Vaio FE31M (945PM chipset) works with (4GB)3072MB ram (sony says 2GB max)

Hi!


Just wanted to tell that i installed 4GB of ram in my FE31M, and it recognizes 3072MB in BIOS and 4GB ram in windows device manager though it can only use 3069MB according to task manager!

Sony says this notebook only supports 2GB ram as maximum, i know some ppl does wanna know if it works with more, and it does! 3GB seems to be the limit though.


I've been searching for info before, if it works with more than 2GB so i know someone will enjoy to know this. Don't need any answers here (but i don't mind if you have anything to say), the reason is that i just wanna share this for others with 945PM chipset in their sony vaio.

I currently have 2x2GB sticks installed 800Mhz Kingston CL5. running at 533Mhz 4-4-4-12 by default.

 

The chipset is not physically limited. You can install 4GB modules, but BIOS support is necessary. When memory support is enhanced via BIOS updates, initial documentation/specs are not updated.
You see 3GB addressed because of the 32-bit architecture of the 945 chipset....

(But you have a T5600 and memory running at 533MHz ?)

 

Yes i recall from a previous answer you said about that That BIOS will be a limit!

And i didn't think it'll work with more than 2GB so i'm glad it's 3GB atleast

Yes i have a T5600 and memory running at 266*2 = 533Mhz, bus speed is 166Mhz*4 (664Mhz).


EDIT: Added CPU-Z screen, see below! (FSB : DRAM ratio is 5:8 if you wonder why the memory is not "synced" with the bus-speed)

 

Ok so probably the BIOS has a hidden memory divider of 3:5 or something....
(Did you verify the memory & SPD info in CPU-Z ?)
Memory should actually be operating at 333MHz....

But anyway, its the large physical memory size that is important for most users.

 

Don't know actually!

With my other memory, 2x1GB kingston 667Mhz sticks, they where running at 533Mhz also! Are you sure it should be synced?

This is the SPD of the memory modules. There isn't any 333Mhz profile!? ***? It was there with my other sticks. Thou they where also running at 266/533 as said.

Hehe yeh. I got these sticks very very cheap so it wasn't worth not buying for test-purpose




EDIT: Checked the specs @ sony.com and it says 533Mhz memory there too.

http://vaio.sony.se/view/ShowProduc..._cons&pageType=Overview&category=VN+FE+Series
(on swedish though, but not hard to understand what's what)

 

I have no idea. It has something to do with the BIOS again, because the 945GM/PM support 4GB DDR2-667 (max).
But it won't really affect performance and all. Nothing to worry about.

 

I'm a "memory-guru" over at a swedish forum so i know alot, but i really appreciate your info though, you da man for every question i have!
Cause i don't really know if notebooks works exactly the same as desktops when it comes to memory and how it gets configured. But i guess it's about the same, seems like that


And yeah, i know, original is CL5 533Mhz and i have CL4 now.
And CL4 533Mhz is as fast as CL5 667Mhz, even though the difference between 533Mhz and 667Mhz CL5 isn't noticeable at all except in some minor benchmarks

I wonder if there is a way to edit the BIOS so it can use all 4GB as 945PM supports 4GB 667Mhz memory as you say

 

To make the memory run at 667MHz might be possible by unlocking some hidden menus in the BIOS with a BIOS editor, but it is hard for even a knowledgeable person to edit BIOSs. Its all hexadecimal stuff.

Anyway, having the memory run at 667MHz CL4 is really not worth it. It'll be more like a psychological boost in performance, since it all goes down to the comparison of FSB and RAM bandwidth and stuff.

In short, forget about it. A least the 4GB is in "true" Dual Channel, and you have 3GB addressed....

 

Yeah i know what you mean but i'd love to try it and understand it Just to make all the 4GB adressable in the first place! Not for changing the speed of the memory I've done so much mods through my life with all my PC's, but nothing BIOS-related, so it'd be interresting and fun to try!

I've heard alot of ppl saying it's boosting performance to run it a little higher, but i know it's just placebo as the boost in performance is not even 1-2% It'd take atleast like 10% in real performance gain to actually feel the difference, if not more.

Yeah, that's the good thing anyways, dual channel that is Even though the difference in performance between single and dual isn't any noticeable IRL, in some cases it can be noticeable but in most of my cases i haven't felt the difference

Anyway, thanks for the replys Andy! And have a pleasent day/night or whatever it is over there, i'm off

 

Hi Michel, I own a Soyn Fe31M too, and I read very interested your thread about upgrading the Sony to 4gb ram.
But i have a question, what ram did you use? can you provide me with the exact product code? Since some Sony Fe31M users wrote about some problems with that Laptop running more than 2 gb ram I would like to ask you did you experience any strange behaviour like black monitors, overall less performance, etc. after you installed the 4gb.

 

Hi robdope!

I use the Kingston PC2-6400 CL5 memory (product code: KVR800D2S5/2G). But i think any other brand will work fine too actually. Atleast any kingston module that's at atleast 533Mhz.

My VAIO can only see 3GB (3072MB) of RAM when booting up and it worked just fine when i first installed it. No black screen what so ever or any other strange issue.
In windows i can see all 4GB, but it can only use 3GB, i don't know if it's because i use a 32bit operating system that this happens, but i don't think so, as the BIOS only shows me 3GB.

The experience when using these modules aren't any special, i can not feel any difference in performance, but i can see that i can use more memory (i've tryed maxing out memory usage and it works just fine using 3GB).
These modules will run at 533Mhz with a Cas Latency of 4-4-4-12 just because the specs of the sticks are at 800Mhz CL5 otherwise, though my former 2x1GB sticks where also running at 533Mhz 4-4-4-12, also Kingston RAM modules. I bought Kingston just because they have a lifetime warranty (as many others also have) and was the cheapest option for me.


But no, no problem at all, not even the slightest problem after the installation, no blue or black screen, no problem reinstalling XP or Vista and no problem utilizing more than 2GB of RAM.

If you have any further questions, go ahead and ask

Have you upgraded your Vaio with anything else?

 

yes, i upgraded my sony fe31m to 2x1gb corsair CL4 and got me a wd 320gb 7200, just like you. together with win xp and sp3 it´s fast now. I can recommend anybody a sp3 upgrade together with a clean installation. it makes your system faster.
but 2gb is to less for me. i want to run some heavily ram related software samplers which take a lot of ram so i need every megabyte i can get.

do you know something about bios? i´ve read in several other posts on other forums that it is possible to run the bios of the sony fe41 series on the fe31 (the fe41 is basically the same notebook as the fe31).
this gives one the ability to boot from an external usb drive which isn´t possible on the fe31 series.
i really would appreciate such an boot option but I fear the bios update. what if my notebook won´t work under the bios for fe41?? is there a way back to the old bios? is it worth the risk?

oh i´ve got another question, is it possible to change the cpu into bigger/faster one (there are 3 models which come with 4mb cache T7200, T7400, T7600 ). will this be a problem due to more heat? whats with the fan? is it replaceable?


another weak point is the matshita dvd burner. it´s a very weak burner which isn´t burning so well. makes a lot of trouble with dvd ram media.
do you know where i can get an firmware update for that matSHITa burner?
i got firmware version 1.20 on it. somewhere in the net i read that there is somwhere a 1.6 version for it. do you know something about it?
but if theres no chance to get firmware update to solve the ram burning issue i´m going to get me another burner. is there anyone you can recommend?

what´with LG GSA-T20N ? I can get such a burner very cheap, it´s a hp oem version. Normally a LG is making very good burners, what do you think?

thx for your or anybodys else answer

greets
rob

 

I see That's good! The HDD was the best upgrade IMHO, it really made a great performance gain for the fe31m!

But i understand your situation, so get a hold of two of those sticks that i got and put em in as you need more RAM!

And i've read the same thing as you did, about the BIOS from FE41, what i've seen anyone who made the update got it working correctly. What does FE41 have that FE31M doesn't have? If it's nothing special (chipset or GPU related), i don't think there is no risk of getting anything f*cked up.

Yes, there is no problem to upgrade the CPU, i've unscrewed my whole VAIO several times and it's not a big deal to get the CPU out and change it. The "best" CPU you can put in is the T7600, 2.33GHz with 4MB L2 Cache, they will work without a problem as the dissipation is about exactly the same.

May i ask you what temps you have on the CPU at idle/websurfing and at full load? Also what HD temp you're having. I have around 60C when surfing, 56C idle and up to 80-85C load on the CPU. My HD is around 40-45C.

To get a firmware update for the matsh*ta DVD-RW visit sonys homepage, they have firmware update for it AFAIK, last time i checked they had it!
But i don't know if it solves or has anything to do with the DVD-RAM burning problem to be honest.

LG is fine, so if you can get one for a good price, get it, just check so it's the right connector and such.
I'd recommend any pinoeer, plextor or LG DVD-RW otherwise.

 

Hi Michel, thx for quick and solid answer,
where can i see what temperature the components have?
and for the cpu, you said the dissipation of the T7600 is exactly the same as with the T5600. Does this implicate that T7600 won´t need more energy?


edit: btw do you think it´s possible to run on a sony fe31m the T7800 ? it´s also in 65nm but has a fsb800.
what do you think?

greetz
rob

 

No problem robdope, i'm here to help and share everything i know!


You can use coretemp, it's a freeware that makes you see the temp of both cores. You can download it from here http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

I would gladly see what temps you have so i know what temps fe31m usualy has, idle as full load.

For the harddrive, download HD Tune from here http://www.hdtune.com/ you can see the temp at the top center in the application. You can also benchmark your harddrive with this tool to see your performance of the drive.


The T7600 will use alittle more power then the T5600, but not dissipate more than the system can handle to cool down, so no problem for usage. How is your battery time? Mine totally sucks, so i'm always plugged in if not moving the computer cordless sometimes (have a batterylife of 40mins nowadays hehe)..


About the T7800, it will not work, the FSB is too high, it will just not be compatible as the intel 945 chipset that's inside our notebooks won't handle that. But if it would work it would most definately use a lower FSB like the T5600 or T7600, so it'll be useless to even try it as the speed will get lower than the T7800 would actually run at.

 

ha ok, so i´ll go with the t7600. hope i will find a cheap one.
i´ll provide you with the temperature data and battery time.
but battery is not that bad, it runs maybe 90min. but just in very low energy mode (surfing in the web with lowest monitor brightness).
i´ll report on that.
overall I´m pretty happy with the sony fe31m, it´s a quality notebook, much better than all sonys successors. my brother has one (FS Series).
The best on FE31M is the display, very high quality and very bright and without that glare display . the next good thing is the chassis, it´s very stable -> build like a tank but not heavy in weight. and it´s still stylish, it looks beautiful, especially when opened, i love my notebook.
You know i never had any problems with that book. No out of a sudden shut downs, no crashes, an almost perfect keyboard (which is a litte loud for silent librarys). it´s got a better display than apple notebooks and they are more expensive. everybody around me bought samsung, toshiba, gericom, they didn´t hear my words when i said go for sony fe31m/41z. All of them had trouble with the build quality, hardware errors, etc.

As for the battery, there is a cheap replacement from asia, you will get almost the double power of original battery (original battery 3800mAh vs the replacement 7200 mAh).

 

Hi, I have 45C on both cores when system is idle.

my hd has 38C.

I will report when heavy loaded with ableton live an tons of plugins and hd action.

strange is that core temp says that i have t7800 with 997mhz, but system info says t5600 @ 1,86ghz.
what´s true? has it something to do with speed step?

greetz
rob

 

T7600 usualy goes for $250, just so you know!

My batterytime is when the screen is at full brightness as i can't turn it down in vista. So i guess i could win more batterytime when reducing it!

I'm as happy as you are with my Vaio with everything you mention, especially with the screen, looks and build quality (haven't had a single faulty with mine)
The keyboard could have been more quiet, yes, but it works nice anyways!

7200mAh batteries?! That sounds insane!
Can you point me to the exact place where you can get it? That would mean like ~4hours of batterytime!


Wow, nice idle temps! That's very low! What's your room temp?
Maybe mine should be down there too, i don't really know as i never knew the temps when it was new.
I find it very strange as i've undervolted down to 0.95v at 1.83Ghz, so it would get cooler (and it did alot), but apprently it isn't as cool as it should be. Even with the 0.95v (original is 1.250v).

Yeah it says L7800, but it's just a bug in the program. Nothing to care about Mine says it too. It should say T5600. And i think it has to do with speedstep yes, as coretemp is only there to recon temps and not the correct CPU, i think coretemp gets confused when it's at 997Mhz.

I see that you have the WD 320GB 7200rpm drive with the Free Fall Sensor, sweet

 

here i have maybe 20C in my room.

here is the link for the big battery:
htp://cgi.ebay.de/Laptop-Akku-Sony-VAIO-VGN-FE31-VGN-FS515-VGN-C190CP-G_W0QQitemZ130274471490QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Technik_Computerzubehör_Notebook_Akkus?hash=item130274471490&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1229%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A131

there´s one with 3800mAh, one with 4200mAh both are the small ones, and a bigger one with 7200mAh (this kind of battery has a little belly in comparison to the other ones)

 

Hey I found an even bigger one:
8800mAh

ww.grs-trading.de/product_info.php?info=p8922_Akku-Sony-Vaio-VGP-BPS2C--VGP-BPS2A--VGP-BPS2-mit-8800mAh.html

 

Ah, i have around 25C here, but hmm, i should have a look at my cooling paste then and maybe change it if you have those good temps.


Nice, for a good price too!
That "belly" is no problem for me

8800mAh seems nicer though, for same price and seem to be located in germany? I live in Sweden so i guess the shipping wouldn't be too much. A new 4800mAh battery cost like €140 over here so. Thanks !

 

Hi, I tested the temperature on my fe31m 1,83ghz. The highest temperature cpu temperature I got during a 100% cpu charge was not more than 79C on both cores. My HD had during heavy writing and reading not more than 40C.
What´s your experience? How many degrees do have.
During the testing I had 21C in my room.

BTW what do you think? How much would be the power increase from 1.83 2mb to 2,33 ghz with 4mb cache when using audioprograms? is it worth to go for a 4mb cache cpu when recording audio?
greetings
Rob

 

here´s a list with lot´s of cpus tested with the cinebench:

http://www.tabsnet.com/index.php?
option=com_benchmark&task=list&bid=6&sysid=0&bcount=1&sortby=0

T5600: 300
T7400: 360
T7600: 380

but in what manner shows the cinebench whats good for audiorelated stuff?
What I know from the past is that fpu rate says a lot about how fast a cpu will work under certain audioprocessing conditions.
do you know something about that?

btw what kind of cpu is in the sony Fe31? the one with metalballs or the one the pins?

 

So, noone has tried to modify the BIOS?
I have a SZ3VP with the chipset 945GM and although it supports 4GB 533/667Mhz, it only shows 3GB 533Mhz.
For the chipset GM965, it blocks at 667Mhz 5-5-5-15 even if the chipset can run at 800Mhz and my RAM latency is 4-5-5-15 at 667Mhz (well, I can modify the SPD of the RAM sothat my laptop can run at 4-5-5 but I don't want to take risk).
I think there is really a problem with the BIOS Phoenix

 

I just removed my T5600 and installed a T7600 in my fe31m, works nice Lower idle-temps and seems alot quicker already.

NHT, ram-latency has nothing to do with BIOS or motherboard, it has do to with the memory and if it can handle it. I have my memory running at 4-4-4-12 at 533/667Mhz.


robdope, t7600 should be somewhat faster when it comes to enconding


I had lucky today, got the T7600 for only $120 Gonna sell the T5600 for like $60 so the upgrade would cost me $60 for the T7600 hehe.

 

Michel, I would not agree with you. Of course all the RAM will run at 4-4-4-12 at 533Mhz, but at 667Mhz it's not the same thing.
When you turn on your comp, the BIOS will read the information in the SPD of the RAM to detect the best frequency and latency to run.

You can see my CPU-Z attached here. In the timing table, we have:
266Mhz (533Mhz) 3-4-4-12
333Mhz (667Mhz) 4-5-5-15
400Mhz (800Mhz) 5-5-5-18

My computer (SZ71WN/C) only runs at 667Mhz 5-5-5-15.
But I told you, I can modify the SPD like this:
266Mhz (533Mhz) 2-4-4-12
333Mhz (667Mhz) 3-5-5-15
400Mhz (800Mhz) 4-5-5-18
and in this case, my computer runs at 667Mhz 4-5-5-15, but I don't want to take risk. That was the best I can do, because If I modify more, my comp only runs at 533Mhz. I can make another CPU-Z screenshot of my SPD modified if you want.

 

I think you missunderstood me!

I've written a whole big FAQ about how memory and timings works togheter, so i'd say that i really know what i'm talking about

Ofcourse my ram will run 4-4-4-12 @ 533Mhz as it has a profile for these timings at those speeds.

Your memory should run at 4-5-5-15 667Mhz with 1.8v, as the memory has a profile for it at 1.8v, and if it has a profile for it, the memory can handle it without a problem.
It's not the mainboard that is the limiting factor, neither the BIOS. The BIOS and the MB will only set another value if it cannot go lower because of other things like the BIOS will not read it correctly, but that doesn't stop you from lowering the timings by yourself with for example setSPD or something. There is no risk for you to try it out with that application, you don't need to make the setting permanent you know. But it should work just fine for you as your memory is good for it.

Your computer runs at 667Mhz 5-5-5-15 and not anything else. Everything under SPD is just profiles that's preloaded into the memory to make the BIOS read it and set those values if it can.
Under the "memory" page is where you have your actual values for what your RAM is running at.

 

Hi Michel nice to hear that it work, where did you get the t7600 so cheaply?
btw do cpus for the fe31m have have pins or that little metal balls to connect the cpu die to the motherboard?
will this kind of cpu which you can see in the attachment work?
can you tell how much faster the cpu is compared to t5600?
thx

btw did you already order the new 8800mAh battery?

 

Here you can see the photo in the attachment, it didn´t work before

 

I was just very lucky I was searching at a local forum for what's on sale, and i found a guy in my city (Stockholm) who wanted it for $160 and i had the stomach to ask if i could get it for $120 and he said yes haha He bought it for $700 before, but i have no idea why he sold it soooo cheap, an absolute steal from him Ebay has $250 for the cheapest incl shipping, so this was supernice. Usualy they're at $400 over here otherwise.

The CPU's have pins on fe31m.


Sorry i can't see any attachment that you've made! Just do 4 more posts in this thread or something so you have 15posts and can attach images and post URL's and so on.

Many said that the T7600 won't be noticeable faster. But it is. I mean it's like 30% more power + 4MB cache, so it should be noticed. In some benchmarks it looks like it's about 40% faster.

T7600 - 35s in wPrime 32M test
T5600 - 47s in wPrime 32M test
So there it is about 35% faster

T7600 - 23s in SuperPi 1M test
T5600 - 34s in SuperPi 1M test
So in superpi it's almost 50%(!) faster.

So it should be arond 30-50% faster doing encoding and such at fulload!


And nope, haven't ordered any battery, i put the money i had on the CPU instead

 

I've mailed that guy before too on fleebay, about the t7600.

Though i think i mailed at other t7600 models, those with one pin less, because that one has one pin more than my t5600 and t7600, there should be 2pins "missing" in that corner where there isn't one pin.

T7600 SL9SD Micro-FCPGA Socket M/478 is mine (Socket 479M).

EDIT:
Like this

Because i don't remember if it has that extra pin on the socket on the motherboard, but maybe it has.



EDIT2: Oh, i just saw, there is one pin missing on the pic you attached. Yeah it should work just fine!

 

Now i've ordered a new 8800mAh battery from that site you gave me robdope, it was cheap €99.89 INCLUDING shipping is nothing for a battery that can do twice the time vs original that would cost me €400 over here. Like 7-8 times cheaper per Ah hehehe

 

BTW, if you've read this thread you should know why your notebook only shows 3GB.
Some 945chipset on these sony vaios doesn't support 4GB only 2GB because of the BIOS, so all over 2GB is just "a luck of draw".

 

Michel you said in one post before that your ram is running in 533 mode although your ram has 800mhz bus at cl5
i always thought that the ram bus can run at 667mhz on a sony fe31 respectively the intel 945 chipset.
so what´s the fact?
i want to run the fastest ram i can get, because for realtime audio it is important to have a valued and fast ram.
i want to run my ram in cl4 and in 667mhz at once. is that possible?
or is it enough to go with an cl5 667mhz ram module which runs in 533mhz mode at cl4 (i read that somewhere before that the 667mhz ram modules at cl5 will run under a 533mhz condition in cl4 and therefore it is as fast as a dedicated 533 ram module at cl4 which doesn´t support 667mhz).

 

what do you mean with that? are there some sony fe31 out there that support 3gb while some sony31 don´t?

 

There is no real reason to get faster memory because it won't do any performance boost anyways.

The ram is running 533Mhz and the bus-speed is 667Mhz, if you look at the screenshots from the first page in this thread you can see that the DRAM(memory):RATIO(busspeed) is 5:8 (which is 533Mhz:667Mhz ).

So no, you can't run the memory at 667Mhz. Only 533Mhz, don't really know why sony has put a 5:8 divider for it, it's just a shame, but i think it's because it should be cheaper and easier to upgrade the memory from the beginning.

So you really don't need to buy memory that's faster than 533Mhz CL4, because the fe31m won't use any higher speed or lower timings than that. The only thing you can change is the timings, with memSet in windows. But it won't give you any real performance boost.

No, all fe31 only support 2GB according to Sony (but in fact it is 3GB).
Intel 945-chipset supports up to 4GB (has nothing to do with sony, the chipset can handle up to 4GB).
Some other sony vaios (not speaking of fe31/m) that uses the 945-chipset may or may not support up to 4GB, it's all about the BIOS and how much it can handle.

The fact here is just plain simple, and that is that our fe31m with the latest bios can run 4GB memory but only use 3GB of them, so there is only support for 3GB with the BIOS we're stuck with.


Just read the first post otherwise, there's all you need to know about fe31m and how much ram it can do, so you won't get confused here I'm just explaining the same thing that's on the first post simply.




I recommend buying 2x2GB sticks because the notebook will use true dual channel, because 2GB+1GB will not be dual channel as the size of each stick is different, it's probably as cheap to buy 2x2GB as it is to buy 2GB+1GB anyways.


Hope i aint getting you too confused now It's not that complicated really hehe

 

thx michel for your quick and profound answers.
so everythings alright, I´m not confused. But there´s still one question that is not quite clear for me.
Is a cl5 ram module which is designed for 667 mhz ram bus running as a cl4 in 533? or do I need a "real" cl4 ram module.
I guess all that things about cl4 and cl5 is not that important anyways respectivly the overall computer performance as you stated in some post before but i really would like to know, I want that 1% power increase

 

No problem

If that 667Mhz module has a JEDEC profile (under SPD) for CL4 under 533Mhz then it'll use it. So aslong as the stick has a profile for CL4(or lower) at 533Mhz then you'll end up with atleast CL4.
Basically all 667Mhz CL5 memory will have a CL4 at 533Mhz or any 800Mhz CL5 memory (as i have).

You can see the SPD table on the first page in the CPU-Z screen, where it states different timings according to which speed the memory is using.

I'm just like you when it comes to those 1% performance wins, i really wanna squeeze out everything you can get from the computer, so i don't blame you for asking so much.

 

hey thx michel, you know a lot and i appreciate that!
maybe you know how i can halt that black monitor where you can see the computers configuration at the beginning of booting (POST-test). My Sony is to quick, before i can see or read the infos the windows booting screen shows up. is there a key to halt on the booting (something like an F3, or else)?

 

Hehe

Aha, you don't use the standard "sony vaio" post-picture then?
I don't know if you can halt it when it is at that place so to say. F2 is the only key i know of which gets you into the BIOS.

I'm using the standard sony vaio boot-logo thingy, if i press f2 at boot, it'll hold up on the specs for some seconds and then enter BIOS. If that helps you!

 

I got an update for ya!


I tried the FE41 BIOS on my fe31m, and it works just as fine as the original BIOS, only difference is: now i got an option for USB flash among the boot-devices in my BIOS

Gonna try if it works to boot from the sony memory stick duo pro slot that's built in, in our Vaio's. If that doesn't work i'm gonna try from another USB stick device, just to see if it works. Would be nice if it worked with the MS Duo Pro-slot as i have a 1GB card there always! And you could always get a bigger MS Duo Pro card that would fit a vista installation disc or something Then you could remove the CD/DVD-burner and install a HDD-caddy there to get another HDD in the Vaio and if needed to burn something, just use an external burner.


EDIT: Second picture is with the FE41 BIOS.

 

hey thx for the information sounds nice. could you provide me with the link to the bios for sony fe41 you used? i searched on sony´s webpage but couldn´t find the bios for fe41. thx

btw the thing with the hd caddy sounds nice. will you have the same hd speed like we have on the sata connector when a hd is connected to the ide port of the internal burner? (is it actually ide?)

 

Here's everything for fe41z http://support.vaio.sony.se/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_sv_SE_cons&c=0&s=VGN-FE&m=2551


Here's the direct link for the BIOS. http://support.vaio.sony.se/downloa...SYS-01101528-UN.exe&ip=PHBSYS-01101528-UN.htm

And yeah you probably will have the same speeds as originally. Our optical drive is PATA/IDE but there is caddys for the optical drive bay that is PATA to SATA, so no problem using any HDD you want
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_27

Both PATA and SATA are IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), but i think you mean PATA(the old standard faulty named IDE).

 

Hi Michel, how is it going? did you get your new battery for your sony fe31m?
how is it working? how many hours can run the laptop with that 8800mha battery?
btw i´ve made bad experiences by trying to upgrade my ram to 4gb.
i bought me two kingston 2gb kvr533d2s4/2g cl4 at 533fsb and it´s not working correctly at all!
the bios shows me 3gb and the sony is starting until the bootscreen turns black. the laptop is started but the monitor stays black. what wrong, you should have the same laptop as i have.
i´ve got some questions to you, when did you buy your laptop? what´s yoru serial no.? perhaps they changed something with the mainboard architecture. my problem is definately a graphic controller related problem -> monitor stays black but the laptop is starting completely.
you use win vista, right? maybe that´s the reason why it is for you working.
i have win xp sp3 and it´s not working - !

 

Hi all. Just found this uthread and I'm excited!!! I was planning on buying either a new laptop or some kind of external disc... But now I might do otherwise. I see you guys've been able to install a larger HDD on your FE 31M.

I've seen a Western Digital Scorpio Black 2.5" 320GB 7200 SATA for 80 Euro and Western Digital Scorpio Blue 2.5" 500GB 5400RPM SATA for 110 Euro. Are these compatible with our Vaio?

I currently have 2gb of RAM (kingston) installed and I'm running the stock 1.86 Core2Duo CPU with OS XP SP3.

What do you recommend I should do? Upgrade the HDD and Battery? Do a clean installation from the discs I recorded when bought the laptop and upgrade then?

As you can see I'm a total newbie, so sorry for the annoyance and ty a lot.

One more thing. Do you have any idea of how to connect the Vaio and a Bravia (it has 2x components, 1 x S-Video and 1 x HDMI inputs, no VGA ) for High Definition playback? I got a VGA to component cable...but haven't been able to make it work properly.

Furthermore, has anyone tested Windows 7 so far?

 

Sure, you can use any size of HDD that you want. Only older notebooks using the old PATA/IDE harddrives is limited to specific sizes. With SATA you can have whatever you want. So yeah, go ahead and buy which ever harddrive that's 2.5" and SATA, anyone will work fine.

You may ask any silly question and how many as you want, i'll try to answer them if no-one else does. We're here to help each other, everyone doesn't know everything

The best upgrade is to upgrade the HDD to a 7200rpm, it made alot to the feel of how fast the notebook really is. So go for 7200rpm 320GB or wait until the 7200rpm 500GB harddrives reaches the market and get one of those

VGA to component isn't to be used with that kind of thing you tried, it's for use with projectors and such things and nothing else.

You just need to get a common s-video cable to connect it up, as the vaio has tv-out. Though i do not know what a "bravia" is, but it sounds like it is a computer screen? It should work no matter what, with the tv-out on the vaio. Though s-video doesn't look good at all, nowhere near the quality of VGA or DVI. Very blurry!



And i've tested windows 7, as se7en uses vista drivers (any vista driver will work with se7en, and that is what microsoft states). Everything works just like it should for me, haven't had any trouble with any drivers or so.

 

Thanks a lot for your response.

Yep, the S-VHS signal cable is, well, not very good. So I reckon I'll pass on that one.

Regarding the HDD I'll follow you recommendations and wait a couple months to see if 500gb/7200rpm disks show up.

One more question concerning Se7en. Is it easy to upgrade from XP SP3?

Ty.

 

No problem!

Yeah, the 7200rpm 500GB hdd's will be outrageous in performance probably, i will buy one too when they come out i think!

I have no idea if it is an easy upgrade from XP SP3 though, as i never tried XP on my vaio, only vista otherwise, but it's strongly recommended to do a clean install if you're gonna use any other operating system. And it's easy to get everything working in Se7en.

 

Thanks. Already got my new HDD and a case. Now, how do I proceed? Where is the FE31M's drive? Any recomendations on any software to transfer data from one disk to another? Remember I'm currently using XP SP3, although I have downloaded W Se7en and have it ready. Help is ALWAYS greately appreciated.

 

I just did the same, I ordered 4GB (2 x 2 GB) and put it in the laptop.
It recognised 3GB and it works. But has anyone noticed (i run windows 7) the startup animation and also the F8 menu wont visually appear?

My computer decided it did not want to boot anymore, after trying a few things i removed one memory module (2gb left over) and started it up.
Once i did i saw it came up with an "do you want to repair your system" message which did not pop up before.

So i think something goes wrong with 4GB in this sony laptop and it overlaps some memory addresses that get used while showing doslike screens.

Anyone verify this? am i the only one with this problem?