Upgrade from T7300 to T9300 Penryn successful.

I highly recommend the swap if u have an extra $350 for the upgrade.

Available here: http://www.grassrootscomputers.com/INTEL_CPU_CORE_2_DUO_T9300_2.50GHZ/BX80576T9300/partinfo-id-348869.html

My cooling fan only comes on when im gaming now, it used to pulsate once in a while all the time. Also, I gained about 25% performance increase. I have not noticed much more battery life, but thats cuz this laptop eats power regardless!

Here are the differences in CPU/Memory performance before and after:

-----------------------------------------------------------
Merom 65nm T7300 2.0ghz

CPUMetrics> (WEI RATING 4.9)
-CompressionMetric units= "MB/s"> 101.99107
-EncryptionMetric units= "MB/s"> 52.09843
-Compression2Metric units="MB/s"> 280.16687
-Encryption2Metric units= "MB/s"> 474.10568
-DshowEncodeTime units= "s"> 7.44784
MemoryMetrics>
-Bandwidth units= "MB/s"> 3589.53271

***********************-VS-***********************

Penryn 45nm T9300 2.5ghz

CPUMetrics> (WEI RATING 5.4)
-CompressionMetric units= "MB/s"> 125.85744
-EncryptionMetric units= "MB/s"> 64.43671
-Compression2Metric units="MB/s"> 371.56726
-Encryption2Metric units= "MB/s"> 588.18164
-DshowEncodeTime units= "s"> 5.61733
MemoryMetrics>
-Bandwidth units= "MB/s"> 4128.16016
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was also excited thet the RAM got a boost, it jumped from a 4.8 to a 5.0 WEI Rating. For vista users with intel processors, you know that the memory score is very hard to improve upon.

 

It's nice to know it possible to do this. Still, laptop CPU's are expensive.

 

Which model laptop did you do this on?

 

I can't wait to get my T9300

 

This was a Sony Vaio VGN-AR570 17" WUXGA 8600mGT-OC

VERY EASY to disassemble/reassemble, just lots of screws as usual.

Vista index scores now at: CPU 5.4, Ram 5.0, 3D 5.9, 2D 5.6, HDD 5.3

3Dmark06: 5020 (was 4900 before cpu upgrade)

We bought (2) t9300s, the other my friend just put in his Sony Vaio FZ, it also worked great and yielded the same cpu and ram scores.

 

That's still incredible that you don't have a noticable battery life hit while the computer runs faster.

 

Did you need to flash the BIOS to get things working?

 

He posted in a thread on the Sony forum that he did not perform any BIOS update, the T9300 worked on the BIOS he was using before.

 

Sorry for original lack of info:

I didnt have to update the BIOS or change anything. I installed an update from sony in december regarding "the cpu name in device manager" but it didnt relate to anything i dont believe.

I took out the other chip, put this one in with some arctic silver, turned it on and voila. Have done it on 2 laptops now, also a Vaio FZ 15" and results were the same.

I have been making a few posts (trying not to spam too much, haha) all around the net because when i was researching this over the past few weeks prior to me doing it, i couldnt find much more than speculation. I wanted to give potential buyers what i was looking for but couldnt find!

 

i know this is about a month old, I'm new to the laptop world, but I'm getting a Vaio FZ 15", it right now comes with a 2.0 T250, I think, and if I understand this right. say ,o a year from now, or in the futur I wanted to get a better CPU just to try and keep up with the times it is Possible? I never knew u could Upgrade a Notebook like a DeskTop . this give me new hope.

 

Great idea! $350? Lot of money? In July Better comes out how will you upgrade then?

 

I posted this in the FZ owners thread yester day. No response yet.

Hi guys. Not sure if this is the place to ask this question. If not please direct me to the appropriate forum or thread.

Long story to be told at some later date.

Short story. I am upgrading my VGN-FZ180E/B. I have replace the 4200rpm 200GB drive with a Hitachi 7200. 70% more rotational speed and twice the cache. Nice upgrade. Vista index for the HD went from 4.7 to 5.4

I just installed 4GB of memory, replacing the 2GB that was OEM. (side question, can I over clock the memory and would that real gain anything) Current vista index 4.8 for memory.

Now to the REAL question. I noticed that at least one, if not more, individuals upgraded the CPU from a T7300 to a T9300. Basically a drop in.

I would like to go as far as possible with the CPU. I believe that a T9500 at 2.6GHz would be a drop in, but I would like to go to the T9600 at 2.80GHz.

I know the the FSB speed for the T9600 is 1066MHz and the other CPU's I have memtioned are all 800 MHz.

Will the T9600 throttle back to match the FZ 180 mother board and is the chipset on the FZ 180 compatible with the T9600?????

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bruce

 

You cannot overclock the memory in your system because your Sony is not overclockable.
Please do not use the WEI charts for system analysis, they are very inaccurate.
If you want to see real benchmarks, use software like pc mark 05, vantage, or sisSandra.

Your harddrive upgrade was very nice

Your T7300 is a socket P processor, so the most you can upgrade to is a T9300, T9500, X9000 processor.
The T9600 will not work since that is a monteveina chip, and runs a 1066Mhz FSB.
Your system will work with 533Mhz, 667Mhz and 800MHz FSB processors.
A 1066Mhz cpu will not work.

The Bios is going to be the limiting factor for upgrade. Most likely the X9000 will not work in your laptop.
The T9300 will work, and the T9500 most likely will work as well

K-TRON

 

K-TRON

Thank your for the rapid and complete response.

Succinct and exactly what I needed to know.

Bruce

 

Adding on to what K-TRON said, the X9000 also has a much higher TDP than a standard Core 2 - 44W vs. 35W. Only certain notebooks with beefed-up heatsinks can handle it. If Sony didn't offer the X9000 with that notebook, then it's not a wise idea to upgrade since the part will be hotter than the heatsink can handle.

 

Chaz,

Thanks for your input. Based on what has been said. I have two steps to get this FZ back up to snuff.

1. Keyboard working properly again.

2. New T9500 processor.

That should keep me satisfieed for another year or two.


Bruce

 

o_o powerpack got banned?
that sucks.

 

Its only temporary Powerpack will be back in a few weeks.

Also note that before upgrading your cpu, make sure to update your systems Bios to the latest version to ensure support for the processor.
Also make sure to use thermal compund between the cpu and the heatsink. (arctic silver 5 is great)

K-TRON

 

K-Tron,

Thanks again for your help. I did plan to use some thermal compound and had seen arctic silver mentioned elsewhere.

When I follow the model specific path on the Sony site I find some drive downloads, but no bios updates for my FZ180E.

I am missing something or has there been no change in the bios since the release of this model in early '07'?

Bruce

 

not worth my $350 but of course, would be nice

 

icecubez,

You can't be too rich, too thin, or have too much horse power, or processor speed for that matter.

I noticed my FZ180E running a little hotter then when I bought it about a year and a half ago. In the process of cleaning it out with high pressure compressed air I ended up with a keyboard problem.

I began to look for a replacement and realized that there wasn't much under $3K that I wanted.

That put me on the trail of upgrading my FZ. I certainly understand having to be on a budget at times, but it looks like "bang for the buck" upgrading and repairing my FZ is the best option.

I would like more than a 30% processor speed increase, but it appears that is as far as I can go, and I will get the battery benefits of a penryn chip.

Bruce

 

fastfz - did you manage to find any bios updates? I'm looking to do something similar to what you've done and would appreciate the pointers...incidentally, when you cleaned it did you dismantle it first? if so, to what extent? cheers

 

Spider-man,

I have not found any update to the bios of this computer (VGN-FZ180E/B). Since another FZ user with the same processor was able to "drop-in" a T9300 without any changes or issues, I expect the same outcome with the T9500.

I have not ordered the processor yet. I am just enjoying the faster HD, more memory and my keyboard functioning correctly again.

I did not dismantle it to clean it. I used my rather large air compressor, 90psi, through all the openings. That is what caused a problem with F4, 3, 4, a, and e. Those keys would begin not to function when the computer warmed/heated up.

That sent me on the quest that has brought me to this point. Once I actually figured out how to open the case, from this forum, I found that the high pressure air had done the job very, very well. No dust anywhere.

Hope that helps you.

Bruce

 

To all,

Just a quick update.

I have not ordered the new processor yet. I am really enjoying the increased speed that the new HD and extra 50% of available memory to Vista have made.

Excel spreadsheets recalculate much faster, etc.

I am sure I will also enjoy the 30% processor speed increase, but for now funds are going to other projects. When I get around to the processor prices should have dropped some more.

Bruce

 

can i upgrade mine, Sony VGN-SR140E/B