesn't play around for those who really know them.) for not only me but everyone else we are gathering infomation to send it to all those companies and see if they are going to respond. they can either use copper(cheaper) or come out with a newer heatsink that is bigger(mmmm we have to wait and see)


but back to your main question
buy the t9900 if you are not going to use the ocz bios to overclock. if you are going to then get the x9100. rob41 got to 3.33ghz on the bios then used setfsb to go to 3.5ghz. e-wrecked broke every record and got it to 3.9 on the x9100.(for benchmarking purposes)

if you get a es qx9300. i got to 3.2 on the bios and i can boot on 3.33ghz(stable til i run prime) and 3.5 (bluescreen on windows boot) ihavent really played with setfsb because of the stuttering but since that's fixed i may try. e-wrecked got 3.5ghz. mhooper got 3.4ghz on it. ichime i believe is on 3.06 stable. electrosoft was on 3.06 stable. zle is on 3.33 stable. halogod is on 3.2ghz stable. hellcry is on 3.2ghz stable.


what are you going to choose?


so what are you going to do.

 

Thanks for the update Hellcry

 

Using the OCZ Bios, which seems on the surface as a logical option, as those with OCZ bios don't seem to have issues would not only void my warranty (even though someone said they got Alienware to say it was ok for their system), but also void my Windows Vista key, thus forcing me to buy another licensed version of Vista etc etc.

 

i have it in writing it will not void the warranty you just reflash before you send it in and your fine

and the key does not matter, you just re put in the key and your fine , you dont have to buy a new one

 

Ok, thats fair. If for example sometime in the future using the OCZ bios, the computer somehow fails and I am unable to boot it into even the bios enough to reflash it, then what? If i sent it in with the OCZ bios as a brick (because of something else) then will they void it?

 

if it wont turn on then the mobo is fried and then no one can tell....

the thread and exact words from 2 AW reps are in my threads in my profile

 

It was incorrectly stated above that I used the OCZ Bios to reach 3.33 Ghz.

I have never and will never (at least till my 3yr warranty runs out ) used the OCZ Bios.

There is no way in he** I'm gonna risk (regardless of how small the chances are) something going wrong and have the OCZ Bios discovered by A.W.

There are lots of people who are using the OCZ Bios and it's prob perfectly safe,but............not in the eyes of Alienware.

I know people will tel you there is no way they can tell, but for me, I won't risk my $3000 + rig based on advise from someone who isn't prepared to pony up the cash if the unthinkable were to happen.

I have however used Setfsb for benchmarking and have achieved 3.57Ghz without any issues or overheating. Yes, I know, Setfsb can pose a slight risk as well. At least with Setfsb, as soon as you restart or push it too far and it shuts down, your stock settings are restored and the program is unloaded.

Just my opinion.

 

why you gotta sound so harsh. lol your majking sound like a virus. well i have an ocz so i can't really talk about which pne to use. but try them out. so far one person has tried and it failed so we need another. i don't remember what was hell cry's status.

 

Sorry, I don't mean to be harsh Don. It's just that to a lot of folks the switching to the OCZ Bios sounds like just another little part of playing with a laptop. I only want them to know the potential negative side to this.

I know the chances are slim that something would go wrong but man, the stakes are still pretty high.

IMO, the OCZ .28 Bios is most likely the best one for these rigs and one I'll use once my warranty runs out.

People should at least be aware of things before doing this.

 

sorry for the late response. but ok i understand now.

 

Well I went ahead and swapped out my Q9000 for the X9100 OEM, and posted some before/after CPU-Z/HWMonitor/3DMark06 Results here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=373496&page=2

Pictures of the install here:
http://redirectingat.com/?id=525X83...t.com/albums/xx167/Marvie100/x9100%20Install/

CPU and GPU Install procedures here:
http://redirectingat.com/?id=525X832&url=http://www.ocztechnology.com/manuals/DIY_17_Intel.pdf

So far so good, and no stuttering

 

So, as you all may know, I swapped out my Q9000 for an X9100 some time ago, but I was just poking around in device manager and found something interesting. Device Manager is still showing a Q9000 with only two cores for my X9100. Is this normal? Is there someway I can force it to use another driver or something to show the correct processor or is this simply an irrelevant and unimportant item?

 

Delete it from device manager and Windows will auto-detect the x9100.

 

did it work for u

 

Marvie100,

I had a question. There's a thread in the gaming section debating the increasing usefulness of quad core vs dual core. What have you noticed in terms of gaming when switching from a slower quad to a faster dual?

 

Yep that did it. I had to do each core seperately though, so total of 4 reboots, but its looking good now, thanks.

Considering my games would grind to a halt due to some irrecoverable stuttering issues (usually at the wrong time too) with the Quad Core, It's hard for me to really compare results. I have had zero issues with this computer since I put the x9100 in it, and I will never look back. I purchased the Quad core initially thinking I would be more then happy with the lower clock speed, but I have to tell you I absolutely love this higher clock speed dual core, and I've even gamed with 20 programs running in the background with no degradation in gameplay. I just don't think the motherboard likes trying to figure out what two separate dual cores (which is what the mobile Quad's really are: Two dual core dies on one processor) are doing and trying to deconflict them. There are numerous opinions on this, and this is just mine.

Bottom Line: I won't run this laptop at least with anything but the x9100 processor ever again.