Swapping CPU in IBM T20

Hi guys.
love this forum(s)

Anyways here is the scoop:
i have an IBM T20 laptop with a 700mhz p3-m cpu on a 100mhz fsb.

now to breathe some life back into this laptop i have decided to upgrade my cpu. here is where the dilema comes in.

1) If i were to upgrade to say 900mhz p3-m on a 100mhz fsb, would my laptop be able to handle the additional heat? i mean my laptop is basically hte same as the T23. The T23 came with the 900mhz cpu. any ideas? also would my bios recognize the cpu?

2) i have heard of the pentium 3 -m low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage cpus. Would any of these work in my laptoP?? having one of these working in there would rock as then i could get like a p3-m 800mhz ulv cpu and kick ass on battery time

thanks for any ideas/advice.

-dj

 

You're going to have to find out what was the fastest processor that they put in your model when it was produced was. (i.e. what processor choices were available in the T20 model) You will be able to put the fastest processor that was available at the time in it. You shouldn't have to worry about heat, as 2-300 MHz wasn't that much, especially since the PIII's ran hot anyway. I'm not sure on the low voltage processors, generally, they are all specifically made for the same model, and I don't think they are interchangeable.

Matt

 

well the thing is the ibm T20/21/22/23 were identical in hardware specs except cpu.

so im kinda using that as a basis for whether or not i can upgrade the cpu.

thanks

 

Check that chipset they use also, if all the models use the same chipset, then you should be able to download the bios, otherwise, I don't think you can upgrade it. Using the same chipset in 4 generations is extremely rare, although it might have been done.

 

I really don't see the point in upgrading, maybe it's time to invest in a new laptop...

 

unfortunately i cannot afford a new laptop. the ones i want are like $800+

so i just thought i would invest like $200 max into this laptop and revive it.
once i outgrow it , will give it to my younger bro.

-dj

 

ok did some research with my buddy google.
here is what i found, it also confirmed what i said earlier.

IBM T20 - Intel 440BX Chipset
IBM T21 - Intel 440BX Chipset
IBM T22 - Intel 400BX Chipset

So that means they are identical except for harddrive size and cpu.

also looking aorund im seeing that the ultra-low voltage and the low voltage cpus are around 600Mhz at max...
if i can find an ultra-low voltage cpu @ 700mhz that would rock
looking on the net especially ebay..

-dj

 

dj - you would get much more of a performance increase out of upgrading the RAM and bumping up the hard drive speed.

Do you know what is the maximum amount of memory that your notebook can take? I would suggest at least doubling what you have currently.

Also, with the hard drive - I would upgrade that to a faster speed if you need more performance. The hard drive is the slowest part of a computer; therefore, any increase in speed would be noticable.

I recommend against upgrading the CPU - you just won't get a very noticable performance increase like you would from the upgraded RAM or HDD.

Upgrading the RAM is the first thing I would do.

 

I believe the max ram is 1gb that was the limit in my old t23. I believe the t23 came with a 1.2 pentium III so you might be able to upgrade to that... but i don't remember too well

 

actually for the t20 max ram is 512mb

also found out that the p3-m that were ultralow voltage were like 500mhz...so i mean...the hell with it
just stick with my low voltage 700

also found out that the T30 battery works with the T20/21/22/23 series

-dj