DouglasThurman

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Hey all,

I have a Sony S560P laptop currently running an Intel Centrino 1.8GHz. Is it possible to upgrade it to a Core Duo 2 mobile chip? The CPU is in a socket, so it's removable. Would the Core Duo 2 fit or even be recognized by the BIOS. Sony is of course no help. They do not recommend upgrading it anyway. Thanks for any suggestions.

Douglas
 

Pippero

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I doubt you could do it.
Such an upgrade would require at least a BIOS flash, however you can imagine Sony would never provide you with a suitable BIOS...
 

DouglasThurman

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Would it be that Sony has got the CPY soldered in there n the first place. Laptops are still too proprietary.


Nope, I've taken my laptop apart to see if the socket is soldered or not. It's a socket...um...yeah. :D I think the socket said 479 or something. It has a Centrino 1.83GHz in there now.
 

evilr00t

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Not compatible, Yonah/Merom uses a different socket.
EDIT: Wait, is it a Pentium M? If so, not compatible.
If it's a Yonah, it is compatible.
 

atp777

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agreed... I don't even know if they're the same socket. I would assume they are. Anyways, yeah BIOS or chipset issues.

Oh yeah, there ya go, different socket.
 

Grimmy

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Would it be that Sony has got the CPY soldered in there n the first place. Laptops are still too proprietary.

Well.. I think most laptops are going to be socketed rather then soldered.

Simply because it would be easier to repair, if the CPU is dead, or if the customer wants a faster processor (different package as far as cost).

I really haven't seen a soldered CPU before for laptop.

Though I agree there isn't going to be many choices as an upgrade path, especially because of the chipset and bios settings.
 

atp777

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There isnt' a sticker on the laptop body? They all come with a sticker that says Intel Pentium M inside or Pentium 4 inside... where's the sticker man!
 

DouglasThurman

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There isnt' a sticker on the laptop body? They all come with a sticker that says Intel Pentium M inside or Pentium 4 inside... where's the sticker man!

I ate it. ;) Nah, it says Intel Centrino Inside. Not one of those new white stickers, one of the old ones with the two sideways teardrops.
 

DouglasThurman

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It might take a Pentium M ince they both share the 478 socket, but it won't take the Yonah or Merom cores since they are Socket M

Aha...it's a Intel Pentium M 750, 1.86GHz. :( So upgrading it to Core Duo is out. Darn.
 

DouglasThurman

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UPDATE:

Well, I found myself with three Sony Laptops to fiddle with including my S560P. It turns out that the Core Duo and Core Duo 2 chips physically fit into the socket that my Centrino occupies. Unfortunately the voltage or something must be different because when I turn the thing on it lights up for a few seconds but then turns right back off. Putting my original Centrino back in everything's hunky dory. When I put the Centrino into either the Core Duo or Core Duo 2 laptops they start right up no problems. Seems odd to me, but oh well. Thought I'd share for the masses. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice!
 

kamel5547

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Simply because it would be easier to repair, if the CPU is dead, or if the customer wants a faster processor (different package as far as cost).

Esaier to repair? The first solution for every problem as far as OEM's are concerned:
1. Format HDD
2. Replace MoBo
3. Replace other parts.

Its sad really, they'd rather change out the MoBo and then troubleshoot if that doesn't work than troubleshoot beforehand. There are a significant number of laptops with the CPU soldered on, there was an article on Dailytech months back relating to that point...

No surprice the C2D doesn't work as you ahd to upgrade your MoBo on desktops no matter what... simply lacked design elements that were needed.
 

Grimmy

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There were times when things would go out on the MB, or things that couldn't be repaired/replaced without changing the MB on a laptop.

The 2 things that I remember were the interface for docking station (broken or bent pins), or the dimm slots went bad, from poor thermal design.

Usually the CPU is going to cost more then the MB. So to me, it would make sense that the CPU is removeable for certain repairs.

As far as I mentioned for certain upgrades, I was only saying as far as upgrading to another speed of the same processor family, not a new architecture. The company I worked for had P3's that ranged from 500mhz to 700mhz in that famliy type CPU.

Of course, I've only seen 478-479 socket (P3) type that had a screw that locked it down to the socket. I've never really seen a laptop CPU fail before in my life, but it still a possibility.