Toshiba Satellite L775 - Issue after CPU Upgrade

HardwareExtreme

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Hello everyone. I have a Toshiba Satellite L775 S7307. I went and replaced the default Pentium B950 in it with a Core i5 2410m. It works, except for in resource intensive programs my laptop crashes, such as prime95 in a small FFT test. I know it isn't overheating because when I have core-temp running to alert me of a high core temperature it doesn't say anything. I replaced the thermal paste, tried different batteries and power cords, all to no avail. I mentioned the fact that I was planning on upgrading the CPU on this thread (Hopefully the link works) Here Could it be a bad CPU or motherboard, or does anyone else know what the problem could be?
 

HardwareExtreme

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I pulled the CPU out of the L755. The hard drive appears to be fine, but it could be the problem. (Hopefully not, since it is a 640Gb and the rest of my hard drives are around 300Gb) This hard drive was not killed. The other laptop I pulled the CPU out of because the L775 has a bigger screen and a better keyboard. Right now I am dual booting Windows 7 Pro x64 and Linux Mint 17.3 X64, and the crash occurs in both. Could a hard drive that gets too hot have issues?
As for the other laptop, I am not aware of any other issues since it booted up fine and ran fine.
 


Ok, I read the other threat you linked and got the impression that the HDD failed there and the unit was left unworking.

A overheating HDD can have issues, but it would have to get really hot. Have you tested you RAM?
 


It's usually suggested to let memtest run overnight. it can take several passes for it to find problems.

The only way I can think if testing the CPU for issues would be to put it back into the old system and run the same Prime test. If the issue arises, it's the CPU, otherwise, it could be the RAM or motherboard of the L775.
 

HardwareExtreme

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I do not believe it is the RAM as I did not have this problem until I replaced the CPU. The RAM worked perfectly fine with the original Pentium. I may have to try the CPU in the other system, but it is a PAIN to disassemble these laptops as you pretty much have to tear the whole thing down.
 


I hear ya, I've torn down more than a few in my time. But it is the only way I can think of to test it. If you can, assemble only the minimum of the other laptop as possible to start it up. Bolting down the deck should be unnecessary as long as you can connect the keyboard and touchpad...things like that.
 

HardwareExtreme

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I haven't switched the CPU yet, but would temps over 80 celcius be a problem? I also think I may just get a motherboard from the l775 model that supports a Core i5 2430m (the l775-S7355) On average my temps sit around 60 degrees celcius.
 


Is that 80c under load?

Under load, you should be Ok to about 90c, but make sure the CPU fan is working properly and what thermal past did you use? I recommend Arctic MX-4 for the CPU and GPU (if there is a separate GPU to connect).
 

HardwareExtreme

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Under heavy load it hits 80c. I am using some OEM thermal paste that I have (I do not believe it is very great) because I do not want to spend a ridiculous amount of money for high-quality thermal paste. I also believe that the cooling system on my l775 is probably too weak for the Core i5. The P755 that the i5 is from has significantly heavier cooling than this l775.
 

HardwareExtreme

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I went and put the original CPU back in the L775, as well as the i5 in the P755. The only problem is that I dont have a hard drive bay cover for the P755. I could try the CPU under prime95 but I don't have an OS installed on the P755. There might actually be a problem with the motherboard since it was giving issues before detecting a hard drive (I do suspect that it might be the fact that the hard drive was close to dead) in the L775.
 

Blake_30

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Hey man,

I realize this thread is just about a year old and sorry to hear about the upgrade going bad. My Toshiba Satellite L775-S7355 came with the i5-2430M in it, and I just ripped it out and replaced with with an i7-2820QM and 16GB of RAM. The heatsink is actually long enough to cover the entire pad on the top of the processor, and I polished the contact portion of it to a light mirror with some 2000grit rouge bar. Then I removed the protective grill from the vent hole in the laptop body and put it all back together with some Arctic MX4 paste. After running a prime95 test for about 10 minutes, I got a max temp of 70*C and an idle of 47*C in an ambient of 22.7*C (73*F)

Here's a screenshot to show it recognizing the entire 16GB of RAM and the new processor as well as it's loaded temp and so far I have absolutely zero issues.
1yfRpd4.png

http://i.imgur.com/1yfRpd4.png
 

HardwareExtreme

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Huh. I may have to get a new motherboard for my laptop, but supposedly 3rd gen CPUs are supported, so maybe that will work? I thought 16gb of ram would not be supported, but that was before the 8gb DIMMs were really available, so I guess that makes sense. Is the heatsink heavier on that version, or is it the same?

Oh, and does anyone know if a i7 3610qe will run cooler than a 2820qm, or will it be about the same?
I am planning to get something third gen, because it would have the better graphics and support for DirectX 11. However, since the 3610 is still $90 used, I am probably going to go for an i5 or i3, unless does someone know of a cheaper quad core model of a third gen i7 that may work?
 

Blake_30

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Hey HardwareExtreme

Personally, what I do to guarantee fitment is download CPU-Z from the interwebs and determine what chipset you have.

Intel says: B65, Q65 and Q67 chipsets are not possible to upgrade to 3rd Gen processors:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/processors/000006050.html

This website will give you an option for selecting a chipset, I have already selected the HM65, and showing you what processors are available that will most likely work with it all are 2nd generation sadly.

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/HM65_Express.html
Also note that you have to select the G2 Socket on the right hand side for these laptops.

According to Toshiba's website, they state we have an HM65 chipset which I believe is the B version. That being said, I found a guy in the comments of another website who did order a 3rd gen and it did not work in his, not even a black power on screen.

the i7-2820QM ($75) was the cheapest quad core model I found on the internet with the best performance. Going up to the i7-2860QM was an additional 50-100 dollars so it wasn't really worth it for the decimal point of performance gain.

Using this website, I found the following quad cores:
i7-2630QM - $40 ebay
i7-2670QM - $45-75 ebay
i7-2710QE - nothing found on ebay
i7-2720QM - $58 - 75 ebay
i7-2760QM - $45-75 ebay
i7-2820QM - $90-150 ebay
i7-2860QM - $129 and up ebay
i7-3610QE

I believe that last i7 however will not work, while it is a 3rd gen, according to Intel's website, it will not fit, and given the comment I found that mentions it not working, I believe it is a website error.

RAM speed and amount supported is determined by the processor here, so order based on what your processor says it can support, not what the manufacturer says. I had these two modules in another laptop so it didn't cost me anything to test it out and as you can see it worked without an issue.

I used the stock heatsink from the i5-2430m. It sits at a constant idle of between 40 and 50*C depending on ambient and the fan is running on lowest setting. If I put it up to a demanding program, it will get up to 65 or 70*C. Most I have ever seen it up to 81*C and that was with Folding@Home running on it full bore with nothing else on. Still well below the 100*C or 105*C limit it has on a very small cooler. The i7-2820QM only uses approximately 7-12w more power than the i5-2430M did, but has a 10W increase over the i5-2430M's thermal design power. If you go up in TDP you're going to need to either get a bigger cooler or remove the inefficiencies on your stock cooler.

Something to consider to boost your heatsink's performance would be to get some 2000grit sandpaper and wet sand the copper contact point for the processor until you can see your reflection, it helps reduce the amount of pits and cavities and increases the efficiency of the thermal paste. That's what I did with mine and it performs admirably with the increased 10w of TDP. I also got good quality thermal grease (MX-4) and pre-spread it on each contact surface with folded stiff postit note so that I knew the entire surface would be covered with the absolute minimal amount required (just enough so you don't see the surface below the grease) which in all actuality is still too much but it has worked better for me than the dot method and a few of the other methods.
 

HardwareExtreme

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2nd and 3rd gen share the same socket, in this case, socket G2. As for HM65, yes it does support some 3rd gen i7s. (Here:http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Processor-upgrade-2nd-Gen-to-3rd-Gen-Help/td-p/4470236)
(Here:http://www.youcpu.com/en/chipset/Mobile-Intel-HM65-Express-Chipset-Intel-BD82HM65-PCH)
I am wondering though if I can find one of those for a decent price.

Generally, 2 generations share the same socket.
1st gen (Nehalem and Westmere) --> 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen --> 4th Gen and 5th Gen ---> 6th Gen and 7th Gen
 

Blake_30

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Well good luck man and please tell us if it works. I didn't vote for it because the BIOS was published by the writer in 2012 and published by Toshiba in 2016, and the 3rd Gens came out in Q2 of 2012, and I've never met a BIOS company that writes AHEAD of their time. But it'd be awesome if it works.
 

HardwareExtreme

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I am wondering though if anyone has gotten a i5-3210m to work. I ask this because the CPUs that are shown as supported are rediculously hard to find and expensive. As I said before, the main reason why I want to get a 3rd gen is because of the better graphics, but at this point I may get a different laptop anyways since hd 4000 and 3000 are incredibly weak.
 

Blake_30

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You know if you get a laptop for graphics performance no matter what you're going to be relatively disappointed unless you go very high end and expensive. That being said, keep an eye out on ebay. I bought my i7 off there for $75 and a day later there was a $50 one. People often want to beat the competition so it's worth it, but $25 that you can resale if it doesn't isn't much a loss to take on testing that 3rd Gen i5.

That being said I don't know why you would go with a low-end 3rd Gen when a 2nd Gen High ends beats it by about 23% in the benchmarks.
 

HardwareExtreme

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As I said before, the main reason I am going for 3rd Gen is the better graphics and the DirectX 11 support, which HD3000 doesn't have.
That is why I don't really want to go with a 2nd gen quad core, since it only supports DirectX 10, which I guess is fine, but many new games are moving to DirectX 11.

I will probably wait until the 3610qm goes down, but even after a year it is still roughly the same price.


By the way, how much of a difference will there be between the 2630QM and the i5 2310m which I have (Besides cores)?

Right now my laptop is relatively sluggish when running most games, and I get about 20-30 fps, but go as low as 5 (ton of stutter). The graphics will be better on the i7 right?

My specs:
6gb DDR3 Ram (1 x 4gb, 1 x 2gb)
Core i5 2310m
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

EDIT: Just realized something. The L775 had a AMD counterpart, the L775D. The motherboard is the same shape, just a different socket. This CPU supports this socket: http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-A8-Series%20A8-3550MX.html
This has Radeon 6620G which should be a major step up from HD 3000, and it supports Directx 11, and it is $30 used. I would need to get the motherboard.