FL90 upgrade issue

hello everyone,
I have been bothering by this issue from long time ago. I want to upgrade my FL90 in means of grapchic card, RAM and processor but i can't find the specs of what I can put in it as easily as it would be in PC. Can anyone help me and suggest me what can I / should I put in there?
Here are my lappy's hardwares:

• processor T7500
• graphic card - Nvidia 8600M GT 512MB (DDR2 I think)
• 2x1GB RAM DDR2 (667)
• Toshiba MK1637 GSX ATA

And about the hard disk - Can I change it to sata or if not how can i improve it?( don't think so but have to ask)

 

Isn't your HDD already SATA?
You can buy a faster HDD, like the 7k500.

You can upgrade your CPU to a T7700, T7800, T7900, T8100, T8300, T9300, T9500, X9000 and more.

I would get the T8300 or T9300.

Is your video card MXM?

You can upgrade the ram to 4gb (2x 2gb DDR2 sodimm PC2-6400 or PC2-5300).

 

hmmm ... as I see know its really sata

and about card i think it's MXM II as far as I know

 

Then you should be able to upgrade your GPU. Maybe an ATI 4650 or nvidia 9600m GT or 9650M GT?

 

9600M GT or 9650M GT will not work due to VBios conflict. You could go for the Mobility Radeon HD 3650 or HD 4650 or, if you can find it, HD 4670.

You could also upgrade to 4GB Ram. A CPU Upgrade is expensive and the GPU is much more important if you wanna play games so that should be your first priority.

 

ok i decided to change my t7500 for t8300 about 40$ maybe even less , more battery life, lower temperatures, more speed etc ;p

And now I would like to change my hard drive. Can you guys give me some drives you can recommend ? I would like something like 320GB - 500GB fast drive but not ssd (not my budget).

Concerning graphic card - don't have nor opportunity nor cash for better card
post your suggestions.

 

Fastest drive right here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=456377

Great price, great performance. If you would like something a little cheaper but still around the same size/speed then check out the WD3200BEKT.

Nice choice with the CPU.

Your current GPU has a known fault, it could fail at any moment.
When it does, consider the 3650 as a good cheap GPU.
You can get the Radeon HD 3650 for $70 shipped:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=3650+mxm&_sacat=See-All-Categories

It overclocks well.

 

It's is only recommended to upgrade to a T8xxx og T9xxx CPU if you have a FL92 (Sata Rosa Refresh), as this is made ready for those CPU's.
The FL90 is only recommended for the T5xxx and T7xxx series, and not for the T8xxx and T9xxx.

 

You most definitely want to check out the Hitachi 7K500 for a new and fast 500GB drive. As for GPU I believe it was already quoted above... but 3650 for cheap and 4650 for a bit better performance (if you can find one...)

 

Why is it so?

 

BC FL90 supports only Merom processors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#Dual-Core_Notebook_processors

 

According to Intel it works ( http://ark.intel.com/chipset.aspx?familyID=28116). The chispset is not the problem. And since the JFL92 and the FL90 even share the same bios there should be no problem. Of course nobody can really tell unless somebody tries it.

 

Compal says this http://www.compal.com/Product/Html/notebook/IFL90.htm. I don't think the chipset is the problem. Well, IDK.

 

Ok i think i will give a try to T8300
and about RAM, is it worth to upgrade to 4Gb 800Mhz ddr2 from 2Gb 667Mhz ddr2?

 

You can't upgrade to 800MHz memory. 4GB you can though. Is it worth it, if your gaming and using W7, it might be useful, but have in mind that if you have 32bit OS, it will see only 3.25GB memory, the rest will be unusable.

 

But keep in mind that you have to flash the memory with new timings or use other tools to change the speed of the RAM. Your chipset will clock them at 667MHz even if they are DDR-800. Also, whats your current CPU? The T8300 will grant you little improvement especially if your still having the original 8600M GT inside.

 

My current cpu is T7500 but I am about to buy t8300. what do you mean by flash the ram or use other tool?

 

Your ram will automatically run at 667mhz because that's what your chipset supports.

 

Ok about processor i have now opportunity to buy T8300 at about 83$ and I think it's good price

about RAM i understand that my chipset support 667 ram but how it is possible to run them as 800 (as Daniel Hahn wrote)?

 

No I think he means that if you want to make your ram faster you need to lower the timings, i.e. flash new timings onto the SPD EEPROM.

You can do that using thaiphoon burner.

If you want your ram frequency to go up, you need to overclock the FSB.
That means you need to find the PLL. Then setfsb may work or you would need to pin mod the PLL to overclock. I can help with that if you want.

Anyway, that is a good price on the CPU.

 

ok so i think your help will be useful here
Now i wait for my CPU which should be at my place tomorrow or day after tomorrow after that I will write some stuff about upgrade in performance etc

 

Send me a PM if you need some advice on how to use thaiphoon burner to flash the ram.

Or if you find you want to overclock, find your PLL:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=429383

Then download setfsb and select your PLL and try to overclock, if it doesn't work, send me a PM and I will try to help.

 

Still, I would not change the CPU. 83 dollar are 83 dollar. You get 200MHz more and 1 MB L2 Cache less. That will grant you no increased performance under windows or in games and will probably even slow gaming down a bit (because of the reduced L2 cache. Plus the CPU is already penryn. If penryn works, then go for a T9x00 and have some real improvement. But thats just my opinion.

I would only buy that CPU if you want to overclock, because of the smaller fabrication (45nm instead of 65nm) it will run much cooler than the T7500. In order to overclock you have to mod the PLL, like mortal hazard said. Everything you need to know about that you'll find in the following three posts. If this seems to risky to you and you decide not to overclock, I would not buy the T8300, after all there is a reason why the CPU is that cheap.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5794746&postcount=352
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5795060&postcount=353
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5795114&postcount=354

Edit: Just saw that you already ordered hte CPU. I hope it will increase performance at least a bit At least it will run more cooler, which in any case is a good thing.

 

I remember someone mention the cpu thermo sensor wasn't working properly for cpu other than Merom.

for video card upgrade to hd3650 you can find tons of useful information in here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299494

I have a spare hd3650 ddr3 sadly the working status currently is unknown. My sager notebook give up on me and it is hard to find a replaceable motherboard. Sager wouldn't sell me motherboard....

 

That is exactly why I wouldn't recommend changing the CPU to a T8xxx or T9xxx series CPU on a FL90.
We used to sell FL90 (and started selling FL92 when they became available). We did some tests regarding the FL90 and the T8xxx and T9xxx series and it was not pretty.

We tested 10x FL90 machines with a bunch of different T8xxx and T9xxx CPU's and 7 or 8 of those died within a month after the change.
So you can get lucky that it might work out for you, but there's an even bigger chance that you'll end up with a dead notebook within a very short time.

 

Hello again guys,
Sorry that it took me so long. Finally after few weeks of using T8300 I can frankly say that it works great Temperature (according to my CoreTempBeta 0.99 ) is much lower (from about ~50 - ~60 ^C to ~40 ^C idle) (sometimes even around 30 ).

Don't know why i got few bluescreens at the begining after inserting new processor. But now it's OK.

Now I am coonsidering hard drive (more space and power )
I am think about 7K500 or seagate momentus 7200.4

What can You say about them ?
Waiting for responses

 

Great news about the T8300... but apparrently there is still a chance that the mainboard will die. I wonder why this is... could it be the PLL that is not used to the T8xxx and T9xxx series and cannot handle the higher clock rates? What PLL does the FL92 use? Could one simply replace them?

Anyway, considering your HDD upgrade. The Hitachi TS 7K500 seems to be a bit faster than the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ( link). But those tests only say so much, I think both hard drives will do a great job.

But of course a SSD would be the best choice, but still way to expensive.

 

hello guys again.
Sorry that it took me so long to reply but i was bothered by all the college stuff, work etc.

I have finally upgraded my FL90 with new hard drive - 7200.4 momentus 500GB and it's working really good .

Now I am thinking about buying new graphic card but!
after reading all stuff about working and not working 9600 in FL90 i don't think I would try this in my lappy.
So... cuz I don't have much choise i think I would go in 3650 (if it even make sense)
I have found 2 versions on ebay :
- ddr 512 mb ATI HD 3650 MXM II VGA Card 512MB Can Replace 8600m gt - eBay (item 280545334384 end time Sep-05-10 13:53:50 PDT)
-ddr3 256 mb ATI Graphics Video Card HD 3650 HD3650 DDR3 256MB MXM - eBay (item 250657107791 end time Sep-24-10 07:46:19 PDT)

I would rather go to ddr3 but I am not sure it can handle all I need . (memory)
I couldn't find ddr3 512mb version (I am not sure if it even exists).

Any comments help ? suggestions?

>edit:
but the way : I have found 4650 on ebay but I don't know which type of MXM II I have : A or B
anyone can help here?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4650-MXM-Type-Video-Card-7738G-/170475574776?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item27b122d5f8

 

You have MXMII not A or B that is a new connector, and will not fit.
You have to search for a MXMII card, nothing else.

 

Hi,

the ATI 3650 will not be worth the trouble, as the performance increase is not that big (at least it was not for me!).

Go for the 4650 if you look for a real performance boost - however, this might give you some trouble.

 

(sorry for bumping old thread but)

THE DAY has come.. I think that my 8600m gt just died :/ I will need a replacement for this one (I don't want to buy new laptop yet )

I have found this ADEON FireGL V5725 (based on RADEON 3670) and I think that might be a good idea ( its a bargain ) so do you think (know) if that will actually work ?
If not I will just buy a 3650 which is not that hard to get.

I know that's lame (stupid etc.) but I need a fast reply. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: NO SH** ! I tried to revive the card ( nothing else I could do ) by ... baking and it worked
but I am still thinking about buying a card (just in case and a little increase in performance )
Do you know how long can this card live after baking ?

Yet another issue even from before the baking - the fan is not working :/ luckilly I have a notebook coller

 

Hello again,
so finally I have both my laptop and my new card as I mentioned
RADEON FireGL V5725 (based on RADEON 3670)
but!....
i put it into my compal fl90 and... nothing screen won't even blink. any ideas suggestions ?