2Asus N61Vg-A2 cpu upgrade

Just purchased an Asus N61Vg-A2 laptop. I was wondering what cpu upgrades work with this model. It comes with the P8700 Core 2 duo which is 25W cpu. I would like to upgrade to a Core 2 Extreme x9100. However, this is a 44W cpu. I am assuming that they will work, but I was wondering if anyone had attempted this.

 

As you have a Penryn series CPU, you can upgrade to any mobile Core 2 Duo you want. The x9100 will work, and with software like ThrottleStop you can change the multiplier to overclock it.

A note on the X9100 and any other CPUs you consider when upgrading:
There exist two different "steppings," or main revisions, of T9x00 and X9100 CPUs: C0 and E0. C0 is the older one, E0 is the newer one. E0 runs much cooler than C0 and can sustain the same clocks at lower voltages. Your money is best spent on these.

I think your best CPU choices would be the following E0 stepping PGA (pin grid array) CPUs (I too recently upgraded my Penryn CPU):
T9600 (2.80 GHz, 10.5x) SLG9F ~$160
T9800 (2.93 GHz, 11.0x) SLGES ~$200
T9900 (3.06 GHz, 11.5x) SLGKH ~$260+
X9100 (3.06 GHz, 11.5x+ unlocked) SLGE7 ~$300

Sometimes you'll find QS samples of CPUs which are basically ones that Intel was beta testing. Check their stepping before you buy. Sometimes they don't have temperature sensors but they're otherwise identical to a retail CPU.

If you aren't concerned with battery life you might also look into Apple-specific CPUs, which is what I ended up doing. I didn't realize it at the time but they do not support DFFS (dynamic FSB frequency switching) nor IDA (intel dynamic acceleration, an occasional 0.5x multipler on one core). However the one I got overclocks great to 3.5 GHz from 2.93GHz. The two you might be interested in are:

E8335 (2.93 GHz, 11.0x, 35W) SLGEB
E8435 (3.06 Ghz, 11.5x, 45W) SLGEA

They are basically the same as the T9800 and a locked X9100. Again if you're into battery life, look elsewhere, since they do not downclock as the other CPUs.

Also I would take TDP lightly, and just go by steppings (E0 or C0) since that's a much better indicator of heat. All the above CPUs WILL get hot under load compared to your P8700.

 

Thanks for the info. I am aware that all these processors will get hotter. I was concerned that they would fry the motherboard from overheating. I probably will not overclock. I just want to upgrade to the best I can without having overheating problems. So, if I am not going to overclock, it looks like the T9900 or the E8435 would be my best option. T9900 would have slightly better battery life, but otherwise the same as E8435 (except this one overclocks better possibly?)

 

If you're not overclocking then yes, the T9900 or E8435 would be best. Though honestly at these prices you should also consider the T9600, as it's likely about half the price of the T9900 sometimes for around 91% of the performance (read: you won't notice a difference). If you do decide to overclock it's easy to push it past the 3 GHz barrier and T9900 performance if you'd like. Typical overclocks using an unlocked PLL are about 15-20%. I think most Asus notebooks have unlocked PLLs (though I only know from the G series). People who can't overclock like this are stuck looking for the processor with the fastest stock speed, which is why the T9900 so expensive.

The only reason I suspect the E8x35 series overclocks better is because they don't have IDA. IDA will push one core an additional 0.5x in speed, so your overclock must be stable even with that extra 0.5x. This means your other core's maximum frequency is X GHz minus the 0.5x of the first core. Not sure if this is making sense but basically you're robbed of a few MHz on one core. Without IDA both your cores are guaranteed to run at X GHz without penalty.
The lack of IDA means that the CPU is slightly less powerful than its T9x00 counterpart though at stock speeds. So an E8435 has two cores both at 11.5x while the T9900 has one at 11.5x and one sometimes at 12.0x.

So again, depends on your budget. Poke through eBay or post a WTB thread int he NBR marketplace once you have enough posts and see what you find

 

Maybe you don't have to worry about overheating with using a good thermal paste. Recently I upgraded my CPU from P7450 to T9900 on my Asus laptop.

The P7450 was running 42~44C @idle and now the T9900 is running 32~34C according to RealTemp and 30~32C according to HWMonitor.

I just used the Arctic Silver 5 since I already had one. I guess the factory stock thermal paste wasn't really good. So, as long as you use a good thermal paste, you might get better (cooler) temp.

 

HRK, your results are from an older or less revised stepping of the CPU. Your P7450 is probably from an older one (different from C0 or E0 since it's a P series, not a T series) and all T9900s are E0 stepping CPUs. They run quite cold compared to most other CPUs. Even at a constant 6x multiplier on a full 1066MHz FSB my E0 E8335 idles at the same or lower temperature than my old P8400 did with DFFS.