New Quad-Cores Compatible With my M-6850FX?

My computer upgrading skills are pretty basic but I know my m-6850FX has a t5550 and uses a P socket. I'm looking to upgrade to a quad core hopefully within the next few months as prices drop and I'm wondering what should I be looking at to make sure the processor is 100% compatible and will give me the best bang for my buck.

I did a quick search on newegg and found this guy here. Would this be 100% compatible if I were to purchase it (although I'll wait for prices to drop) and would I be utilizing all its capabilities?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819111011

I've read some forums and there is talk about a lot of applications not being able to access all of the quad-cores capabilities. Would a game like Aion be able to use all 4 cores? (Sorry if I'm sounding ignorant)

 

I am almost 100% sure you cannot upgrade to a quad-core, I personally believe that a new socket is required to accommodate them, so that is out of the question.

I would personally look on ebay for a higher-clocked dual core, the T9300 would be my personal choice.

 

The T5550 is Merom, while all quadcores are Penryn. They use the same socket, but you cannot upgrade from a Merom to a Penryn.

 

Is this 100% confirmed? Because I've read post about people upgrading their t5550 to a t9300 (as recommended by narsail) and they didnt' have a problem. The t9300 is penryn

 

Hey I have a 6850FX also, had a question though. The system works great but for for some reason when turning it on I have to hit the power button twice every time. Just wondering if this was normal as it has done this since I bought it new from best buy. Also I have upgraded my both my 6850FX and 6831FX to T9300 and they both work fine with the chip.

 

I've noticed your problem as well and it's not so much a "hit it twice" problem. You just need to hold it down for a .5-1 seconds longer then normal to turn it on. That's for me at least. But if I don't press it long enough (long enough is usually a little over a second) then I do have to press it twice.

That's good to hear about the T9300. Still wondering about that Q9000 though

 

What are you CPU/GPU temps idle and full for the 6850, thx.

 

Honestly I never kept track of them. I use an external lap fan for my laptop anyways. I never let it get hot, so I can increase its lifespan. Anyways I did some more research and although the q9000 does seem like it would fit the 6850fx, it has a much higher FBS than the motherboard can handle. The 6850fx can handle 800mhz and the q9000 has a 1066mhz FBS. So the t9300 is probably my best upgrade.

 

wrong. you can upgrade to a penryn as long as it has an 800mhz FSB.
Dont post when you dont know!

 

This was already covered... Thanks for trying though

 

oops, sorry.

I would get a T9500.
It can be overclocked to just under 4ghz. see here:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=647836

Edit: to overclock you would need to get setfsb to work with your notebook. I can help you with that if you want.

 

What speeds can the T9300 be overclocked to? I really appreciate the offer too btw, but I'm waiting until the quad-cores become more dominant in the market, because there should be a staggering price drop in the dual-cores. Probaly 4-8 months is my guess.

Also... why is the T9500 cheaper than the T9300? The avg retail for the T9300 is about $350 and I'm seeing the T9500 for $250

BTW for the Idle and Load temperatures that someone requested earlier, I'll have those for you in about 20 minutes.

 

check out this site for overclocking records:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=647836

It takes a while to load but it's worth the wait.
for the T9300:
http://www.ripping.org/database.php?cpuid=682

looks like the best overclock for the T9300 is 3.3ghz:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=365887


The T9500 shouldn't be cheaper. It's exactly the same as the T9300 but the multiplier is 13 instead of 12.5.

I'm going to probably upgrade to the T9500, but I will wait a while for the price to go down.

 

I appreciate your OCing help, but unless someone decides to Guinea pig these machines are left without OCing capability, the T9300, IMO is the ideal choice for this laptop, not too expensive and pretty high-clocked.

Also Lithus, these laptops can take the early Penryn models, models such as the P9700 cannot be taken and quad cores for example, but a few select Penryns can.

 

Why would you recommend the T9300 over the T9500 if its the same price or cheaper? The T9500 has slightly more speed. By slightly I means .1ghz per core so .2ghz total.

 

I believe the OP has found the T9300 and the T9500 to be equally priced, it looks like it's the T9500 takes it.

By the way, this notebook is on the santa rosa platform right?
If so the getting setfsb to work would be easy.

 

I'm unfamiliar with the Santa Rosa platform. How could I go about checking for you?

Here is a link for the T9500 for $245 however I'm noticing all these cheaper CPU's show a CPU that looks like this:
http://www.compubees.com/intel-core-2-duo-mobile-processor-t9500-2.6ghz_297_8542.html


Would I have to assume the CPU isn't going to come with a copper/nickel cover? I've noticed about a $100 gap in a lot of the T9500 and T9300. The 9500 is either ~240 or ~350 and the T9300 is ~230 or ~330... Is this why? You get better cooling with the copper/nickel cover right?

 

what cover?

I think the price difference you're seeing is because some CPUs are ES and some are not. (if you're looking on ebay, normal stores will not sell ES).

ES = engineering samlple, the CPU is worth less than a normal one because it isn't OEM and also it's technically stolen from intel. Also they may have been stressed a lot during testing. Some ES CPUs dont come with thermal sensors.

The only good thing about ES is that you can buy one for $100 cheaper than OEM.
Also some come with unlocked multipliers so you can overclock them. (not all of them have this feature).

Another problem with ES is that they require a slightly higher voltage than OEM so they undervolt badly and overclock badly and run hotter.

I would stay away from ES.


BTW I checked online and yes your notebook has the PM965 chipset so it's santa rosa. the chipset is supported by setfsb.
I can help you overclock your CPU

 

A lot of Gateway users, including myself have used ESs with no problems, what moral hazard claims is true, that can all happen, but I dont think we have had a situation on the Gateway forums where a user has actually had one of those problems.

I didnt know the T9300 prices were in the same range now as the T9500, that is the only reason I recommended the T9300.

 

this CPU is OEM and not ES, why is it so cheap?

 

When I refer to the copper/nickel cover, most CPU's have a layer of metal over of the silicon and chip(a layer of copper with a thin coat of nickel). This is where you usually "Lap" your CPU for better cooling etc.

Give me a few weeks moral hazard and I'll definitely be in touch. I'd love to overclock my cpu but I'm waiting on some ICD7 to see how it lowers my load temperatures. With a cooling pad under my laptop I'm still getting pretty high temperatures. However the model I'm using is notorious for having an gap between the GPU and heatsink (I haven't opened mine up yet to see if its there but I'm sure it is)

BTW I read your post on the hobo-vidock. That's some good stuff right there. I'm probably just going to build a new desktop soon though.

PS: These are my temperatures right now... they're okay but keep in mind I'm using a cooling pad under my rig.

http://img27.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=systemidletemps.jpg

 

ok now I understand. I didn't realize you could buy a T9500 with it.

So are you going to do the copper mod so that there will be no gap?

Thanks

Those temps arn't great, did you undervolt the CPU?

 

Well ICD7 is pretty thick stuff and I was reading on the forums that I can just use that to fill the gap and it should work great. Otherwise I can get a copper shim to fill the gap. I haven't decided what I want to do yet. Once I break it open, I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing.

I didn't change any of the settings on my CPU. I've been learning a lot from these forums over the past few days and I've seen the term undervolt thrown around a bit, but what does it mean when you "undervolt a cpu"?

Yeah the temperatures are pretty bad. I've seen others post that their GPU gets to 107C when under load with this model. I'm expecting some good results from ICD7.

 

follow the undervolting guide.

It took my temps down by 12C.


I dont know the details about undervolting, but here is what I think (I dont know this for sure):

Every CPU is different, some more stable and others not.
Intel doesn't want to waste time finding out what voltage is best for every CPU so it just sets a high enough voltage to be sure that they are all stable.

This voltage is generally too high and can be lowered. Lowering the voltage will greatly improve temps.
with most notebooks you dont get voltage setting in the BIOS so we have to use software (like RMclock).
Or we can modify our CPU sockets to change the voltage, most people call this a "volt mod".
here is a great thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=390696