Compaq Presario C700 Upgrades And Facts!

Nice to see this topic is still active after all that time, some very useful info has been posted.

I've just upgraded my CPU in my C742EA from its original T2310 to a T8100. It was only £9.99 on eBay, so figured it was worth trying to breathe some more life into this old workhorse.

I've noted MeRXa's post regarding enabling VT-x, however in my case I didn't need to patch the BIOS. Pleasantly surprised, it was already enabled (F.35 version), and KVM fired right up. Here's the condensed /proc/cpuinfo output:

Code:

processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 23
model name	: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T8100  @ 2.10GHz
stepping	: 6
microcode	: 0x60c
cpu MHz		: 2000.000
cache size	: 3072 KB
...
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl [B][COLOR="#FF0000"]vmx[/COLOR][/B] est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips	: 4189.40

I used Titan Nano Grease (TTG-G30010) for the new thermal paste between the CPU and GPU - was just another £0.99 for two 1mg syringes (one is enough) and it has an acceptable thermal conductivity (>4.5 W/m-k). Its running nice and cool - cooler to the touch than with the T2130 - but I'm having a feeling that the CPU core temperatures aren't read properly, which has been reported by some others too. lm-sensors reports 36C and 35C for each core, and it hasn't deviated from that yet. Here's hoping that it doesn't fry - I'll keep the old CPU just in case

Only downside with the whole upgrade process was that I got overzealous cleaning out the parts while it was all in bits and pieces. Managed to break the ribbon cable for the trackpad buttons, so they're duds now. Oh well!

Thanks for all the info posted so far, everyone!

 

Still waiting on my parts, but I found the datasheet for our PLL. Since none of the apps I can find seem to support it. Sending the datasheet along with your requests might help getting a programmer to support it.

I received it as a hand-me-down when the prior owner's hard drive suffered a mechanical failure. After installing an OCZ Agility 3 90GB, an extra 1GB DDR2, and installing Mint instead of Windows I've really been impressed by my C762nr. The potential improvements from my current T2370 to the T9300 has me checking the tracking info on my package each morning. If only I could purchase a mPCIe GPU for this thing I'd forego replacement for another several years.

 

So I still have my Compaq Presario (I think it's 7 or 8 years old by now), but I would really like to get her going again to use as a backup or to sell to someone who needs it (most likely one of my sisters). I built a desktop for gaming and it's handled everything else I've thrown at it, but I would like another project to work on and I thought this would be a good warm-up.

Specs:

OS: Vista Home Basic 32-bit
CPU: Upgraded to a T8100 a little over a year ago
RAM: 3GB DDR2
HDD: 80GB, 5400rpm SATA
GPU: Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Family

I'm worried about a few things, though. For one, I'm not sure how weak the GPU actually is and if the laptop is worth upgrading if the GPU will forever hold it back. I could upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, add a bit more RAM, and perhaps an SSD instead, but I'm not really sure what's compatible with this computer now, either. I haven't really been doing much hardware related stuff with computers lately so I'm probably out of the loop a little bit. For example, is DDR3 for desktops only? Can this laptop even handle over 4GB of RAM even with a 64-bit OS? Is the technology too old for SSD?

Posted this in a hurry, but will be doing more research when I have the time tonight. Thanks in advance, all.

 

So I spoke a little too soon about not needing to patch the BIOS for VT-x - I didn't check whether it was actually using it, D'oh! So despite that it shows as available, it does need to be patched before you can actually use that feature. Interestingly, my laptop is refusing to flash from a pen drive, so this will be a bit of a struggle on my end.

 

Metallica93,

The GM965 series GPUs are fine for OS 3D acceleration in Aero, Metro, Unity, and KDE, but for gaming anything more stressing on the Shaders than the Source or Doom3 engines is a no go. The games will start, because DX10 features are fully supported, but framerates are unplayable. The C700 series is definitely NOT a gaming laptop. Linux native Team Fortress 2 (OpenGL) runs at an acceptable framerate with details set pretty low on my T2370 chipped C762nr as does Galactic Civilizations II. WarCraft III (Defense of The Ancients Mod) runs just great, despite the WINE compatibility layer I have to use.

 

Update on flashing the BIOS to enable VT-x... After many trials, I've finally found that the laptop will refuse to do a Recovery Flash from, or through, a device that is not self powered.

I have used card readers, USB sticks and what have you, none of it worked until I used a self powered USB hub. After that, all those USB devices could be used. So before you do the magic Win+B boot dance, plug in a self powered USB hub, to which you attach the USB stick/card reader.

Note: Keep an eye on the CD/DVD drive: it will not make a noise and the LED will blink continuously if it has not found a device suitable for doing a recovery; otherwise, it will initialise as usual and the LED will stop blinking, at which point it will start to search (silently) for a USB device with the IBL80HW.fd file.

That said, MeRXa's patch works like a charm and VT-x is now unlocked from the BIOS (before, it was there, but could not be unlocked by software only):

Code:

# sudo modprobe msr

# sudo rdmsr 0x3a
5

As for the temperature remark I made - the CPU fan adjusts speeds according to the temperature just fine. It's just that lm-sensors does not update the temperature after the first read.

 

12-cell HP battery, 2GB DIMM, and T9300 all arrived last week and installed successfully over the weekend. I'm quite pleased with the T9300, a LOT of apps running much faster. Testing 2x1GB modules running @ 667MHz Dual Channel vs. 1GB+2GB @ 533Mhz Single Channel seemed to favor the 3GB configuration in most of my uses. Mainly that few applications showed a performance advantage when given 2.5x more bandwidth. Which I found surprising. I thought it would take quite a bit of testing to make a decision on which RAM config to use. I'm still confused why the RAM runs at 533MHz with 1+2 modules instead of 667MHz, but oh well. If a 250% bandwidth increase has nominal effect a 25% increase won't matter much.

Much thanks to all those who contributed to this board. Your input turned what would have been a $700 replacement into a $150 upgrade.

 

Myatu,
I've been fooling with the temp sensors as well. Despite adding coretemp to my modules list refuses to load on startup. So I "sudo modprobe coretemp" after each boot and it loads without fail. Go figure. coretemp will report new data each time I run "sensors" from terminal, but if I add coretemp to GnomePanel only core 1 changes temperature. Core0 reports 23'C no matter what. My SSD temp doesn't update after boot either. Temperature sensing just doesn't seem to work right. If I was a competent programmer I'd fix it. I'm sure we're not the only ones having troubles with it.

 

Hey all.

This thread never dies ay, might as well chuck my 2c in:

When I was first rebuilding my system, I would end up on one of these pages over and over again. So I guess there was a fair amount of influence on my own decisions and many others’ so yeh, seems only fair to report back a contribution of real-world experience.

Bout 5+ years ago, I was given my C700 as a present. Vista OS, 1 gb RAM, 1.46 ghz CPU, in other words specs not worth putting out for, or vomiting on if the CPU ever did actually burst into flames. Poor little duffer made attempts on the regular, to cook my breakfast via some strange, digital and (maybe) surely futile telepathic transference. Might be 3 rooms between us and the fridge, and ingredients that I have yet to actually buy for another 2 days, but boy it tried to cook em.

So naturally, I began writing music on it (crkd FL 7), designing stupid (crkd PS 7), rendering A0+ sized fractals (Tierazon freeware) and generally thrashing the jesus out of the (now lovingly referred to as) old lappy, without the usual hesitation that occurs after actually paying for such privelages.

Pleased to report that although the stock system was painfully slow, it was a lot less painful than a kick in the head, and stability was it’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd name. I didn’t even know what a blue screen was. Seriously.

Did not take long to realise that writing music was intensive CPU wise, to say the least, and that an upgrade would be called for. Took me 3 years to have spare funds which I used to get the most -hot new lappy I could afford, so that it may last a week or so at least, before devolving into another outdated heapoe such as the one I was already working with. (working for?)

Long story short, I Fkd up and dumped 1500+ rubles into a new 17” Asus gaming lappy, right around the time Win7 final was released and everything was turning quad-core. The new system ran GTA-IV flawlessly on the highest settings, but sucked major balls for writing tunes and was about as stable as a western economic system. I was fairly shattered, and on top of that, older drivers for things like my label printer for work, decided they did not like W7 much at all.

And on top of that, about a month later, after hacking the jesus out of W7 and managing to get a few nice project files going in a now genuine FL10 via a brand new Roland QC audio interface (previous Presonus no likey, I suspect 64 bit driver issues)… the thing was stolen anyway.

I still have the power supply for it. I was lucky enough to have backups of 90% of my work, music etc and still have my soundcard, monitors etc. and of course, my old lappy, the C700.

After recovering from another few solid months of homelessness, at least to the point where I could nut things out and order parts, I began to learn exactly where I went wrong (eg: a mate offering to help hot up the Compaq as opposed to buying new, me not listening and wasting cash moneys, not doing enough homework etc.) and basically went right back to square 1, then back some more, learning operating systems, hardware and software, as if my life of writing music depended on it…. : /

I still don’t feel too bad, because it worked out eventually, I learned shirt-loads and could repair-troubleshoot changes easily… and really, 64 bit Os’s with quad core CPUs were very fresh at the time, and it was counter intuitive (still is to some) that newer, more bits, more cores and RAM would not equal better for FL Studio. FL loves dual cores and I quickly found that Gol (the primary developer) had clearly stated that a patch-type fix would sort things from FL10 onwards, but that the entire source code would need to be re-written from the ground up to properly utilise the processors on quad systems, and he had already explicitly stated that this was never, ever going to happen.

On that topic just briefly, I feel that neither the updates from FL10 ^ nor the official Image Line marketing blurbs manage to adequately address this issue. I mean, what poor kid wants to fork out 1500 hard earned and then stare in disbelief as his old shizzheap hundred dollar lappy will (running FL) consistently wipe the floor with it, Vista 32 bit Lame Edition, teeny tiny CPU and all of 1 gb RAM… (!?!?!)

I have seen at least one or two other heads pop up in odd corners of the web who had sadly landed themselves up the same creek. Before the (well hidden) bridged mode option for VSTs, FL ran (and still does) natively at 32 bit, and so could only use 4 gig of RAM not matter how many bits your OS was dawdling about with, rendering 64 bit operating systems and tons of RAM about as useful as a cactus in an exhaust pipe on the schoolbus.

So anyway, after pulling about a quarter of the hair off my head, I found fruity was slamming 100 percent on 1 of 8 freaking cores. Worked out how to disable ‘core parking’ (power saving shuzz) and spread the applications load evenly over all cores. Unfortunately, this was one trick of many, and did not magically fix everything. I had to accept the situation (especially following the theft of the new lappy) and realise that dual cores are the fking bomb for FL, and I would do well to try work out a system based on these things, which seemed to be.. becoming obsolete. Bad news for brickwalling future studio updates, but good news for affordability. Win some you lose some.

 

My apologies for the rant but I believe context is at best important, at least; interesting. And I don’t do forums anymore so it’s kinda all or nothing ay. Anyway, moving on.

Current system specs (running and stable for 12 odd months) :

OS – Win7 Ultimate 32 bit, stripped down – no media centre, games etc plus never (ever!) used online so it stays clean.

7 Stomps all over Vista but we all knew that right. Drivers are interchangeable, to a degree.

This was fresh installed onto a new internal 500gb 7200RPM HDD (10k Velociraptors will not fit without modding the case, yes I tried and yes I thought about mods for a while because I had already spent the coin for the 10k’s)

CPU – Intel Core2 Extreme X9000, running TS constantly & clocked at 3.2 ghz, stable,

before this was far cheaper and more readily avail T9300 dual core Penryn chip @ standard 2.5 ghz, which BTW was a beautiful CPU, I only upgraded because I pretty much ran out of other things to do, always wanted to run a clocked system aswell ay because of bragging rights and otherwise general all-round awesomeness.

Was a few hundred extra dollars worth it for the few extra WEI points and an unlocked multiplier? Not really but who cares. Never heard of another system like it so why not give it a crack, I figured. System will hang occasionally @ 3.4 ghz when running hi-res video for over 30mins to an external monitor, otherwise seemed fine and didn’t seem to care what voltage it was fed, so left the volts basically untouched with everything else in TS, just locked it @ 3.2 and it’s been happy. All cooling is standard (for now) aside from a couple of mods to the air vent paths to improve flow. Always run propped up from a level surface thesedays and clean out a mesh filter every few months which gets packed with dust and fairys etc.

RAM – 4 gig.

Yep. One stick. Mad skills for Photoshop and helps round things out nicely in general.

Trick is to think about being brave, then realise no need just do a full system backup and try a random Russian Kernel Patcher (fkn lol) which you found indirectly on a (google translated) Persian hacking website via some retard on google answers or whatever that shuzz is called, who was bagging it out as a solution to the whole OS vs Chipset vs Installed RAM crap that C700 users have all been putting up with, wittingly, knowingly or otherwise.

So yep. I was prepared to hang every-bloody-thing via a little known and far as I knew untested Windows Kernel patcher. And I say that retard was retarded because if he had actually done the same, he would have concluded, as I did, that the patch is simply brilliant and flawless. No need for sky is falling disease because that shipt went bang bang and suddenly 3.99 of my 4 gb RAM is recognised and used by the royal high stupidness that is Windows 32 OS and Intel GM965. Chipset was/is obviously not so much to blame, but I still get zero boot – black screen if I attempt to use the other RAM slot.

Other mods – Who cares. ^That’s the guts of it. Still lame for graphics but plenty of grunt to PS random design work, watch stupid movies, whatevers.

Always need more, but FL Studio is my main concern and this rig smashes it. Fruity flies (pun take that) with this setup, and so I’m content up to a point, and take god knows how much longer to the point where writing music stops and bouncing rendered wavs begins, to free up more CPU so that we can write more.

Future: Rest of studio finally getting needed attention – acoustic tiles, analog hardware synthesisers and all that good shwit.

Planning a new build using a dual cpu HP server mobo running XP Pro, with enough graphics to stomp around in some CAD programs and another step along the path towards the impossible: An affordable, home built system that can efficiently run FL Studio on it’s max settings, which I recall proclaiming to a mate in half-joking despair; You need freaking 10 ghz to run this shiit.
Sussed out a board that can and will make a cosy home for 2 x Zeon dual cores @ 3.5 ghz each. Getting there, which is the fun of it anyway right : )

Peace, hope there is something useful in there for someone, someday, if not, cop that.

- Kayesem

 

I've followed this thread with much interest. I wanted to upgrade my C700 because it was so slow with Vista. I installed Peppermint/Linux and it boots in 15 seconds!

A while ago I got curious and noticed that Android-x86.org had released a generic x86 build for Jelly Bean (Android 4.2). I installed it on a USB stick and WOW! It is fast. It boots in 24 seconds using a read-only system model (compressed). It supports some live wallpapers and the touchpad can serve as both a mouse and quasi-direct manipulation device ( Tap, then swipe as if with a touch screen).

This is fun! The only down side is that some apps were optimized for ARM architectures so you might not get some of your favorites to work (Netflix, Angry Birds). There are still plenty to go around.

Give it a try with a live USB or LiveCD from Android-x86.org :thumbsup:

Now I am triple booting Android Jelly Bean, Peppermint/Ubuntu/Linux and Windows Vista as a last resort.

 

+1 Trying to to get extra life to a C700 here.

I have one C710br which came with Celeron M530. It is 5.5 years old! It's original battery stil working with 50% of it's original capacity, I think this is impressive!

So, I bought today a 12cell battery and a t8300 from ebay. Hope to receive both in a month.
It's a $85 upgrade to save me from spending $1000 on a new one for at least another 1.5 years since I have a powerfull desktop PC!

Also, someone know if there is some mini pcie ssd card compatible with this notebook? Is it good/worth?

 

CPU and battery arrived a few days ago.

It's worth the money indeed. The notebook is running pretty decent now. I can play fullHD (1080p) movies with new CPU, before I was barely able to play 720p movies.
The new battery lasts about 5 hours for web browsing.

Only thing that bothers me now is the wifi card. If I find some N card compatible with this nb for something up to $15 I would defenitly bought it.

 

You can find a modified BIOS without the whitelist or mod it yourself. Then you can use any number of minipcie cards. I've got a half-height Atheros one from a different laptop in mine (it can't be screwed down, but it works fine).

Why were you looking for a minipcie ssd? Just get a regular sata ssd.



Looks like I might need to throw my motherboard in the oven soon. Seems I'm not getting a video pretty often now. Need to keep powering it down and back up until it eventually posts.

 

This thread has been pretty handy reading. I upgraded to a T9300 from the old T2390 in my C799TU today - fairly blindly by running Geekbench2 and having a look at the C700 chart to see what other CPUs this family had shoved in 'em. Poor old laptop has a new lease on life now. Now to look into this 3GB RAM deal.

Anyone else thrown theirs on Geekbench? Would like to see some scores (Mine is 3029)

Edit:
- Got 3GB RAM working fine with no noticeable increase in performance and a slightly reduced geekbench score. Gone back to 2GB.
- Installed Win 7 in 64bit on a spare HD to see if 2x2GB would work - of course it didn't, but thought I'd give it a go. Gonna try a single 4GB module sometime as I've seen that mentioned somewhere in this thread.
- Next up i'm gonna try a 120GB SSD (Any recommendations?), an Intel X9000 and a fresh install of Win 7 64bit and be done with it.

 

I installed a T8300, and it's much faster. It runs 30 degrees cooler. One heck of an upgrade! Thanks for this forum. I just have one issue with this laptop. While I am typing, sometimes a copy/paste/delete will occur.I thought it was the keyboard at first, so I replaced it, and that didn't fix it. It must be the keyboard connection/chipset. I tried an external keyboard and it works fine.

 

sounds like your palm brushing up on the touchpad

 

special thanks to all who contributed to this thread.

when I upgraded my c742tu with a t8300 I lost dynamic frequency control. I have have been able to regain this function by installing freeware 'crystalCPUID' .

my experience with upgrading this old lappy has been all positive , fun and educational and all because of this thread.
t8300 3gb ram 1tb sshb windows seven 32bit.

cheers - Daf Max.

 

I just wanted to +1 this. Installed CrystalCPUID and enabled the automatic multiplier management and it's made a big difference in battery life. This was the last annoyance with my upgraded C771US and I'm very pleased to have it solved. I did go in and tweak the thresholds because it was a little too eager to jump up to full speed, but I'm pleased.

 

I would just like to thank everyone on the form. This information was very useful. I have been using my C768CA for many years and always just put up with the sluggishness, until I found this forum.

Originally this model came with a T2370 1.73GHz CPU, 2gb ram and 250gb HD.

I have upgraded to the T9300 2.5GHz CPU and a 120gb solid state HD with Windows 7. I have to say everything is working great and the speed is much improved! I also used CrystalCPUID to enable the automatic multiplier management. Looks like this laptop has a new lease on life.

 

I just found a C700 laying by the road. It was baking in the sun and still wet from rain the previous evening. But after charging it turns on and runs! Physically the only problem is 1/3 of keyboard is busted. Wow that CPU puts out a lot of heat!

Config (as is): CPU T2370; RAM 2Gb pc5300; HD 250Gb; DVD RW +R DL; Windoze vista 32

What do you guys think for upgrading?

Android JB $0
Keyboard__$27
CPU______$31 T7700 SLAF7 4mb cache 2.4 Ghz 800 bus
Battery____$27 5200 mAh new with Japanese cells
RAM______$25 2 sticks 1G ddr2 800/6400
802.11n___$32 Intel 6235 802.11n and Bluetooth

Am I correct in assuming a CPU with 1066 bus will not work with 800 memory? (Can get T9400 for $5 more)

 

Nice find

I've upgraded mine with:

Intel T9300 @ 2.5ghz
3Gb RAM
OCZ Vertex 4 SSD
Illuminated (back-lit) keyboard
Windows 8 64-bit
New battery

The thing flies and stays cool now. It boots to the Windows login screen in about 10 secs! The CPU made the biggest difference to heat, and the SSD made the biggest difference to speed.

I'm only going from memory here (you would have to go back through this thread to make sure) but I think CPU's with 800mhz bus are the fastest these laptops will take.

 

Hmm... I could just change the CPU, memory, and keyboard, have a decent laptop for $70. If the bus can be underclocked the T9400 should in theory work. That would get me 2mb more cache for just $5. The busted KB prevents me from getting into BIOS.

 

<strike>Is there any reason that a socket p 1066 FSB quad core processor could not be used on the C700 MB?</strike>
<strike>Also, does anyone think it would be possible to replace the graphics chip with a different model (same pinout)?</strike>
One more thing - it's my understanding that the reason you cannot upgrade beyond 5GB is because there is a BIOS bug in the C700 series which prevents you from putting anything larger than 1GB in slot0 (closest to motherboard). Does anyone have any BIOS coding experience that could look at the v35 bios and maybe do a fix (unless it's been done somewhere already)? If that was fixed, we SHOULD be able to use 8GB on this laptop 2x4GB and at the same time, enable VMX in the fix as well.

/Just some ideas I am floating around.

EDIT: answered my own 2 questions above... but still interested in a BIOS fix.

 

2GB in slot 1!!! 2GB in slot 1!!! (CPU-Z calls it slot 1, elsewhere it is called slot 0)

I have a 2 GB 800 stick in the slot closest to MB, Windoze 7 and Linux Mint 17 both work fine. I also tried the stick in the other slot and both OS work. Win 7 has Service Pack 1 and all updates. BIOS is F35 supposedly modded to allow wifi upgrading. Now I am confident I can get another stick, have 4GB 800 dual channel. I am posting this from Windows 7 with a 2GB stick in the slot closest to MB.

The memory and a double size battery are only hardware changes I have made, still waiting for other parts to arrive. The sticker on back says Vista, but windoze had so much malware I didn't even know what version until I started cleaning from Linux. Getting windows cleaned was a lot of work, but worth it to save a legit activated Win 7 install.

School wants $300 to replace the Dell they gave me. I want to use my C769 instead. If something happens to this laptop I'm out $150 instead of $300. School Dell has 1.6 Ghz Intel dual core. On the Compaq both OSs are set up for e-textbooks and other school stuff.

This Compaq has one VERY important feature: hardware touchpad disable! On my own Dell and school Dell the touchpad disable is only thing I cannot get to work. On this Compaq the pad disable is a simple hardware function, no drivers or programs to get working and fail with every windows update. No more random cursor jumping while typing essays.

My brand new double size battery charges to 54% and stops. Does not matter if off, in BIOS, Win 7 or Linux. Oh well 54% is still 4% better than original battery when it was new.

Parts still to come:
T9400 engineering sample (no temp sensor) will do BSEL mod for 800 fsb
802.11 b/g/n/ac dual channel and BT 4.0 - with half/full adapter. Intel 3160
New fan - old one sometimes makes noise.
Cooling Diamond 7 carat
18.5v power supply - maybe this will fix battery. Currently using a universal with 18 and 19v but not 18.5v
Keyboard - getting exact replacement. What model is a compatible lighted keyboard? (currently using a desktop KB).
Another 2 GB 800 stick

 

I believe the 1 GB limit was a Windows problem, not BIOS. My research showed BIOS f35 would test the memory no problem, the problem was in booting Windows. I bought the memory hoping I was right and problem fixed with SP1. Nobody had ever tried SP1 or Linux before.

 

I have the same battery issue with a 12 cell, only mine stops at 58%. 65w power pack failed soon after the battery change, upgraded to a 120w aftermarket. No change. I read somewhere that Vista had something to do with the battery issue, but I upgraded from Vista Home 32 to 7 Professional 64 with no change.

 

Hi mikey9876 and all,

Is there a known list of whitelisted miniPCI wifi adapters supporting either 802.11n or 802.11ac with BIOS F.35 (if any) ?
Were you successful in using the Intel 3160 (802.11 b/g/n/ac dual channel and BT 4.0 - with half/full adapter. Intel 3160) ?
Was it automatically recognized by vanilla BIOS F.35 ?

Thanks for your help.

 

Hi! so did anyone install a c2d cpu on a celeron-bases C700? thanks!!

 

Battery: I have switched from a 6 to a 12 cell with no problem at all, 100% charging (Win XP Pro sp2, and Linux Ubuntu).
Charger is made in china 20volt 3.5amp which makes it a 70watt (20x3.5=70).

 

Sorry, I don't check threads that often.

Yes, I'm running a T8300 in a delivered Celeron 540 system. Works perfectly apart from the abovementioned temperature readings and speedstep issues.

 

I have just installed 4gb of memory
Kingston 2x2Gb 2Rx8 PC2-6400s-666-12-E2
The F.22 Bios reads it as 4096mb. In Windows XP Pro sp2 (system) it reads as 2.99gb, cpu z reports 4096mb.
In Linux Ubuntu it reads as 3.9gb.

How odd, the same memory in my Dell Latitude E5500 reads as 3.45 gb (same win xp pro sp2).

I think I'll bung 8gb in it and see what happens.

UPDATE: It's now 10 days later and the laptop crashes after 5 mins, so I have switched back to 2gb memory.
As second hand cpu and memory cost as much as second hand laptops, I'm just going buy a new laptop.

 

Difference between Compaq and Dell is their hardware. With 32bit OS max. memory is exactly 4096MB and from that amount all the memory allocated to drivers and VGA memory and whatwever is reduced. That's why results differ between computers.

Ubuntu you tried could be 64bit?

 

Hi yes it was 64bit Ubuntu.
Five mins into watching a film last night and it crashed, then again and again.
So I put the 2x1gb memory sticks back in and it worked well. Ho hum.

 

Good to see this thread is still active - it's been invaluable when considering what to do with my laptop.

I've got a C773EA that's still going strong, but will probably upgrade to a 250GB SSD soon and go to Win 7 64-bit (then 10 when released) from the current Vista 32-bit.

It's got 2GB of memory already which is probably enough for me.

Where have people got the backlit keyboard from - and can you switch the lighting on/off?

Also, the latest BIOS I can download is F.34. Should I be able to download a later one?

Cheers.

 

I don't see the point in a backlit keyboard, isn't this just another way to use up the battery power?

The F34 bios (which is the latest) is all I could download from the website, even after clicking the "older bios version" link.

 

Thanks for the feedback re. the Bios. Sounds like I've got the correct version.

In relation to a backlit keyboard I find it useful when typing in a dark room, but I would need the option to turn it on/off to save the battery.

I've ordered a Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD so lets see if that works to improve the disk access speed - which is the main problem for this laptop at the moment.

In relation to a 12 cell battery, where's the best place to buy them from?

 

I got mine with a dead laptop on ebay. About £20 I think it was.
That reminds me, I have sell that back on

 

I have my C750EL with T8100 and 3Gb RAM
BIOS F.35
I would like to know if someone was able to install an SSD HDD in the WiFi slot (mini PCIe, right ?)
I have an external WiFi USB module I could use, my intention is to put a fast SSD 32-64Gb with OS to boot from instead of internal WiFi and to maintain my 250Gb SATA HD for data.
is it possible?

I'd like to install also the internal camera... any info?

anyone has motherboard manual? I can't find any doc about this HP 30D9 mobo..
maybe there are other bus connectors usable..

thank you all guys

 

I have a C700 too. Somebody gave me their old C700, because they switched to a new notebook.
My HP Pavilion G6 broke last week and now I'm glad to have this notebook left to use (It's very slow, but it's better than none)....

The C700 have 2GB of Memory. I have wanted to put 4GB RAM in there, but when Windows boots, it appears a bluescreen and crashes. I have thinked that the RAMs are broken. I was searching a long time around and then I found that the C700 had a bug, that causes that the notebook can handle only 5GB.

(I am newby and therefore I can't post the link where I found this)

After this I have put 1GB in Slot 0 and 2GB in Slot 1 and .... wow .... it works just fine.

 

C742EM

BIOS ver: F. 35 with manually enabled VT-x for virtualization support.

CPU: T7500
3GB Memory: 1GB (Hynix 800Mhz+2GB Kingston 800MHz) 800MHz but of course operate at 667 MHz speed.

Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0012
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 1024 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM0
Bank Locator: BANK 0
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MHz
Manufacturer: 0xAD00000000000000(Hynix 800MHz ver)

Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0012
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM2
Bank Locator: BANK 2
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MHz
Manufacturer: 0x7F98000000000000 (Kingston 800MHz ver)​

It works like a charm with 3GB.

 

My c742EA had heat sink broken (fluid that was inside evaporated) what caused gpu to overheat extremely so it was hanging or switching off or getting bsod when trying to watch any youtube video. I had a spare one, so I replaced it, and also replaced my T2310 cpu with T7500 as I had to take it all apart anyway
Upgraded 1,5gb ram memory with en extra 2gb stick (3gb all together)
1gb in slot0 +2gb in slot1
Everything works with no issues at all, temperature readings are fine + overall performance is way better than before. I think that t7500 doesn't create as much heat as T2310 did 'cause lapop runs much cooler now.
Costed me aprox:
T7500 12$ (best upgrade you can get if you want to go cheap, as better ones are way more expensive, and it's just a waste of money with this chipset)
ddr2 2gb stick(400mhz) 10$.
Happy to see my old scrap revived, now it can even hande hd videos(1080) on youtube

 

Got a Samsung 850 evo 250gb SSD. I'm now running Windows 8. I have to say, the ssd was the best upgrade of them all! (Maybe because I upgraded the cpu 3 ago and don't remember how slow it was before.. Lol).

I'm thinking to buy a new notebook for a few months and got this ssd because of a opportunity I had and was thinking to use with a future new notebook... But the c700 got so fast and as I use my notebook just as a second pc, I am now postponing the purchase again.. (if you consider that good notebooks are too expensive at Brazil, better wait a travel to USA to buy one new anyways)

I just wish a better wifi card.. But I can live with this..
The weight is my biggest concern, but this we can do nothing about.

My setup for now is:
1gb + 2gb
T8300
250gb SSD
12cell battery (4:30h of autonomy at best)

And just FYI, I have this nb for more than 7 years. So many time lol

 

I would also like to know about the Intel 3160 Wifi swap. Does you get it to work? Did it work with stock F35 BIOS?

Also, does 4GB definitely not work with Windows 7/8 64 bit with 2GB in each slot? And DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) would be the best RAM to use if you upgrade CPU to something like the T8300?

Thanks,

 

I've just got round to ugrading my CPU to a T7250 and enabling VT-X using MeRXa's method (on page 19).
I couldn't get a USB flash drive to update and didn't have a powered USB hub but was able to re-flash with a USB floppy.
Hope this helps someone with a C700 (731TU).

Cheers,

 

Many thanks! I have just upgraded old HP G7020 (Europe version) from T2310 to T8100, 3GB RAM and VT-x.

Runs much faster and cooler. T8100 was 7$.

I used old 1GB FAT32 formatted flash drive in closest right USB slot to flash BIOS (also following MeRXa's method). I haven't heard any DVD-drive clicking noise (could be, because I previously put USB boot in first position in BIOS), but all seems to be OK, VirtualBox in Linux Mint can use VT-x.

 

Hello! I recently upgraded my C700 from t2310 to t7500 and changed cmos battery (new battery with soldered cables to Steel plates on battery) and i have following problem: First boot was fine, fan was running nearly constantly at full speed, but still displayed t2310 cpu in properties and just shut off. Every try makes it turn on for like 5-10 seconds and it shuts off, obce it went past this and updated Windows 10, but alter That, always when it turns on past Windows loading it pops BSOD. What can I do? The second problem is when booting bios and system are made 100% from black and white stripes, yet after Windows loading, login screen and system overall runs fine, without stripes and after restart bios is fine too, what's causing That?
Cheers!
To be precise, the newest bios is flashed and it has 2.5gb of ram (0,5gb closer to mobo, worked fine before)
Update: It booted and even kept bios data, hours etc for same time and maybe one power off (no battery, cord unplugged, booted to OS but custom dock Didn't open and in system info it stated in nearly Every info (processor, memory etc) as unavailable, can it be because of cmos battery or some capacitor damage? Or can it be CPU fault?

 

Hi guys! This is my first post on this forum but I've already read all posts in this thread.

I have Compaq Presario C715NR. Year ago I have successfully upgraded RAM to 2x1GB sticks and put SSD in. Works fine.

C715nr is model which wasn't mentioned here. I assumed it's like a rest of the series and ordered a cheap used Intel Core 2 Duo T9300.
It came with one pin slightly bent but I straightened it delicately with a needle. It fits the socket well.

The problem is: after replacing the cpu computer doesn't boot. The screen is totally dark and blank. I get a fan noise but no other sounds. No blips or beeps. My system drive is ssd one so it doesn't emit sound either.
It might be a display problem, I will try external display at my friend's place but why there are no sounds? (I'm back to the old processor and display works fine)

I have dismantled it again and disconnected the on board battery to reset CMOS.

Should I update the Bios version first? Current version is F.08. I'm going to flash it with F.35 as I can't find newer version on official site.
Could somebody post a link to newest bios upgrade?

What are your advice? Should I try T8300 instead?

I have informed the seller about faulty pin. He assured me it worked well before and agreed to return the money if it does not work but I still would like to make it run and save the hassle of sending it back and ordering another one.

 

Hi, for sure do BIOS update. Support for Penryn T9300 came in newer BIOSes.

Also, I have now long dead battery for this laptop, and did not cause any problem with old CPU. With T8100 if the same battery is in laptop, I ocassionaly cannot start or restart laptop (black screen after start with fan on). Removing battery solves the problem completely.

 

That's what I did few hours after posting.
I can now confirm that Compaq Presario C715nr with F.35 bios can run T9300.

Updating bios on linux was tragic. I've installed windows after 5 years of using different linux distros and updating bios took half a minute.