Supported CPUs? PGA988/989 (Socket G1)

Hi, I just ordered a barebones MSI laptop (MSI-1656-ID5) and was wondering what CPUs I can install.

From my understanding I should be able to install any i7 Socket 988/989 (Socket G1) cpu... However the MSI Whitebooks "Qualified Parts" .pdf seems to have a very small and meager list of supported hardware, making me a bit confused. Surely the list can't be complete:

http://www.msiwhitebook.com/product/images/QVL_MS1656.pdf

There are only 5 cpus listed, 5 hard drives listed, and 1 kind of ram

Is there anything I should look out for when picking an i7 mobile CPU? I figure most if not all of the mobile i3/5/7 CPUs listed on the intel website that are PGA 988/989 will work... right?

p.s. has anyone had experience with ES variants of i7 cpus? I've had a core2duo engineering sample CPU from ebay before and it was a good deal... thinking about getting a i7 620M ES cpu because they're so cheap.

 

Since you have to ask are you sure your up for building this machine yourself?

But yes the conclusions we can draw is that pretty much any first generation core i series will work since we have examples from the low end i3 to extreme i7.

 

Though I admit that PDF is spare with information, you should be able to put in any Arrandale/Clarksfield i3/i5/i7. It may have been MSI could only test those 5 and are guaranteed to work, as well as the memory. In theory any DDR3 modules should work, as long as it POST and passes several runs of memtest.

I haven't personally bought ES/QS chips but it's either hit or miss. If it works out of the box, it is unlikely it is going to fail later on.

 

Ok thanks for the replies! That's what I thought, but second opinions puts my mind at rest

Meaker, I think I can manage and I like the challenge. I've built desktops since i was 16, and have upgraded CPUs on laptops / replaced broken LCDs. Starting with barebones + getting the parts myself will save at least a few hundred bucks vs. equal spec'd complete system at any vendor

 

That's fine, but you were asking a pretty basic question. just wanted to make sure.

 

I hope they don't whitelist the processors, that means BIOS must support the processor.

 

VERY unlikely in a whitebook.

 

You can use any brand DDR3 in it, not just Samsung. Same goes for the HDD's.

I would get something like the i5 540m or i7 620m. I found a sweet deal on a 620m: Intel Dual-Core i7-620M mobile processor - 2.66GHz - eBay (item 260720616290 end time Jan-21-11 15:57:12 PST)

 

I own an MSI Whitebook and most of the hardware in it (i7, Intel SSD, G.Skill RAM, 6300 WiFi) is not on the supported hardware list.