P-7908u FX - upgrading CPU

Thinking of picking one of these up. Was wondering what CPUs I could upgrade it to?

Was looking at this one:

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I'd really like to put a quad core in it but am unsure about the cooling being efficient enough:

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 Penryn 2.0GHz Socket P 45W Quad-Core Mobile Processor Model BX80581Q9000

Other upgrades I'm going to do is throw an SSD in there? Also, does it have two bays for HDs? Hoping to have a regular SATA in there for backup and use the SSD for my OS and a few games.

Also upping from 4gb to 8gb.

Can any one chime in on all of my questions or some of them?


Thanks! Been a lurker for a while.

 

If you have noticed the quads do not work well in these. Unless you specifically need, and can ultilize, a quad core then you are better off with a x9100.

Yes there are 2 bays and SSD is a great upgrade.

Unless you specifically need 8gb I wouldn't bother..................

 

thanks for the reply! you know your stuff(been following your posts). i only want to play a little bit of bf3 and know the game utilizes quad cores. when you say work well, as in heating issues or what?

 

The Q9xxx uses way more TPD than the C2D. Actually it is proven in 4 thread opperation the 2 cores of the CQD loose efficiency per clock over the C2D. This is 10-20% loss.

So a CQD at 2.0 GHz is 10-20% less efficient than a C2D at 4.0 GHz. At 20% you only need a x9100 at about 3.2 GHz to equal in all tasks a q9000 and at most tasks the x9100 will smoke the q9000. Also the cooling solution stinks on our system for CQD's and even the stock q9000 will throttle often without undervolting under full load.

Now quad iCores are another story as they natively allow for thread affinity per core rather than load sharing and of course the core is faster even in single thread per clock......................

 

What about an e8235? It's 2.8ghz but has 6mb cache at only half the press of the x9100. I'm mainly looking to get the best performance I can out of bf3 that I can from this machine.


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Not sure about thee game and CPU power. The e series should work though.......

 

Well am I missing anything in the 200mhz or so being the only difference in those two chips? If you think the extra 200mhz will make a difference then I'm all for it. Not worried about the money, just want to get the best I can inside the lappy. But not if i won't see a difference. Thanks for your replies. You know your


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Again I am not surre of the load your game will take. Remember though a x9100 can over clock a bit too. So if you plan to keep it a while this will future proof it a bit more. I am not saying tthough the non xtreme CPU will not cary you though as you may never need more.

All I can say is the conservative 3.4 GHZ I used to run was just awesome at just about every thing. Snappy as all get out and enough umph to plow through walls. I fell into the hype with the quad core. I don't regret running it as it is a tank and I don't require a sports car.

I can tell you for desktop usage you could feel a difference up to 3.2 GHz. After that point the returns seemed minimal and were more just to see the benchmarks. So you will see and feel the difference between the 2.8 and overclocked 3.2 GHz. Again in game I am not too sure.

 

Going from 4GB to 6GB is more noticeable than from 4GB to 8GB. I noticed that second jump was more just for my own OCD more than anything.

It'll let your overall experience in games go a bit more smoothly to update the RAM, add in a SSD, and update the CPU a bit more. It'll round your machine out for a while longer.

If you do go for a SSD, get a 120GB model at the dead minimum. This'll allow you to install a game or two onto it and experience those games a bit more effectively. I play World of Tanks, and beforehand I could barely manage 25-30FPS on high settings. Now with the Vertex 2, I manage 35-50FPS on average with the same settings.

Not to mention it's VERY satisfying to know you can turn on your machine, log in, log off, and restart your machine in the same time it takes just to load on your old HDD.

I say the best deal I can grab for a laptop that won't be harmed by the Sandforce drivers would have to be the OCZ Vertex 2. This drive just makes my day. The CPU is coming up next for this machine...

 

just installed my intel 320 80gb i got for $79 after rebate! Also got the 2.8ghz dual core i bought for $40. SLAQB stepping


cpu upgrade today or tomorrow. also, been out of the GPU OC'ing scene for a few years. what's a good utility and what speeds are users getting with the 260m?

 

Well I might be getting a chance to throw a q9200(qavr) quad core in this soon. Just curious if I'll need a BIOS update? Saw a review on newegg about a guy doing the same thing.

Love the laptop.

 

I have a 79xx, most likely you will be fine. Unless you have apps that fully utilize the four cores though a x9100 is a better option. You will need Throttle stop to undervolt.

Without undervolting the cores will not even hold full stock speed under load such as prime95. The q9200 undervolts nicely though. I run 2.6 GHz @ 1.0500 Volts with no issue

 

well i just upgraded my p7805u to a E8435, and the fps on battlefield 3 got up from 25 to 35 or even 40 on low, and dolphin emulator finally got fullspeed, but ran into one issue, the cpu draws too much power from the adapter, the battery has to be fully charged or the powerbrick will shutdown from time to time and the fps drop seriously (the power brick is an aftermarket one) so i am seriously considering getting a 120W poerbrick to get rid of that anoying trouble, but it's defenitely worth it

 

Yes the brick, even stock, is not meant for upgrades. The best brick I've found for these is the Targus 180w.................

 

Sorry if I sound ignorant but why would a dual-core @ 3.0(6mb cache) perform better than a 2.4ghz(12mb) quad?

 

99% of the time it does. I have gone over this many times. The primary reasons, or gist of the situation, is when a thread is not run as afffinity set, which is most of them. This mean the thread has to be double loaded to each core on the CPU and data off loaded as well. This causes a huge cycle per cycle perfornamce hit between the CQD and C2D. Then there is where they ae affinity set at stock on non quad thread opps the C2D is clocked way higher and overclocks higher as well...............

Edit; the iCore handles threads and cache differently. This is why with the CQD intel never pushed it on the masses but has no issue in doing so with the iCores......................

 

man i have a x9000 and its still more than enough. i will only go for x9100 if i can sell the x9000 for a good price. there is still no need quads especially for games unless you need them for high performance with applications that utilities them and support multi threaded.

 

BF3 would greatly benefit imho

 

Hey guys, great posts, i was hoping i can get some help from you guys. I got the fx p-7805u and i want to get the p-7908u motherboard with the gtx 260m and swap it with mine. Ive taken this sucker apart before, and its not a problem. But is there anything i should know going from my 7805 to the 7908? my current dvd drive wont work with the 7908 board? anything else wont work? if i order the dvd drive for the 7908 can i just replace it if thats a problem? also all i gotta do is reinstall windows and ill be set? or is there alot more problems? One last questions. I read how you guys say there is really no gain with quad core cpu, what about if i put a high end quad in there? do any of the i processors work with the 7908 board? Thanks guys i really appreciate it

 

I have done the switch over. The primary concerns are;

1.) windows may need to reactivate
2.) sound card drivers are different
3.) oMicro drivers need updating.

Some other drivers by default will move around a bit as resources are changed. Otherwise it was a smooth change over..............

 

oh ok kool kool, so gtx260m is a better graphics card than the 9800 gts right? also would i be able to pop a i3/i5 processor on it quad core?

 

Yes the 260m is a better GPU. The best cpu is the x9100. While you may be able to use a quad core in general they are slower. I have many threads here covering it, including this one. No iCore cpu's...............

 

aright kool, thanks a bunch. Would i need to undervolt or anything to the x9100? got no idea how to do those undervolting stuff

 

no if you do not overclock default should run fine without it auto down clocking. If you overclock with Throttle stop you can under volt as well.........

 

Got my 9200 in my lappy last night. HUGE difference in BF3. Night and day. It's at stock right now. Temps are 45-50 idle. Load in bf3 never peaked over 80.

Super happy with it. Leaving it at stock.

 

I went from a T5450 to a P7350 and it was a nice bump in performance too. Crazy cool too. Will be looking at over clocking it as I have read it will do 2.4ghz.

 

I would definitely look into picking up one of these 9200s.. 12mb cache. i'm leaving mine at 2.4

runs fine.

 

If you run Throttle Stop then set it at 2.66 GHz and you can under volt usually to 1.0500 vCore. it will run just a tad faster than stock but more importantly it will run extremely cool.................

 

going to try this weekend!

thx tan

 

Ok I have throttlestop 4.0 downloaded and installed. Do I just check the "set miltiplier" box then turn it down to 1.05?

 

I believe you have to enable it to OC, there is a thread for it's initial operation. I would suggest first enable the multiplier and start slowly reducing the first profile down in voltage. once it is stable download prime95 and run it against the system for at least 15 minutes. If stable them look to increase the multiplier to go from 2.4 to 2.66. Again run prime95 for a 15 minute run. If it errors on a core then increase vcore 1 step and try again.

It can be a lengthy process but in the end well worth it............

 

What's more accurate in regards to temps? I have Core Temp showing 64 right now(the 4th core is always the hottest).. Throttlestop is showing temps of 57 right now.

I know the heatsink this laptop has in it isn't helping but I will be ordering some new thermal compound(any suggestions?). It jumped up to 85 while playing bf3(yikes). Is that dangerous?

I'm familiar with prime95 via OC'ing several desktops over the years. Love the program. Just new to OC'ing laptops.

Thanks for the help TAN, you're a godsend.

 

slightlyhuman: Intel does not use 100% accurate temperature sensors so don't get too hung up on the temperature of your CPU. All of Intel's 45nm sensors get stuck when trying to report very low temperatures and the amount of error when reporting idle temperatues even when they are not stuck is significant. +/- 10C is common. These sensors were only designed to control thermal throttling and thermal shut down and were never designed for accurate core temperature reporting. As long as your CPU is running reliably then no worries.

For accuracy, I would put ThrottleStop up against any other Intel core temperature monitoring program. All programs read the same sensors but ThrottleStop has a few tricks up its sleeve that allow it preferred access to the temperature sensors, especially when fully loaded.

 

The CQD's can run severly hot on these systems. This is the primary reason to undervolt. BF3 is huge on CPU load, even more reason to undervolt. TS is wonderfull for temp and works well on this end.

If you use Win8 also TS works well from there too. As a dual boot on a seperate drive I just use the same install for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 so all the profiles etc are the same...............

 

a little confused. i can't get it to show 10 x 266 at the top of throttlestop. i have the multi box checked and it set at 10. i want to say it did it at 10 the first time i messed with it. it's shutting off 4 or so minutes into p95(small test) @ vcore 1.05.

do i have everything i need to have checked?



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did you click unlock? UNLK?

Edit; there is a CQD heat sink for higher TDP. If you have the lower end you would need to replace it for higher clocks especially under Prime 95............

 

do you mind linking me to the heatsink? not sure what TDP means, sorry for my ignorance.

i'll try unlock, thanks.

 

Not sure any are around, I'll look and get back. Also ICD is a must. TDP = Thermal Design Power (TDP)

Edit; I could only find A01, A02 is slightly better (second revision) but this is better than the old stock one and remember ICD.....

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...gateway+cpu+heatsink+p-79&_osacat=0&_from=R40

 

Well I use Core temp 1.0 RC3 and CPUID Hardware Monitor. Both are really good. I have both of them updated it.

 

after undervolting i idle around 55.

i'm extremely happy with this cpu. it could use a little more adequate cooling but it's fine for me. thanks for the all the help.. especially TANWare. you're the man.