Once a big desktop builder, now it's time for laptops...help please?

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself!
I'm a big desktop builder and modder, and I'm very active on the Hardforums, however, they don't have their own dedicated forum topic for laptops and such. I heard of this place, and now I'm posting here for some help!

Next year I'll be leaving to Taipei, Taiwan to study at an university there, and I can't my desktop overseas; way too expensive. I've decided to part my beast and to purchase a decent gaming laptop; I noticed a refurbished G51VX-RX05 on Ebay which has been recertified by Asus, so I decided why not? I purchased it.

I never knew you could mod and upgrade some parts in certain laptops (Yeah...I'm ignorant...) and when I heard you could swap the CPU out, I definitely decided to do so.

Someone on the HardForums offered a mobile quad, a QX9300, for my CPU and GPU (Which is a 720 BE and a 4850X2 2GB).

These are the questions I have:
First of all, will the QX9300 work in the G51VX-RX05?
Second, do you think this is an even trade? >___<

 

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, keep the gpus! if u want to upgrade the cpu then buy one on ebay or something then sell the one in there after, it'll probs work out best. my opinion anyway. or you could see if you can unlock the 4th core of the cpu in there already

 

Not an even at all, in my opinion, it would be for other people though.

From what I remember of the Asus boards, the QX9300 will only work in the non-Bestbuy models of the G51VX, such as the X1A, X2A, and X3A.

Plus, that 4850 X2 is an awesome card, and if you unlock the fourth core of the Phenom that would be very good. Remember, that 4850 X2 is probably worth about $250, and the Phenom about $150.

You know, it is kind of an even trade - The QX9300 costs generally about $500 off Ebay...

 

I think not many people know this but for a originally Dual Core setup to upgrade to a QUAD you have to check if APIC supports quad core.

 

but its not originally a dual core, the 720black edition is a 'triple core' quad core with a core disabled

 

anyways it don't matter does it cos a qx9300 is socket P and won't fit in the 720BE's socket AM3, correct or no?

 

The 720 is from his desktop and the qx9300 is for the Asus.

 

brain meltdown. i take back previous 2 posts...

 

Woah, thanks for all the fast replies!
I know, I went in full well knowing that I'll be losing quite a bit of money parting and selling my desktop and investing it into this laptop.

My goal is to entirely max this G51 out; a T9900 and 2x 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM.
I kind of answered my own question because I saw a thread concerning this.

I'm so bummed out that I can't drop a quad into this G51. DANNGGIITITASDKLFGMSDG.

Anyways, where do you all suggest I should pick up a T9900? It's $450 on Ebay! X_____x
And yes, my BE 720 -is- unlockable. I have verified on my friend's Biostar board, but I guess it doesn't like my Asus board.
I have it overclocked to 3.8 ghz though!

I just found a X9100 on Ebay which is a lot more cheaper than a T9900. Why is there such a big price difference? Just that one outputs more heat than the other?

 

http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=35431,39312,

as far as that goes... they are exactly the same, but the T9900 supports a couple things more... thats about it! APART FROM NEW PRICE DIFFERENCE OF 300 DOLLARS :O shockhorror

EDIT: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-...18QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCPUs?hash=item27adf6e83a

link here for one thats 270 dollars shipped... from china though...

 

Hmmm...so, I would like to know everyone's opinion on this.

Do you think the large price different is worth it for the extra things the T9900 supports?

And I saw that link before, and I was thinking about getting it. Is it coming from China a bad thing?

 

The reason that the X9100 costs less is that it is probably ES, which means that it's been pretty much "stolen" from Intel. Sometimes they are DOA, and some of them don't even have temperature sensors, so you are taking your chances when you get one. Try to at least get an OEM CPU, because that will generally have a higher chance of working.

 

Whew. Alright. I was about to jump on that $270 X9100 on Ebay I saw earlier. I didn't know that was why it was so much cheaper!
Alright. So it's a $450 T9900 vs a $343 X9100.

I'm looking at the T9600's as well, since they're so much cheaper; $250-$280 on Ebay.
I was thinking, would I be able to drop this processor in and overclock it to 3.0ghz? (I just like see 3.0 ghz or above, haha)

As I was asking before, is the extra money worth the extra abilities the T9900 has over the X9100? What are they even? The link spaghetti posted didn't exactly make it clear to me (sorry. i r dum)

 

You're not dumb at all good sir, if you can mod a desktop then you can be safely assured that you are smarter than most of the general population.

Yes, you can drop in a T9600 and overclock it, but you need to know the PLL of your notebook. Fortunately, it is easy since the guys at the Asus forum have already worked it out, and there is even an optimization guide for the G51 that can help. You will need to use a utility within the OS to overclock, as BIOS overclocking generally isn't featured, except on a few of the later Alienware laptop's.

Here is the guide.

The X9100 has an unlocked multiplier, I think, but will run a little hotter and consumes a little more power. 45 Watts on the X9100 vs the T9900's 35 Watts.

The T9900 will have more of a chance of working, due to the power requirement, but the X9100 should work. There is proof of a successful T9900 upgrade on that notebook model - See Forge, he has a T9900 in his.

 

Oh, is there some sort of low expectancy when dropping a T9900 into the G51? I'm selling my desktop (Oh man...I'm going to cry when it leaves...) and I'll have enough money to get both the T9900 and 2x 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM (It'll be from either G.skill or Mushkin).

Will there be any incompatabilities or any chance that the T9900 will not work or give problems when I drop it into the G51?

Also, I've seen the prices for 8GB of laptop RAM. Almost $250! Is that the normal price? Or is there a better place to shop besides Newegg that is reputable?

Hah. Since I can't have my desktop when I go to Taiwan, I'm going to max out this laptop into a beast.

 

Might be a bit dodgy, depending, but you might actually want to wait to upgrade until you go to Taiwan. Not a few of these parts are actually made in Taiwan, and especially if you visit the electronics marketplace in Taipei, there's a good chance you can get a lot of these upgrades for extremely low prices. Caveat Emptor, of course, as some of these may, admittedly, be somewhat less than legal.

 

i would not try an X9100.. G51's run hot and really can't take the extra TDP... i would get a T9900 or T9600 which is 0.3GHz slower.. and way cheaper than T9900... u can easily OC to 3.0GHz on the Asus G51...

 

That's what I was thinking.
Matter-of-fact, I'll be studying at the National Taipei University (NTPU)!

However, I would really like to max out the G51 now, but I guess some of it can wait.
So would you recommend just purchasing a T9600 over a T9900? I wanted to get a T9900 because I wouldn't have to overclock to get 3.0GHz. I decided not to overclock just to ensure maximum safety. (Huh. This coming from an overclocking desktop enthusiast, haha!)

It's just that I have a good feeling that I'm going to be living pretty slim the first year or so when I leave to Taiwan. The last thing I need is my laptop crapping out on me >.<

Okay. Here's the plan. I upgrade the processor in the G51 and wait to max out the RAM when I get to Taipei (Unless some random incident of money raining from the sky allows me to splurge).

Opinions?

Edit - I read somewhere that it's hard to overclock past 3.0GHz on a laptop motherboard. Is that true?

 

Hello there LordTacodip, and welcome to the NBR Forums!

Have you tried the What Notebook Should I Buy Forum? There are plenty of options, some faster than those using the newest CPUs and GPUs available too, what is your budget and what you want?

 

Thanks for the greeting, Serg! Well, my budget was 800 USD, and I chose the G51VX-RX05 like I stated in my original post.
The reason why I chose the G51 is because I liked the graphic card, the backlit keyboard, and the fact that I could swap out the processor.

However, I learned -after- I ordered it that the C2Q don't work in it. Bummer.
So I'm decided to just max it out to 8GB of DDR2-800 RAM and by dropping a T9900 processor into it. However, the T9600 is selling for almost half the price of the T9900 on Ebay.

Even though I heard I can easily overclock the T9600 to T9900 speed, I would really like to avoid overclocking it since I need this laptop to last me awhile, and, since I bought a refurbished machine, there's basically no warranty. I need to be extra careful for it.

Are there any incompatibilities I should know about dropping a T9900 and 2x 4GB of DDR2-800 sticks of RAM into this laptop?

 

No quad support? Seriously? There were some models with the Q9000 inside which is a quad...

If you are into a budget, I highly suggest getting 4GB RAM now, and upgrading that a lot later down the road, 8GB RAM is an overkill and way too expensive ATM, not to mention useless. I rarely go above 3GB out of 6GB I have even when multitasking. So 4GB is plenty. And you can save some money.

Have you already ordered the laptop? What are your specs and how much did you pay?

 

Yes, I just ordered this:
Display: 15.6" (1368x768)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2.0GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz (2x2GB)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3
Storage: 320GB 7200RPM
Optical: SuperMulti DVD
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium x64
Wireless: Intel 802.11 A/G/N
Webcam: 1.3 Megapixel
Wired Internet: 10/100 Ethernet, 56K Fax/modem
Ports: 4 USB, 1 FireWire, HDMI, VGA, ExpressCard, eSATA, 8-in-1 Media Reader
Weight: 7.3 lbs with battery
Dimensions: 14.6" x 10.3" x 1.6" (WxDxH)

However, this is the Best Buy version, the one that does not support Quads (trust me, I researched this thoroughly, haha!)

Anyways, I got it for $700 shipped.

So I'm good on RAM? Alright. I guess I can pick up a pair in Taipei.
However, I'm debating on buying a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB hard drive for this laptop and drop in a T9600 and overclocking it just because I like to see 3.0GHz.

 

IIRC that model is WXGA, right?

For 700 is quite good I must say. I would leave the 4GB there until you hit them and use more than that, if not then don't waste your money.

The CPU cannot be a quad...hmmm have you searched for the P9700 and the T9800? At 2.8 and 2.93 respectively?

 

Ah! Good point. Let me search through Ebay and such.
I can't believe I forgot about those chips!
I don't exactly understand the lineup though, are P processors > T processors?

Some of the most cheapest ones are QSMA chips; for "final" chips, are these better than ES chips?
I couldn't find any OEM P9700's on Ebay.

I'm tempted to just go for a T9900...
But...man...450 USD for a processor? Good God.

 

I see Shadow-with-LolWut-Pear has summoned me. Anyway.

P processors are "cooler" at load, since they're about 25 TDP whereas most Ts are 35. And the X9100 is 45. At idle Intel Speedstep keeps them about the same.

Anyway, I have the exact same model as you (G51vx-RX05), but modified.

Your RAM is perfectly fine. I don't know what you'll be doing with it other than games, but 4GB of 800MHz DDR2 has never been a bottleneck for me.

The "Best" CPU you can get is probably the T9900. While the X9100 has the same clockspeed and L2, its biggest selling feature, unlocked multipliers for some power overclocking, are wasted on the G51 since the BIOS doesn't let you access it. Thus you'd just be running hotter versus the T9900 for no real gain. However, with undervolting, the X9100 is manageable. I had an X9100 for a while in my laptop.

The G51 has two hard drive bays, so you can slap in a large capacity HDD for storage, or an SSD for your applications and OS. My X25-M and Hitachi 7k500 combo is pretty good, I think.

Also, if you're going to be replacing your CPU, go the extra mile and touch up the paste on your GPU core. I went the route of pretty much replacing everything there: paste, thermal pads, and using a copper shim on the actual core. The G51 runs warm, so cooling is a top priority.

That's the most I can offer at the moment. Feel free to ask questions.

Buy the way, looking at your title: I'm an odd example of someone who started out learning and modding computers with a laptop, and now I'm moving on to desktops. (For the parents, anyway). Oh, and one more thing: Shadow is incorrect about quads in the G51. Only the G51vx-A1 can take quads. The RX05 (Best Buy) and X1/2a (Newegg) cannot accept quads.

(By the way, toss out some links for processors you're considering).

 

Haha, alright. I never knew that you could actually swap some parts out of laptops and such. Thought they were all too integrated.

Yeah, what I was planning to do when I drop in the T9900 is to wipe off the "stock" thermal paste and clean it with some good rubbing alcohol, then apply my own Arctic Silver thermal paste and let it burn and settle in. I also saw your thread where you placed various small copper heatsinks throughout the CPU and GPU area. I'm planning to do so as well.

This is the T9900 I was looking at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200428351486&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

It doesn't state that it's a "Final" or "Engineering Sample".

I've also found a T9800: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270506429933&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

And a T9600: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230417132971&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

However, I'm planning just to get the T9900 just for bragging rights, haha.

You'll have a lot of fun building desktops, I've done it ever since I was twelve. You'll have a lot more flexibility and you get to experience with cable management and air flow; all that good stuff!

I checked out the sale forums here, I didn't see any one selling any mobile processors; I have a pretty good record on Heatware, a reputation system we use on the [H]ard|Forums

 

all of them are OEM, ES chip will have 4 digit code, while OEM/retail have 5.

With that price of T9600 I'd go with overclocked T9600 and coppermod

 

Yes, I purposely picked the ones which were OEM, I did my best to make sure I wasn't considering Engineering Samples or "Final" samples.

I'm considering going with the T9600 too...but...just seeing "T9900" in CPU-Z or something makes it that much more satisfying :3

>______< Gaahhh.

However, like any chip, I kinda don't want to risk purchasing a dud which can't overclock very well.

 

Depends on the laptop. The G51's innards are very easy to access, and most of the important things come right out. The only problem is that Asus uses a proprietary format for their GPUs, so you can't upgrade. But you can replace it if it goes bad.

Some laptops are "integrated" with the CPU and GPU soldered down to the motherboard. Most high-performance laptops are modular.

I'd try a newer thermal paste if you can get your hands on it. MX-2 and MX-3 are favorites, and I'm currently using Arctic Silver Matrix with no problems whatsoever.

If it doesn't say, in big fat letters, "ES" on it, it's an OEM model. For example, this is clearly an ES. Long story short, the SLGEE is an OEM model.

Both of those models are also OEM. However, I think you can do better on pricing.

And if you have the money to spend, by all means go for a T9900. Too bad you weren't here about four months ago, when HP was having the sale for T9900s. I got one for $380 shipped, and after a series of trades, I ended up making money off of my X9100.

It is fun. Although the machine I'm building for the parents is probably overpowered. They won't need 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 and a 2.66 Wolfdale C2D for surfing and email. And I because of that I shouldn't be fretting over how many fans the case needs. But meh.

 

LOL .. I don't see any reason why a T9600 couldn't get to 3GHz or above,
as long as you make your RAM stable..

then you can aim at SSD and 7k500, or a pair of 7k500, since you mentioned 1TB storage

 

What? There's better stuff than AS out there?! Haha, I haven't been up to date with the thermal paste now and days, I remember buying AS in bulk, so that's why I have never had to go out and use something else.

I think I have a tube if MX-3, I'll crack that one open and use that.

380 USD shipped?! UGH. Dang it! I missed it...argghhh, my timing is always so off now and days T.T

Well, I've looked around on Google and such, but I can't find anything else better. And that's the cheapest T9900 I could find, unless you suggest a site to me.
Also, I read somewhere that it's possible that your laptop may or may not use the SSD to its full potential. Anyone can shed some light on this?

My plan:
Purchasing a OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX + Western Digital WD10TEVT Scorpio Blue 1TB
Finally decided on a T9600 and overclocking it.

Can I get any 2.5" SSD and place it into my laptop?

 

AS5 is pretty outdated. At the very least, it's conductive, which can suck in the confines of a laptop. If you do like Arctic Silver, try their new Matrix.

Or MX-3. It's a bit tough to apply correctly. Speaking of application, I spread a thin layer manually instead of a pea-sized drop and smoosh method desktops seem to use.

$449.99 + $6 for shipping is the best I can find on eBay. You can always lurk around and wait to snipe something. Oh, and don't forget you get money back for selling your P7350. I eBay'd mine for $70, and I think I could've done better.

I haven't heard anything like that. Have any references?

I'm not familiar with OCZ's SSD offering, but I remember reading on Newegg that some of their Vortexes (Vortices?) had reliability problems. I recommend a Generation 2 Intel drive, since I'm happy with that I have. TRIM support and everything. Or you can find a comparable drive that accomodates TRIM or Garbage Collection.

And any 2.5'' SATA drive will fit just fine into your laptop, SSD or HDD.

 

I think you're speaking of Vertex, Forge.

 

WHATEVER MAN.

 

Hmm, manual? I always spread my thermal paste with a sharp razor, making sure it's nice and even. Through my desktop building experience more, thick layers of thermal paste = less performance.

You want the thermal paste to easily move the heat from the chip to the heat sink, if you have such thick layers of paste, how could the heat transfer as quickly and efficiently?

Yeah. Hm. I'm thinking about just not getting a SSD (since they're so expensive right now, with limited capacity) and just put the money towards the T9900. I'll wait for the prices of SSD's to come down, even if it'll be years later. Capacity is more important to me than speed.

Good point, I forgot to factor in the money I'll get from selling off the stock chip. Thanks for reminding me! Ummm, let me Google and find that reference link concerning the bottleneck I read about when you use a SSD in a laptop. I heard it was only with older laptops, so I'm sure the G51 doesn't have the problem.

Hm. So many choices.

 

Well there you go. That's what I meant, although I actually use a putty knife.

Your decision. But trust me, you'll see and feel the difference in speed.

 

EIement, I LOL'd seeing your title and sig ...

Now you're talking! Seeing budget is none of your concern, I won't say otherwise
edit: eh, I posted on the T9900 plan... and now you're changing it LOL

 

Haha, sorry to disappoint you crayonyes!
But I've finally decided:
T9900
Western Digital WD10TEVT Scorpio Blue 1TB HDD
And just because I've always wanted one, I'm going to go and get a Logitech MX Air.

 

done deal! it'll be a great machine

 

Hmm. I hope it fits. The 1TB model is taller, right?

 

Hmmm, yes, they are.
"*750 GB and 1 TB models are 12.5 mm high and may not be compatible with all notebook systems. Consult system specifications for maximum allowable drive height before attempting to install."

12.5 mm higher...do you think that will give me a problem? I don't have an actual laptop drive or the G51 in front of me for references.

 

12.5mm drives will fit inside 12.7mm ODD bay, in case it won't fit the hdd bay.

 

The optical disk drive bay? Then where would I but my optical drive?

 

it's time for hotswap man...
here's the link

 

Omfg. That's BAMF. I never thought of that...
I never burn or use physical discs anyways, it's always a USB drive.

 

There's more than meets the eye ..
I bet you'll soon addicted on maximizing the little machine compared to desktop rig, in terms of performance, cooling or features

 

Well, don't get too saddened yet Taco. The primary bay--where the default HDD is held--seems a bit deeper than the secondary bay, so it might fit. You put the 1TB drive there, and the SSD in the second bay, which is by the northbridge. That HDD or SSD tends to get hotter, but since heat isn't usually an issue with SSDs it might work out just perfectly for you.

 

the 1TB drive is 15mm most likely so it won't fit... 750GB would be the biggest hard dribve u can get in 12.5 mm.... i would personally use a 160GB Intel G2 SSD as primary drive and replace your optical drive with 500GB Hitachi 7K500 drive...

 

Hmmm. That sounds good.
But like I said, I really don't see a need for an optical drive; I don't use one that much at all.

My plan (if I have money) is to remove the Optical Drive, place a 1TB drive in there, move the 320GB 7200RPM into the secondary bay, and put a small SSD into the primary bay.

My SSD will house the operating system, and a couple of games. The 320 GB HDD will have the various applications and programs, and finally the 1TB drive will have all the files in it; movies, music, documents, etc.

And Sean, the Western Digital official website said that the 750GB and 1TB drives are 12.5mm, not 15mm.
And it's the same for the Seagate 1TB drives as well.

Sorry for being retarded, but which optical drive bay caddy should I use with the G51?

Edit - Gah. I just gave up on the T9900 and am planning to get the T9600 -_____-
I heard overclocking it will be a breeze, however, is it only software based? As in, every time I turn on the computer I must use a software to constantly overclock the laptop?

New upgrades:
T9600
2x 4GB DDR2 800 RAM
Remove optical drive, place 1TB HDD in there
Primary HDD Bay: INTEL X25-V 40GB SSD
Second HDD Bay: 320 GB HDD

Thoughts? And I'll pick up some MX-2 ^^