HDX18t - Socket P upgrade - thermal thoughts?

Hi Folks,

I've ordered an HDX18t with the 'lowly' P8400. P8400 is fine for a year or 2, but I want to get 5 years out of it. (currently on year 5 of inspiron 5100 but photoshop is unusable), so I plan on an upgrade in the future after prices come down.

Seems that Intels P's are 25W, T's are 35W and QX9300 is 44W.

Question is about aftermarket upgradability. Does HP provide different thermal packages depending on the processor?

Is the upgrade as simple as :
- pop out old cpu
- remove heatsink
- grease old heatsink onto new processor
- pop it in

Thanks!

 

The P8400 is a powerful cpu. I think youre better off using that for another few years before upgrading. You will be able to use the socket P Monteveina 1066MHz FSB processors. The P and T ones will work. I highly doubt any Q or QX series processor will ever work in your system.

The P8600, P9500, P9600, T9400, T9600, T9800, should work without a problem in your laptop
I kinda doubt the X9100 will work


Here is how to upgrade the cpu:

1) turn your current system on, and when the HP screen comes up, make note of the Bios revision "Ex (A20)"
When the system loads, go to HP's website, and go to the support page. See if their is a newer Bios update available.
If there is, you should follow HP's instructions on updating the Bios.
2) after the bios is upgraded, power the system completely down, remove main battery too
3) wear rubber shoes, and get make sure you are grounded. (touch something large and metal)
4) grab some phillips and flat head screwdrivers (make sure they are the right size for laptop screws)
5) Proceed to upgrading the cpu,
6) take pictures along the way if you get confused
7) when you get to the heatsink, remove the screws which hold it down
8) after the heatsink is removed, use some rubbing alcohol to clean the current paste from the cpu and the heatsink
9) use a flat head and unscrew the screw which locks the cpu in
10) gently grab the cpu by opposing corners, and make sure not to touch the pins
11) get a foam lined plastic box to put the cpu in, to keep it safe. (I personally use cassette tape boxes, they are great for cpu storage)
12) install the new cpu, make sure that you line it up properly. The cpu can only go in one way
13) lock the cpu in place with the one screw
14) apply paste to the new cpu (good stuff to use is Arctic Silver 5, Arctic Cooling MX-2 or Tuniq TX-2)
15) install the heatsink, and proceed to completely rebuilding your laptop


K-TRON

 

Thanks K-Tron,

Yes, I'm definitely going to wait a year or 2. The prices should come down both for the processor and for 4GBx2 SODIMM.

HP offers the the QX9300 as an option when customizing the HDX18t. I am hoping that the same MB would work with any of the processors available.

Would they offer the same model with different MB? That seems like a support nightmare.

Thanks,
bacma

 

I am not sure on that one.
Say you bought your HDX18T a year ago it may have say motherboard revision 1.0 which only supports santa rosa processors.
Their may be another revision like version 1.1 which supports monteveina cpu's,
and their maybe another motherboard revision which supports the quad cores.

I do not know for sure, you may want to ask in the HP section.
I know with some Clevo motherboards different motherboard revisions limit hardware upgrades

K-TRON

 

Since his current CPU is P8400, it is definitely not santa rosa platform. He should be able to upgrade to any cpu in montevina platform. I dont see why it will not support quad core unless it was for thermal reason. I would think 18" notebook to be thick enough to support quad core as well.

I dont think QX9300 or even Q9100 is worth it. Dual core CPU like T9550 or , P9600( Both 2.66ghz) are the best options. T9800 at 2.93ghz is also available but again it is not worth the premium over T9550 or P9600.

 

In 2 years, you're better off buying a new computer. The P series are probably going to get a refresh and the new CPUs probably won't work (they'll probably have a 1333 MHz FSB).

 

Next upgrade is calpello which will not use FSB. it will have NB integrated into CPU and will use DMI to connect to SB.

Calpello based CPU's (Clarksfield and Auburndale) would definitely not work with montevina platform.

There was an article in digitimes that Intel will release T9900(3.06ghz at 35W) in April. Maybe they will also release P9700(2.8ghz at 25W).

 

The HDX18t will run any CPU out there including quad cores. Hp dosent use 2 diffrent motherboards for diffrent cpu's that wouldnt make sense to design two diffrent ones anyways.

 

Thanks again all,
just found a 15% stackable coupon that allowed an upgrade to T9600 w 3gb ram for $5 less than original order. Odd when I spoke with HP they couldn't just apply the coupon to the current order (scheduled ship date 2/6), but were happy to accept a new order and suggest that I just ship everything back. Seems like a waste, oh well...