Want to upgrade processor on Gateway P-6860FX T5550 1.83GHz...

I have an opportunity to pick up a Gateway P-6860FX Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz , 320GB HD 4GB RAM relatively cheap. Not enthralled w/ screen resolution nor processor, but the price is killer and can live w/ the screen. Looking for the best alternative to upgrade the CPU- is the INTEL CPU Core 2 Duo Mobile T5800 2.0GHz Processor FSB 800MHz 2MB Micro-FCPGA Socket P Tray SLB6E the choice upgrade? Not real knowledgable, just looking for the best upgrade thats compatible and will show a performance increase. Any help appreciated, like I said, I'm trying to navigate myself and find the best, apt upgrade and know there's folks on this forum that can point me in the right direction in their sleep. just looking for the best upgrade- thnx

 

The best bang for the buck processors for this laptop are the x7800 (which can be overclocked in the bios) and the t9300.

 

a T5800 would not buy you much speed... but a T8300 or T9300 will

 

go for the t9300 or the x7800.

 

is the X7800 the max it can handle?

 

no the x9000 is but that is like 350. while the T9300 is only 200 and the x7800 is 185. So we think you should go for those instead.

 

Does it matter that the T5800 is 65nm and the T9300 is 45nm? I assume that is insigificant? thnx

 

And I believe the T5800 is for the newer 4 Series chipsets.
The T8300 or T9300 would be the sweet spot for your laptop.

EDIT: And no, it's not insignificant. The T5800 is on the Merom core, while the T9300 is on the newer Penryn core. The Penryn core runs cooler (lower voltages due to the smaller process) and includes the new SSE4.1 instruction set.
Plus, I do believe it offers a clock-for-clock advantage of a few percent over the Merom.

 

You can use any of these ( only listed ones i suggest and your current one )
I would get a T8100 or a T8300 i have a t8300 in my dv6500 its a very good cpu.
Cpu/Ghz/L2 cache / FSB

T5550 1.83 2mb 667
T8100 2.10 3mb 800
T8300 2.40 3mb 800
T9300 2.50 6mb 800
T9500 2.60 6mb 800

 

I'd say the t9300 is your best choice unless you have a notebook cooler and know how to undervolt, in which case i'd say go with an x7800 and overlock the 5hit out of it.

 

I am pretty sure the highest you can go is the X9000
The T9300 is a great bang for the buck processor

Your system supports all current santa rosa 800MHz FSB processors

K-TRON

 

correct me if im wrong but arent processors n notebooks intergrated only notebook i know of besides vustom built ones u do urself that the processor can be takening out and a new one put in is a alienware

 

Randall, you have unfortunately taken truth to a false myth.
In every laptop on todays market you can remove and upgrade the processor if you so desire. Today most Intel systems use socket M, or socket P, and most AMD machines use socket S1. These processors are FCPGA, meaning that they get locked into a socket on the motherboard.

Their are laptops which have soldered on processors, such as ultraportables and machines which use ULV or ultra low voltage processors. These processors are FCBGA, and are soldered directly to the motherboard. These processors are not user upgradeable.

On todays market I would say with pretty high confidence that about 90% of the systems sold can be upgraded without any problem.
Usually laptops can be upgraded in the processor, harddrive, and memory departments.
It is possible to upgrade the graphics card on a few systems, but only a small amount of systems feature this ability

K-TRON

 

Get the x7800! probably won't even need to undervolt or cooler. just prop up the back for some passive cooling