Upgrade Proc for my Ferrari 4000 - worth it?

[Dedicated]

I have a ferrari 4005 that I bought about a year ago, and, given that I have not had the time or energy (or money - poor college student) to build a nice desktop, it has become my primary gaming machine. Obviously its only a laptop, and a year old one at that, but it so far has performed flawlessly hardware wise. I have been obviously noticing the requisite spec deficiencies with some of the newer apps and games I've put on my system. This is a given with my current hardware, and I haven't even bothered touching some of the more hardware intensive apps/games out there.

Anyway, I boosted my baby up a little with 2 gigs of Corsair ddr400 mem (which appears to be running at 400mhz, on its own, somehow).

So I noticed a decent kick performance wise from 1gig of the stock stuff, which seemed to free up some system resources. My question is, would it be worth it to go in there and do the cpu as well? I know how to open the ferrari up and change the processor, but I'm not sure if I will get enough of a performance kick to make it worthwile.

I'm looking at replacing the current Turion ml-37 2.0ghz with a Turion ml-44 2.4ghz processor, for roughly 300 dollars. For those of you that have done this or currently have an ml-44, and have some basis for comparison (you have used a turion 2.0ghz or something equivalent) and can give me some kind of idea of just how much performance would increase.

Obviously I'm not expecting my computer to be next generation from a faster cpu, but would that .4ghz give me an edge when (more heavily) gaming or running multiple apps?

You'll have to forgive me, although I immensely respect AMD and chose to purchase a laptop with their cpu footing the bill, I am a little behind the curve in terms of understanding their real abilities given my lack of experience, especially with their mobile processors. So if anyone sees this and can give me any info go ahead, as it is I may waste my money anyway cause I am an upgrade fanatic, but if I hear back by enough people that its not worth it I might just save my money.

PS, from what I've heard the ml-44 is/should be the dead end as far as basic turion mobile non - dual core processors go, if I am wrong is there any reason to expect AMD to release any better speced cpus that would be compatible with socket 754 of the ferrari? Thanks for the help guys...

- Dedicated

[Chakz]

i wrote a huge thing and then accidently hit page back and it all went away. Oh well, long story short: if you're keeping the ferrari for longer than a year then yes its a good upgrade. If I was you I would upgrade to the ML-44 now and then get a new Core 2 Duo next summer with Vista and a DX10 gpu.

[Dedicated]

Haha oh no....(ponders the wealth of information Chakz's post might have offered had the back button not done it in ).....but seriously, thanks for the effort at least. I am planning on keeping my ferrari around for a bit but at the same time a desktop might be where I go within this next year.

So, while I am almost sure I will keep my ferrari (its my most portable laptop), there is the possibility that the money might be better spent on the desktop. Chakz, or anyone else, can anyone give me an idea of how much of an effect that .4ghz will give me?

I guess what I'm looking for is an answer as to whether the newer processor with only .4ghz faster clockspeed will provide a more dramatic and noticeable effect, making my computer at least noticeably quicker (obviously there's nothing I can do w/ the graphics card), or the change will be very subtle and barely noticeable. I suppose if its only gonna do a little theres not much point to spend the time or the money.

[wombatten]

Sure, the extra 0.4Ghz is going to give you something, but its going to be much less than a 20% increase in speed. Your RAM, HD and GPU will not run any faster and in many cases these are the limiting components.

If I were to upgrade my CPU, I think I would rather go for an MT processor with 25W TDP instead of an ML with 35W - that is if this would actually give me more battery life and less heat..

[stronzo]

But at first...Can you put a ML-44 in the Book? No Problems with the Bios? I think you can´t change the GraCard...or?

[Dedicated]

First of all, I know the ml-44 will go in there, its the same line as the ml-37 which the ferrari 4000 (originally - and in my case) shipped with. So its a jump from the 2.0ghz version to the 2.4ghz.

I've heard of the mt before but until now never considered compatibility, or knew very much about the processor. After a little research (and what you wrote) it appears to be a form of the turion ml at a lower voltage and thus lower operating temp.

Although I know of people who have upgrade the ml processor in their ferrari I dont know of any who have put an mt in there (see opensolaris forums). I assume they are compatible, I haven't checked the specs but the socket must be compatible given your recommendation. The only downside of the mt as I can see is its more expensive and I'm not sure I can find a retail outlet to purchase an mt-44 2.4ghz. Anyone know if it has been released and/or where I can find it?

Right now the ml-44 would cost me about 300, if the mt-44 did exist and I knew where to buy it, I'm guessing from what I've seen it might be a lot more expensive. I think I only found one site and it was about 500 there.

If anyone spots one on the net let me know. The 2.2ghz version on newegg (think its the mt-42 or something) looks attractive at 200 something but the downside is for 200 im only jumping up .2ghz, although less heat would be nice I'm not sure that small of a jump is worth upgrading the cpu either. Again, if anyone knows/spots an mt-44 let me know, or wants to add some more to this thread let me know.

edit: stronzo, I think the guy who did the ml-44 cpu upgrade on opensolaris said there was a slight issue with something voltage related in bios, but otherwise the ml-44 worked perfect in the ferrari and he noticed a speed difference.

[Wiz33]

Well, don't bother to upgrade the CPU for game as the effect will be minimal at best. For other applications, you would have to weight the performance boast vs cost. is the few minutes here and there really worth it or is that money better saved for a new desktop. The 2GB of RAM is probably the most cost effective upgrade for the Ferrari.

[Dedicated]

Wiz - While it may have a minimal effect for a game itself, what about a game running with an app (or two) in the background? And you really dont think the ml-44 2.4ghz would not have much of an effect in games? I wouldn't expect it to be spectacular, but theres gotta be some improvement on some of those more intense games.

Just checked and it appears at this time an mt-44 doesn't exist, the highest mt is the mt-40 operating at 2.2ghz, which goes for about 200 at newegg. So I guess my choices are either the ml-44 @ 2.4ghz (more heat, but faster) for around 300, and mt-40 @ 2.2ghz (still faster than what I got, but less heat) for around 200, or just not spending the money at all.

What do you guys think? Worth it for either?

[Wiz33]

The main bottleneck on the system for games is the X700 GPU. Bumping the CPU may give you a few extra frames but not really enough to make a difference. That said, do not under-estimate the power of the X700 GPU, read this thread to see what games people are playing:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread167240.html

Do you still have a Desktop? With the recent ATI price drop, you can get a Conroe desktop with a Intel 965 mobo with 2GB DDR2, 250GB and a ATI X1900GT in a Antec Sonata II case for ~$900. Less if you already have Case wit ha good powersupply (400W+)

[Chakz]

I changed my mind (I do that a lot) If your Ferrari will last you until March or later of next year I say leave it as it is and then get a desktop then...The X700 will still be able to play most games at medium settings, of course you wont be playing Crysis at max settings but it should be fine for a while. I have the F4005 and even though the X700 can run CS: S and BF2 at high settings I run them on low or medium all the time. As long as the draw distance is 100% and the textures are medium the rest can be as low as they go, lol.

[Dedicated]

Think I've ruled out the ml-44, and I am planning on getting a desktop probably sometime early to mid 2007, when some of the more expensive dual cores come down and dx10 cards are out, but I actually decided it might be worth it to get an mt-40 2.2ghz (if for nothing else the extra battery life and slight .2ghz). I liked the idea of cutting down on heat, since my ferrari can get a little warm sometimes (although nothing unreasonable).

The downside is the Turions in general seem to have disappeared from Newegg (I know they had the mt-40 there just a few days ago, I shoulda picked it up w/ the memory damnit ). Don't know if I'm doing something weird with the search function thats causing it to not show up, but I swear I saw that mt-40 on Newegg for around 200. Maybe they sold them all? Still weird that its gone entirely instead of being listed as out of stock.

Anywho, maybe I'll just pick up a 7200 hitachi hd instead, I've heard heard the jump from 5400 on lappies can be quite noticeable.

Anyone know anywhere else on the net that has good prices/availability of the turion mt-40s?

[Dedicated]

Woops, after searching for the mt-40 for cheap online, I just found a thread that apparently states that the mt is not supported by the ferrari bios:

http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=68612

Just something to note for those of you considering putting one of these in your ferrari....Unless someone has actually done it and had it work, and can prove it with a screenshot of CPU-z or something....

[Wiz33]

Originally Posted by Dedicated

Think I've ruled out the ml-44, and I am planning on getting a desktop probably sometime early to mid 2007, when some of the more expensive dual cores come down and dx10 cards are out, but I actually decided it might be worth it to get an mt-40 2.2ghz (if for nothing else the extra battery life and slight .2ghz). I liked the idea of cutting down on heat, since my ferrari can get a little warm sometimes (although nothing unreasonable).

The downside is the Turions in general seem to have disappeared from Newegg (I know they had the mt-40 there just a few days ago, I shoulda picked it up w/ the memory damnit ). Don't know if I'm doing something weird with the search function thats causing it to not show up, but I swear I saw that mt-40 on Newegg for around 200. Maybe they sold them all? Still weird that its gone entirely instead of being listed as out of stock.

Anywho, maybe I'll just pick up a 7200 hitachi hd instead, I've heard heard the jump from 5400 on lappies can be quite noticeable.

Anyone know anywhere else on the net that has good prices/availability of the turion mt-40s?

Leave your Ferrari alone!!! ;-) 7200rpm HD offer much less improvement over a 5400 as compare to a 5400 over a 4200. The cost of the MT40 and the HD are better saved toward your new system. Also You don't need one of the faster Conroe chip as even the E6300 will overclock 20%= with the stock heatsink and 30%+ with a good aftermarket and you can forget about DX10 cards as most software (except a few games) won't require it till 2008 at the earliest.

[Dedicated]

Well from my previous post I clearly will not be getting an mt as it appears to not be supported by the ferrari bios (again unless someone else has working proof). The ml-44 is a little expensive at 300 given I just spend 200 for 2 gigs of memory, but alot of the hds off newegg are only 100-150 for a 7200 100gig plus, and 100 dollars isn't going to do that much for my desktop anyway (I'm not that poor, and by then I'll easily have enough money to spend 2 grand or more, and thatll go a very long way especially if I build my own pc)

Your post made me laugh wiz, haha, I told you I am an upgrade fanatic.

[Wiz33]

Originally Posted by Dedicated

Well from my previous post I clearly will not be getting an mt as it appears to not be supported by the ferrari bios (again unless someone else has working proof). The ml-44 is a little expensive at 300 given I just spend 200 for 2 gigs of memory, but alot of the hds off newegg are only 100-150 for a 7200 100gig plus, and 100 dollars isn't going to do that much for my desktop anyway (I'm not that poor, and by then I'll easily have enough money to spend 2 grand or more, and thatll go a very long way especially if I build my own pc)

Your post made me laugh wiz, haha, I told you I am an upgrade fanatic.

Well, I used to be one too so I understand. Then as age creaps up on me and I can no longer compete with the younger kids on FPS. I mellowed out and stop getting the latest and greatest as soon as it's available.