What is best CPU upgrade possible for my Laptop

Hellow fellows,

About 3 weeks ago, I bought the Toshiba Satellite A300 for a very cheap price ( for $250). It has currently the following CPU description taken from Everest:

I want to upgrade the CPU to the MAX possible CPU. Any idea of the best CPU? AND how can I get a list of all possible CPUs that would work on this?

Seeking your help.

Thanks

TipTip

 

What is the chipset that your mobo is using?

Your current CPU is running at 667 MHz FSB. Depending on the chipset, your mobo may also support 800Mhz (which means that you can go upto T9500).


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Just curious; what would make you double the investent in this notebook (at a more than slight risk), when you could simply buy that performance brand new for a few more dollars?

I guess I don't see the value of a cpu upgrade?

OS, HD, RAM - these upgrades are a 'given', but the platform is still the same platform - no matter which version of a supported cpu is used (within a few 10's of percentage points).

 

CPU upgrade may not be that costly. In fact, if you are lucky enough, it may not cost you anything (for old laptops though).

Previously I purchased a Pentium M 770 (2.13 GHz) for $250 from ebay, replaced it with my Pentium M 750 (1.86 GHz) and sold the old one for $250 on Craigslist. Free performance boost...


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Here you go:

And thanks ramgen for the help

 

Well, ebay is the solution. Still, I bought the laptop for a steal price, and wanna upgrade the CPU with the best possible for the sake of FUN

Thanks for passing by.

 

TipTip,

FUN is definitely supported!

 

OK. so your chipset can suport upto 800Mhz FSB.

The fastest CPU that you can get is Core 2 Duo T9500 (2.60 GHz). However I would recommend you to buy T9300 (2.50 GHz) which is unnoticeably slower and much cheaper.


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Thanks a lot ramgen, better start the FUN .

+ rep to you too.

 

in fact the best cpu compatible with the gm965 chipset is the x9000

Mobile Intel® GM965 Express Chipset

That's what I had in my old laptop which was based on a pm965 chipset

compatible doesn't mean that it's possible to upgrade anyway as it always depend on the laptop (max TDP, etc)

Now you have to look at your motivation on what "fun" means to you
as there are lots of different options other than upgrading the cpu

enjoy!

 

Right, but I am always reluctant when it comes to recommending the "Extreme" series CPUs due to their higher TDP (45 Watts) + some BIOS incompatibilities.

Stick to what has been the most common.


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That's what I guessed why you didn't talk about the x9000

My personal experience was pretty good with this cpu in term of TDP
in fact I was getting lower temp with the x9000 than with my old cpu the T7500

I think it was due to its biggest cache memory even though its max TDP was 44W vs 35W for the T7500
another thing is that max TDP doesn't mean really anything because the X9000 could end up having a normal working condition TDP of 36W even though it's specified 44W and the T7500 a TDP of 35W as it is an upper limit

 

My X9000 at stock clocks/undervolted runs cooler than my old T5550 did. The reason the X9000 has a 44w rating is because it can be overclocked. When you start increasing the Multiplier/voltage that is when it starts to get hot.

T9300 has the best price/performance ratio.

 

Thank you guys for all your inputs

 

shouldnt the bios also support such cpu's for the laptop to recognize it?
for example is know some hm55 chipset bioses will support i7qm's and others will not.

 

Also consider the T8100/T8300 processors, they are 45nm and provide very good performance.

Might I ask what you are using this notebook for?

 

I guess so, I think you rised a good point , How may I know if my BIOS supports it?

Yes, I guess they are great CPUs too.

As for the usage, it is basically for office and internet usage. Also, some strategy games.

Thanks all for passing by.

TipTip

 

I concur the T8300 only has 100mhz and 3mb Cache difference from the T9300 and that is not noticeable for the money that you will save.

T8300 for best bang for buck!

 

Thanks for your input,
The question now how can I be sure that my BIOS supports ans CPU I wanna buy?

Thanks.

 

You may have a similar answer for me as well and I would like to piggy back off this thread.

This is what I am currently running:

AMD Athlon X2 QL-64
Windows XP Professional SP3 (Build 2600)
CPU Arch : 1 CPU - 2 Cores - 2 Threads
CPU PSN : AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core QL-64
CPU EXT : MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), SSE (1, 2, 3), x86-64, AMD-V
CPUID : F.3.1 / Extended : 11.3
CPU Cache : L1 : 2 x 64 / 2 x 64 KB - L2 : 2 x 512 KB
Core : Griffin (65 nm) / Stepping : LG-B1
Freq : 2099.24 MHz (199.93 * 10.5)
MB Brand : TOSHIBA
MB Model : Portable PC
NB : AMD 780G rev 00
SB : AMD SB700 rev 00
GPU Type : ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics
DirectX Version : 10.0
RAM : 4096 MB DDR2
RAM Speed : 333.2 MHz (3:5) @ 5-5-5-15
Slot 1 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : Qimonda
Slot 2 : 2048MB (6400)
Slot 2 Manufacturer : Samsung

 

AMD? Do they have any laptop processors?

I thought it was a company that produces CPUs for only desktops and servers...


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Uh...no. Seriously, you have been here long enough to know that.

AMD's mobile processors are a joke though. That's probably why you haven't heard of them so much.

 

I got the X9100 (mac E series) into my HDX16. Check sig link