Processor upgrade - Packard Bell Easynote TJ68

Hi,

I'm thinking about upgrading the processor in a Packard Bell Easynote TJ68 laptop. This currently has a Pentium T4300 processor but its not as snappy as equivalent Core 2 Duo laptops so I'm wondering if the processor can be changed.

According to Intel's ARK system, the T4300 processor has an 800MHz FSB and fits a PGA478 socket (I think these are also known as socket P).

Currently I'm looking at the Core 2 Duo T8100 (or perhaps the T8300). This has the same FSB, TDP, die size (45nm) and PGA478 socket - but increase in cache size - 1MB to 3MB plus other optimisations that are in the Core 2 Duo's.

Does anyone have any experience in changing these generations of processors and whether the pins line up and the processor will work?

Many Thanks

 

Looks like you actually have a gm45 chipset. I spotted a 4500MHD as the graphics which means you can't simply have gm965.

Sometimes they put these older processors in newer laptops to get rid of stock and cut costs.

Anyway yes all socket P processor pins line up, gm965 is limited to 800mhz FSB processors which is the chipset you might assume you have, however because of the 4500MHD, this means you actually have a gm45 chipset supporting 1066mhz FSB.

You should look at P series processors which run much cooler than the t series, look at t9 series if you want a cheaper model with higher ghz and more cache (although cache doesn't make a huge difference in the real world) t9400 or t9600 are nice upgrades for sure.

You should run the program CPUz however to confirm that chipset is in fact gm45.

The Gateway in my signature is another example of this, Gateway, Acer, and Packard Bell are in fact all the same company when it comes to laptops, and my nv78 is rebranded as a Packard Bell LJ67 or something like that. This laptop even supports Core 2 Quads like the q9200, and it came with a t6600 with 800mhz FSB. Yours isn't as likely to support quads though and even if it did the cooling probably wouldn't handle the 45w TDP very well.

 

Packard-Bell?? Wow.. thats a blast from the past!

 

Not really, more like a blast from Europe.

 

Hi niffcreature,

Many thanks for the useful advice. I've not found out the chipset for sure as it's my wife's laptop and after installing an SSD it's now "fast enough".

I didn't really know about the P series but they do look better. The P8600 struck me as the best price/performance option.

If I do the laptop upgrade later I'll report back with results.

Packard Bell still make laptops (Core i3's, generally sold at Comet in the UK) but I'm sure it's just a badge and a few customisations on bigger brand models (like Acer).