Sony VGN-FE550G CPU Upgrade.

Greetings.

I am running the above laptop with its stock T2300 (1.66ghz) processor. This model never had the option to upgrade its cpu, but I believe Sony labeled the same laptop with a different number for each change in specs. I just picked up a T2600 (2.17ghz) which appears to be exact in specs minus its clock multiplier for 40USD. Will the motherboard/bios recognize and work with the new cpu without issues? Figuring windows xp won't need any adjustments?

Thanks!

 

Seems like you have 945 GM/PM, theoretically any 667 FSB Core 2 Duo will work, but Sony might whitelist CPUs.

 

I'd be surprised if it doesn't work, to tell the truth.

With a 30% increase in clock speed and about a 25% increase in real performance, 40USD is not too far out of line.

However, when you consider that a 150USD or 250USD (used) i3 based notebook will give you almost 3 times the performance, I still don't think this is a good upgrade overall.

T2300/T2600:
Still stuck on 32bit architecture (forced, by the CPU/platform), still stuck to less than 3.5GB addressable RAM and still stuck on 10+ yr old WinXP.

Not trying to dissuade you; just offering all your options.

When I moved from an Intel Core Duo to a lower clocked (but newer platform) Intel Core 2 Duo, the computing 'experience' was almost twice as fast (with slower clocks too). If you make the move to an i3/i5 based system with 4GB RAM and a 64bit O/S (preferrably Win7x64) you'll be making a (platform) move three times what I experienced in late 2006.

Good luck.

See:
Intel® Core? Duo Processor T2300 (2M Cache, 1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB)with SPEC Code(s)SL8VR, SL8VV, SL9JL, SL9JY

See:
Intel® Core? Duo Processor T2600 (2M Cache, 2.16 GHz, 667 MHz FSB)with SPEC Code(s)SL8VN, SL8VS, SL9JN, SL9K3

See:
PassMark CPU Lookup

See:
PassMark CPU Lookup

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i3 380M @ 2.53GHz - Price performance comparison

 

Thanks for the replies guys. While I agree 100% that switching platforms would make allot of sense for a little more $, I would have a hard time convincing my wife that this "perfectly good" laptop has to go to the pasture. Going to plug in the CPU today and hope it works. (18% humidity in my house though.. hate working on electronics when its this dry)

 

Update: Went ahead and installed the new cpu, and it appears to be working just fine.

 

Ah well that's good to hear. Make sure you benchmark it pretty thoroughly with Prime95, nothing like finding a good deal on a defective processor.