Intel quad core q9100 on Gateway FX p7801u

I have good news for you guys, i updated the BIOS on my Gateway FX p7801u from 9C.17.00 to 9C.23.00 and tried my Intel quad core Q9100 CPU, the BIOS posts , so Gateway added support for Quad Cores in their latest BIOS for P78 Series, i will follow up with pictures. Cheers

 

Wow!!! That would be nice!

You say the BIOS posts, but... does the computer work correctly?

 

Here are some pictures, unfortunately, the BIOS sees the CPU, but when it gets to booting the screen goes blank and reboots, the only way it works sometimes is on IDE mode ... but at least it posts, right?

 

Looks like the CPU is generating a lot of heat, obviously, i wonder if that is a reason for instability, i will try and boot from a tool cd with mini windows xp in IDE mode since AHCI and RAID dont work at all.

 

Which HS do you have?

 

foxconn 60.4I201.001 A01
2008.07.21 DJ

 

pkkilleru so you have actually booted to windows with that q9100??

 

Soooo is this an issue with the heatsink? I'm also curious have you actually had a full boot to windows?

I'd absolutely flip out if we finally had an upgrade path to Quad cores. The Gateway 78xx series is already fairly legendary when it comes to gaming performance and bang for buck. So many of us wanted the Quad possibility but it never did come to pass for those of us with the dual core systems.

 

I only managed to boot from a boot disk with mini windows XP, with IDE mode selected in the BIOS, AHCI or RAID don't work. I tried to install windows, it boots and when it reaches the hard disk controller detection, it restarts.

This is so frustrating, it's as if the motherboard is not supplying enough power to the hungry q9100, causing system instability.

Bottom line, the BIOS fully recognizes the CPU with all it's cores, but the motherboard is a .

 

now i'm trying to downgrade from 9C.23.00 to 9C.20.00, but the only way i can do that is with phlash16.exe, and i don't have a .WPH file, and i don't know how much good will that do, the instability is caused by something else.

 

Did you try the 9C.25.00 bios? It's not in the gateway site because they claim that it has issues but I believe you can find it in the forum if you dig up.

 

Yes i have tried it, its even worse than 9C.23.00, it reports 5072 MB RAM instead of 4096.

I have a big dilemma, why the heck is it partially working in IDE mode and restarts forever in AHCI or RAID.

I booted up with Hiren's Boot CD and loaded Everest Ultimate Edition, everything looks fine, it's very stable.

I wish i could find a hardware way to give the CPU around 0.07 volts more.

I have to make it work, this CPU has been sitting on my shelf for over a year now.

If anybody has any solutions, please come forward.

 

i tried 9C.20.00, no go, i installed windows xp on another computer with one of the hard drives from my fx 7801u, put it back into the gateway laptop and booted, everything was fine until windows started loading the driver for the CPU.

So i came to an unfortunate conclusion, the motherboard thinks this CPU has only two cores, hence the instability.

Now im trying to find out if my godzilla-imv motherboard is identical to the one in 7808u, but there is not too much info out there. My hopes were that it is from the same series, and with a few simple components (hardware modification) one can fool the northbridge to read the CPU as it should.

And here we are back to a standstill, i just hope there were more passionate guys taking a look at this, while this laptop is still viable, like they do with the mobile phone decoding/modding industry. Im not smart enough to figure out what to do to make this work.

The culprit is the motherboard, not power, not heatsink, im so pissed off right now.

 

pkkilleru did you had a look at this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gat...ies-fx-bios-9c-05-00-thru-9c-17-00-a-119.html
?

 

and the few next pages

 

well then, by the time anybody figures out something, there will be laptops out there equivalent to UFO's

 

thanks for the info though, its good to know at least a handful of guys are trying to get some info at least

 

Did you try going into msconfig > boot.ini > advanced options > numproc = 4?

 

Is this what your HS looks like, with the short legs?

Edit; I also know with Vista/7 there are some reg entries that need editing to go from IDE/AHCI etc. These can cause the looped boot. Since you got at least past bios have you tried an OS reinstall with IDE? Since I don't have RAID it may be time to get a quad core and take a shot here.

If the OS runs only in IDE mode that may be worth it.....................

 

but you've only had your X9100 for a couple of months and you're ready to jump ship already

 

If your q9100 doesn't work for you, I would be happy to accept donations to test it in my 7901.

 

In half a heart beat...............

 

I know this is off topic but I'm asking anyway. You guys think with the q9100 on our laptops that COD: Black Ops (multiplayer) will be playable? Because with the p8400 it runs like with everything set to low/off.

 

there is a word missing between like and with.. anyhow it runs terrible!

 

For gaming an x9100 would be your best bet to get more gaming cpu. Most games will not use the four cores more than they bennefit from pure core speed.

I am not sure though how well the GTS 9800m can handle the COD games, better answered by others that have the game in a seperate thread.

 

Black Ops is not like most games. Google it and you will find out that it is very quad optimised. It has issues even on high end desktop builds that have dual core cpus.
Modern Warfare 2 btw runs like a charm on my 7811 on medium-high settings so the 9800m should be sufficient.
TANWare have you seen performance increase on games in general with the x9100 vs p8400?

 

Can you check the area around your CPU too see if any components are missing?

I know my notebook has some clearly missing, I wonder if I had the quad core version of my notebook (GT627Q) would those components be there.

 

My heatsink is older, it looks like this one with the long legs.

Reg entries are irrelevant at this point, the computer will not boot at all in AHCI/RAID, i mean not even MS-DOS.

I have tried an OS install in IDE mode, and everything works great, until the computer either freezes or reboots at random points in the installation (probably when the cpu is being detected and the driver is installed)

A reminder: Because of the motherboard not sending the right signals to the CPU probably, windows is only able to see two cores out of four.

I also installed windows on another computer and put the hard drive in the gateway, tried to boot in normal mode, it works until windows tries to indentify the CPU, then instant reboot.

Now it remains a mystery why the IDE mode boot and not AHCI/RAID.

 

no thanks

 

i already disected my computer two times and put it back together, i have some knowledge with electronics but not enough to identify what should go where, and yes there are missing components around the CPU socket.

7811CY suggested i should take a look at this thread and those people there are right, as long as the motherboard is not sending the right signals to the cpu, everything goes to waste, the southbridge may have something to do with this too, hence the inability of the computer to boot in AHCI/RAID mode. If this is the case, then besides rerouting the signals to the CPU socket, we need a southbridge replacement too, and that is a PAIN.

 

Well people, after studying the intel socket P dual core and quad core datasheets, i feel a little more confident that we can do a sucessful modification of the godzilla-imv motherboard to support quads, provided that the southbridge supports it. I am willing to test this on my motherboard and do the necessary modifications, but first more research is needed.

 

I think you might be interested in this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq/365557-upgrading-8530w-quad-core-2.html#post5175592

I have the samething, missing components...


Someone tested a quad in an MSI 1651 and said he could only get 2 cores to work.

So if you figure this thing out, I might follow you.

I don't know how stumo got all 4 cores working...

 

does anyone have pics of the two caps and the missing one?

 

I'll take one of my motherboard, give me 10mins.

BTW mine is not missing a cap, it's missing an inductor (choke). There are two chokes next to each other, then you can see a place for a third one next to those two.

EDIT:

Spoiler

I hope that's clear enough, I just repasted my CPU, GPU and NB so I didn't want to take the heatsink off.

And yes, I did spread some cheap thermal paste ontop of my heatsink, I wanted to check if that would lower my temps (trying to get more contact from the heatsink to the heatpipes).
Didn't seem to lower my temps but it was worth a try.

So anyway, you can see 1 choke missing and 3 other things (not sure what they are but I'm pretty sure they have something to do with CPU power).

It wouldn't be too hard to find those 4 missing components and solder them on, anyone think that would help at all?

 

Well how hard could it be to find those parts? It wouldn't hurt to try it, and I'm assuming that if you solder them on and it doesn't work for the Quad, it wouldn't affect a DC's performance would it?

 

It might even make a DC overclock better, but the problem is that I'm not sure if I need to find the exact parts or if similar parts would work.

That one choke would be easy to add, but the other three things would be a bit hard to solder, I think I would have to use wires because I don't have a BGA soldering station.

I wonder what would happen if I added just one choke and tried to boot up?

 

The three other things are similar to the other black 8 pin things, read the number off of them and google it for a datasheet, they shouldnt be hard to find at all. Probaly at the local electronics shop if not order them online.

As for the soldering part, dont worry, just make sure the pins are aligned and in the correct order with the motherboard, use some flux on the pins, a tweezers, a fine tip soldering iron and tons of care, then use a magnifying glass to make sure there are no shorts. Ah by the way do this at your own risk, i only explained the procedure.

 

With my P7805 I have the three inductors. I am not sure about other P78xx versions. The reason I ask is the P7805 specifically was known to be a hodge podge of mixed parts to get a running computer, as an example the 1920x1200 screens.

I am wondering if a few quad capable main boards slipped in. With mine there are two incutors on one side of the cpu and another on the other side by itself. I do not seem to have those components you are missing.........

 

I have been insanely researching for the past few days, especially the socket p core 2 quad datasheet, and came to the conclusion that on the normal gateway motherboards only one die is activated at startup, but the signals for the second one (I/O) is not.

GTLREF - GTLREF determines the signal reference level for AGTL+ input pins. GTLREF should be set at 2/3 VCCP. GTLREF is used by the AGTL+ receivers to determine if a signal is a logical 0 or logical 1. Refer to the appropriate platform design guide for details on GTLREF implementation.​

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GTLREF_2 - GTL reference level for AGTL+ input pins of the second die.
Refer to the appropriate platform design guide for details on GTLREF implementation.

GTLREF_CONTROL -This pin can be used as GTLREF_2 disconnect circuit control signal. GTLREF_2 maps out to a reserved pin on Intel® CoreTM2 Duo Processor, for Dual Core and quad-core interchangeable motherboard, GTLREF_CONTROL can be used as a control signal for a circuit that will automaticlly switch between Dual Core and quad-core modes.

I have the Intel 82801IEM ICH9M-E already on my motherboard, all that remains now is to figure out what components are missing and what signals have to be rerouted. :w00t:

Eventually if nothing works we can buy the p-7908u motherboard, the cheapest one is 399$ on ebay.

 

I believe we need one that can replace P7901-h or P7906-a as those were released quad core versions. unofficially they may all support quads but I don't think there are any docs out there so far to support this.

 

If we connect GTLREF_2 to GTLREF, would that help?

Not sure what GTLREF_CONTROL is doing in our motherboards that don't want to automaticlly switch between Dual Core and quads.

 

I was thinking about that, but i dont know how much good it will do, what we want is the motherboard to read four cores and two dies, theoratically we can assign all the I/O pins of the second die to the first die, and modify just three pins.

 

pkkilleru any updates??

 

Unfortunately no, the laptop belongs to a friend of mine and he doesn't trust me, he says what i want to do is like brain surgery lol, the only option left is for him to buy a p-7908u motherboard.

To me it was a challenge and worth trying, but like i said, the laptop is not mine.

EDIT 1: Im sure that with a lot of care and information, as well as with a lot of perseverence, one can accomplish this modification.
Here is why: the motherboard can definetly supply 44W to the Intel® Core™2 Extreme X9100, so why not 45W to the Intel®
Core™2 Quad Q9100 or Intel® Core™2 Quad Extreme QX9300.
The I/O controller 82801IEM ICH9M-E is listed as supporting quad core cpu's.
The p-7808u motherboard is the same Godzilla-IMV maybe with a different revision, but keep in mind that redesigning the
pathways on the motherboard is just a waste of money for the company, im pretty sure that Gateway made the boards quad
core ready.
Starting with the new bios revision 9C.20.00 for IMV, Gateway added quad core support in their firmware.
Let's take these assumptions for granted for a second, all that remains is to inspect a p-7808u board and see what's so
different about it. Ideally there are some components added to allow for the right signals to get to the CPU.
The next step would be to actually hack/mod the dual core boards.
And last but not least would be to find a better cooling solution, maybe with a custom-made heatsink, or just remove the
cover, and use a cooler pad, but that's the most simple step.

I wish i had the chance to do this, even if it's risky, i'm sure that smoke wouln't come out of the motherboard.

 

Can you please post the details of what you were going to try, which pins to connect to what?

I might try it if I ever get my hands on a quad core CPU.

 

In a much earlier post a Gateway tech had eluded to someone the board would not accept a quad core without a modification. What this modification is no one as of yet knows. It could be as simple as soldering a jumper to adding or even modifying components. Unfortunately nothing was ever released nor the few between who have a P7808u ever posted some detailed pics etc.

if the 7908 boards out there were a 100% proven upgradable board to a Quad I would do it without hesitation..............

 

FWIW, This person was/is selling a P-7908u with a QX9300. Claims it's working?

GATEWA,P-7908FX,QX9300,1TB,8GB,BLURAY,2YRWRTY,BAG,DISKS - eBay (item 320641959772 end time Feb-10-11 17:44:00 PST)

 

He wants way too much for antiquated tech, could get a G73 way cheaper. But for the fact to show P79xx boards as upgradeable that is great news..............

Edit; just to be sure the tag looks like it says "Intel Core 2 Duo proccesor", quick image enhancement from his listing pic below

 

Seller is not accepting questions lol - was going to ask if he could provide an additional pic with CPU-Z or something similar.

damn.

 

Figures, not sure if I want to throw the APR $700 at it. Way cheaper than a new G73 though. If it all works I could recover some of the cost with selling the orginal main board and x9100 ES too.............