The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Upgrading CPU On a FE

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by narco220, Apr 7, 2007.

  1. narco220

    narco220 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have a Vaio FE21M runing a core duo T2300 1.66ghz and was wanting to upgrade the cpu to a core 2 duo 2.0ghz or faster.
    Can this be done?
    And if so would it be a simple upgrade ie taking the current cpu chip out and slotting in the new one?
     
    narco220, Apr 7, 2007
    #1
  2. Sponsi

    Sponsi Badibade

    Reputations:
    478
    Messages:
    1,869
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I'm also interested in this for my SZ. I have a Core Duo 2 1.83ghz
     
    Sponsi, Apr 7, 2007
    #2
  3. wuruoyu

    wuruoyu Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    71
    Messages:
    261
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    yes,you can
     
    wuruoyu, Apr 7, 2007
    #3
  4. narco220

    narco220 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Any more info on this like how fast can i go? without installing anymore hardware to ensure i don't run into any heat problems and where do i buy from as all i can see for sale is desktop processors.
     
    narco220, Apr 7, 2007
    #4
  5. Sponsi

    Sponsi Badibade

    Reputations:
    478
    Messages:
    1,869
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Can you provide more information like step by step instructions on how to replace the CPU? As well as instructions on how to apply thermal paste correctly.
     
    Sponsi, Apr 7, 2007
    #5
  6. sy0296

    sy0296 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    i just spent the last couple of days reading up on this forum as well as others. in a simple answer: yes, you can upgrade the cpu!

    i have t2400 in my sz160 myself and wanted to get more juice out of my lappy without spending another $2k+ for a newer model sz. the core solo, core duo, and core 2 duos all share the same architecture and chipset so theroetically, one can pull the old ship out and slap in the top of the line c2d.

    on the older sz's you'd need to flash the bios for the c2d cpu to work. this is the link for the sz (even though it's for sz3 and vista, it will work according to bogart who posted it for me). there should be one for the FE as well
    ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/OS/VistaUpgrade/BIOS/SZ3/R0094N0/R0094N0.zip

    t7200 2gig seems to be the best deal right now, but i'm holding out for mroe seagate's 7200.2 hard drive reviews. hopefully c2d prices will drop as well preparing for santa rosa's debut. according to many memebers, it is not worth it to upgrade the processor unless you do a lot of processor intensive tasks (which i do). maxing out the ram and going with a better hard drive will give more benifits than a new processor, so you may want to re-evaluate you decision.

    make sure you get arctic silver 5 thermal paste when u put in your new processor
     
    sy0296, Apr 7, 2007
    #6
  7. wuruoyu

    wuruoyu Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    71
    Messages:
    261
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    wuruoyu, Apr 7, 2007
    #7
  8. narco220

    narco220 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    3
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanx for the info.

    It all seems easy enough!
    Now do you guys think i will see much of a difference in overall performance when using video and photo editing applications if i was to upgrade from my core duo T2300 1.66ghz to a T7200 Core 2 Duo 2ghz
    Is it worth the extra £200 expence?

    I already have 2gigs of memory and a seagate 7200rpm hd installed.
     
    narco220, Apr 7, 2007
    #8
  9. wuruoyu

    wuruoyu Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    71
    Messages:
    261
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Core Duo Vs. Core 2
    The Core 2 Duo chip has many of the same features as its Core Duo predecessor: a 667-MHz frontside bus, the similar clock speeds. The two biggest improvements are the doubling of Level 2 cache to 4MB in the T7000 line, and support for 64-bit processing.

    http://laptopmag.com/Features/Intel-Core-2-Duo-Test-Drive.htm?Page=1

    more detail on the comparsion:
    http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2...ticle.aspx?articleid=864&cid=1&frame=true
     
    wuruoyu, Apr 7, 2007
    #9