Some deductive reasoning... Core 2 upgrade...

So... I just recently bought a Gateway MX6956 for cost reasons... I wanted a Core 2 Duo to run Vista x64 but I just couldn't swing it this holiday season. The machine I bought is in my sig. I got to thinking that after a few months, the Core 2 Duos are going to come down in price on newegg and on eBay. I was hoping I could upgrade to a C2D so I started looking into some things. The newer version of my laptop with the C2D is the MX693x series... I looked up the MX6931 that Best Buy currently lists w/ a C2D T5200. I went to the component list and saw that the part # for the motherboard is "4006126R - Motherboard w/UMA Graphics 945GM and IEEE 1394 (FRU)". Under the component list for my laptop, it says the exact same thing. So the motherboard/chipset/etc are exactly the same. Would you also figure, as I do, that even if Gateway never releases a BIOS for my model supporting C2D that I could find a stock BIOS for the MX6931 and it would work? Or do you think they could perhaps use the same exact BIOS and therefore my laptop's hardware & BIOS already supports C2D?

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

It's more than likely you'll need a BIOS upgrade to use a Core 2 Duo on your system.

 

I don't think Vista64 is going to offer you anything worth voiding your warranty. The Core Duos is going to be a good CPU well into the future. If you are looking for a performance boost, adding memory and a faster hard drive are probably better candidates.

 

As it turns out, and as reported on by several people over in the MX6930 Core 2 Duo - Anyone? Anyone? thread I started, when they purchased the MX6930 after I did and got it home, they were excited to discover that their laptops have T5500 processors (1.66 GHz / 667 MHz FSB) in them instead of T5200 processors (1.60 GHz / 533 MHz FSB). They confirmed it with CPU-Z as well.

Why Gateway is doing such a thing is beyond me, suffice to say they probably had a huge demand for the T5200 which is Intel's new low end Core 2 Duo processor and they simply couldn't meet demand with the first or second production run of the MX6930 - so they dropped what low end CPUs they had on hand to finish the production run, meaning a lot of MX6930 laptops have T5500 Core 2 Duos in them. Who knows what's floating around out there presently.

I had an MX6930 manufactured on Oct 17th but returned it and swapped it out for an MX6931 which had the T5500, twice the RAM and a 160GB drive.

While I think a Core Duo laptop is just fine (as posted in the Is buying a Core Duo still worth?? thread), at this point Best Buy is selling the MX6956 for $879:

Gateway MX6956 at Best Buy

If that's the case, and you're within the 14 day return window (they might try to stiff you for a restocking fee, how you choose to handle that is your own choosing) and get this:

Gateway MX6930 at Best Buy

Same laptop form factor, same everything really except it might come with a Core 2 Duo T5500 in it, and it costs less than the Core Duo laptop you already bought and outperforms it also.

Even if you end up just getting the T5200 processor as noted above which is what's supposed to be in the MX6930, and you lose 40GB of hard drive space, you gain a better laptop, longer battery life on the go, more powerful processor, and you can save $50 in the process.

Hard to beat that... and you get 64 bit capability too...

Considering the fact that Gateway more than likely will not release a BIOS update for the MX6956 - they won't be selling CPU updates, and if they do release a BIOS update for the MX69xx line it won't necessarily work properly in the MX6956 specifically - getting a Core 2 Duo processor to work in the MX6956 you presently have might be a moot point.

Your best bet at this moment if possible is to return the MX6956 ASAP (before you lose the ability to do a return at all) and swap/upgrade to the MX6930.

This is just my advice, of course, but in the long run you'll have a better laptop all the way around.

Hope this helps...

bb

 

I suppose thats true... not worth voiding the warranty within the first year but after the first year, perhaps? Or do you just think that even going from say a T2050 to a higher-end Core Duo... like a T2500... isn't worth the money/effort?

I would agree with you, except I got it for $729 out the door...

 

Unless you really want to run Vista 64, I don't see why you can't just run the Core Duo with your system until it's time to replace this one. That way you get the maximum usage out of the processor that you've already bought.

Otherwise you have to buy another processor and all-new software to run on a 64-bit platform. 64-bit won't be mainstream for a while, so if you want to hang back and save some money it's still an option.

I have no intention of running Vista at all until at least SP1 comes out. Even then, I intend to use my T2500 for the life of this system unless something forces my hand. My next system will be 64-bit.

 

Without causing myself too much grief and trouble, and before I probably take this thread too far off-topic (probably too late at this point), can I ask why you'd make such a statement, probably knowing full well that Vista SP1 will not likely see the light of day till almost the end of 2008?

My interest notwithstanding, I just can't comprehend why someone would choose to fall behind the curve, so to speak, with hardware that is so obviously well suited to running Vista from launch until SP1 or better hardware comes along.

Thanks...

bb

 

Thats the thing though... Since I just bought this system, I'd imagine (hope) it will last me at least 3-4 years. In 3-4 years, the Core Duo is going to be ancient and slow. I'm hoping to be able to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo or at the very minimum, a high-end Core Duo in 1-2 years. I'm just thinking since its the exact same motherboard as in the model that already has a Core 2 Duo, I should be able to drop it right in...

 

It's also worth mentioning that you're running an Intel GMA950 on that laptop, and you only have 1GB of RAM. Having over 2GB of RAM with memory-heavy programs like CAD or some very recent games is really the only place that 64bit starts mattering. Your machine is not going to give you a very good Vista "experience", due partially to the RAM, but primarily because of the lack in graphical processing. I'd highly advise you to stick with XP until you can either sell the machine and upgrade wholesale.

 

well... i'm not really into the whole "Vista Experience" if you will... keep in mind, right now my XP installation looks much like Win2000. I have Windows Classic theme w/ classic start menu and about 5 icons in my system tray... I don't really get into the overwhelming graphical eye-candy stuff. I must admit, Aero looks cool but I've always been more into minimizing the impact the OS has on the system so that my Apps can use as much as they need. My desktop w/ A64 3500+ & 2GB DDR400 is really fast because I only have about 20 processes running and about 1700MB free RAM. I don't like the OS to be a resource hog so I'd probably avoid all the Vista eye-candy like the plague anyway. I just wanna know if I decide I want to go the Vista x64 route in the future, could I upgrade to a C2D? By then I'm sure I'll have the 2GB anyway as the prices are only likely to get cheaper...

 

Your processor should be fine for quite a while. By the time you feel like your processor is lagging too far behind, you will probably want to replace the whole sytem, rather than try to update an otherwise dated system. Why spend an extra $150-200 to upgrade a $700 system when you can buy a whole new one in a couple of years for $700 or less?

Your OS preferences are another reason to stick with XP while on this system.

I don't need to switch to Vista because having the newest OS is simply not that important to me. XP does what I need, and until it no longer does that, I don't see the need to spend more money on a new OS--which may lead to buying new productivity software as well. I can wait until Vista has more bugs worked out and has wider driver support.

The overall market will be slow to adopt Vista for these reasons. XP's days may be numbered, but it will be a while before it's behind the curve. There are still people using Windows 98 because it still works for them.

 

I figured I would post an update in case somebody found this forum on a searc engine like I did. The BIOS update version 77.12 released by Gateway in April ('07) covers a good number of Gateway laptops, including both Core Duo and Core 2 Duo machines. If all that is required to get a C2D to work in a 4006126R motherboard is a BIOS update, this is the one you'll need.

I have a MX6958 purchased right around xmas of 2006 with the same mobo as the submitter. After a little further research on the board, it looks like it is capable of using a 667 FSB, even though it shipped with it set to 533 and slower RAM installed.

SO....in theory, flashing the BIOS should allow submitter, myself, and anybody else using this motherboard to drop in a C2D, bump the FSB up to 667, and if I read the mobo specs correctly, run a total of 4GB of dual-channel RAM in this laptop (which only cost me about $700 out the door). Not too shabby.

Will I go that far? Probably not (although if I ever upgrade to Vista, I'll upgrade the RAM, but that won't happen until SP1 or 2 at the earliest), although it's nice to know that there are options available.

-S3K