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I want to upgrade the cpu of my MX3215

post #1 of 22
3/6/06 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
I want to upgrade the cpu of my MX3215, what type of cpu will work? Im looking to get better battery life and processing speed. Any imput on this topic would be great.
Thanks in advance,
ed
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post #2 of 22
3/8/06 at 11:50pm
Pentium M 478 pin, Banias or Dothan.
Banias 1.3ghz is a good choice. quiet.
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post #3 of 22
3/9/06 at 11:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by t5s
I want to upgrade the cpu of my MX3215, what type of cpu will work? Im looking to get better battery life and processing speed. Any imput on this topic would be great.
Thanks in advance,
ed
I got a Dothan 1.6ghz on fleabay for around $90. Runs @ 1.6 @ .988Volts! Also runs 600mhz @ 0.7V. Laptop runs much cooler and gained about 30 min runtime over the default Celeron. REAL EASY UPGRADE, look for the panel on the bottom that's the biggest and you'll find the HSF and CPU underneath. BTW this laptop is not pin-moddable. The chipset is capable, but Gateway decided to not support 533mhz FSB. Probably a cheap PLL chip or something.
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post #4 of 22
3/28/06 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by magbarn
I got a Dothan 1.6ghz on fleabay for around $90. Runs @ 1.6 @ .988Volts! Also runs 600mhz @ 0.7V. Laptop runs much cooler and gained about 30 min runtime over the default Celeron. REAL EASY UPGRADE, look for the panel on the bottom that's the biggest and you'll find the HSF and CPU underneath. BTW this laptop is not pin-moddable. The chipset is capable, but Gateway decided to not support 533mhz FSB. Probably a cheap PLL chip or something.
So how does one do this? If I purchased one of these processors what are the steps to swapping them? Is it just a simple pull out the old one and snap in the new one? Thanks.
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post #5 of 22
8/11/06 at 5:26am
Thread Starter 
im wondering the same thing Edison
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post #6 of 22
8/11/06 at 6:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by t5s
im wondering the same thing Edison
so, u finally got around to be ready to do it - yes, it is that simple as taking the old cpu out and replacing it.
the forum has enough guide around to step u thru the taking the laptop apart to get to the cpu. this is the fun & challenging part. lots of nerve is all u need.
use this opportunity to do a good clean up inside. just make sure that u use some good thermal paste before putting the heatsink back. as5 is widely being recommended

cheers ...
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post #7 of 22
8/18/06 at 12:28am
So if I have this: (Intel Pentium 4 2.0GHz Socket 478 512k cache) processor from my other laptop (Gateway 400sd4) that I dont use, will it work in my mx3215? If it does work will it be beneficial? Thanks.
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post #8 of 22
8/18/06 at 12:46am
Your laptop does not support Pentium 4, only Celeron M or Pentium Ms are compatible. Pentium 4 run too hot for a laptop anyways. Also the Pentium M and Celeron M are actually 479-pin, even though they are advertised as 478 pin.
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post #9 of 22
8/18/06 at 12:51am
Ok, great info, thanks for the quick reply

Sorry to go off topic but this pertains to the model in discussion. I just upgraded to a 1 gig ram and it seems to be hotter now. The fan kicks on eariler and the bottom of the laptop just feels hotter, esp around the memory section.
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post #10 of 22
8/18/06 at 2:54am
It's pretty normal to have more heat. The unit is working faster now with more RAM so it will naturally conduct more heat. When you do upgrade to a Pentium M processor, you will notice a little less heat when idle or under normal usage since the Pentium M throttles down to a lower frequency whereas the Celerons do not.
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post #11 of 22
8/19/06 at 12:31am
So are any of these worth it?

A 1.3ghz was mentioned above, something like this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-M-...QQcmdZViewItem

How about these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/SL86G-1-6GHZ-PEN...QQcmdZViewItem

Am I in the general area of processors to consider, or do I need to redirect my search.
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post #12 of 22
8/22/06 at 11:39pm
I am upgrading my CPU this weekend here in my MX3210 laptop. After doing alot of research, I found out that the motherboard in this laptop, and the 3215 only supports 400fsb (in constrast to the VIA VN800 chipset natively supporting 533fsb) so the fastest processor this motherboard can handle at 400fsb is the Pentium M 735 (1.7ghz, 400fsb, 2mb L2 Cache). Got it off ebay for $105 CAD, which I didn't think was too bad. We will see how well it runs this weekend in constrast to the 1.4ghz Celeron M.

I will post a detailed explanation of what I did while changing processors for everybody to follow with this model laptop.
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post #13 of 22
8/22/06 at 11:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edison
So are any of these worth it?

A 1.3ghz was mentioned above, something like this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-M-...QQcmdZViewItem

How about these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/SL86G-1-6GHZ-PEN...QQcmdZViewItem

Am I in the general area of processors to consider, or do I need to redirect my search.
The first one you listed is correct, the last two are not. The middle processor is a Pentium 4-M, if it says 4 anywhere, its not for you :P. The last one, first says its Pentium 4-M, but then says its a Pentium M Dothan in the description (you want a Pentium M Dothan). I would say its actually a Pentium 4-M because of its fsb of 533.

Here is what you want to look for.

Pentium M (absolutely no 4, anywhere), with 400fsb, 478pin, they are named the Dothan Chipset.

All Pentium M's have a # tied to them, like, the 1.7ghz I bought is the M 735, which is the highest 400fsb Pentium M available. The 740 is a 533 fsb. Just keep all this in mind as you search.
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post #14 of 22
8/23/06 at 1:59am
Thank you very much ohmsford, great info and really looking forward to hearing about your upgrade. Good Luck.
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post #15 of 22
8/25/06 at 11:45pm
Upgrade was a success, working on posting a full guide (with pictures), i'll add the link soon.

*EDIT*

http://www.notebookforums.com/post2370160.html
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post #16 of 22
3/28/07 at 1:26am
i just upgraded my MX3215 to M 735 (1.7G), but my CPU fan is not working after upgrade, the machine is getting hot, help~!
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post #17 of 22
3/28/07 at 1:43am
What is getting hot. Bottom of the laptop? Core temperature?

You will need to make sure that all wires for the heatsink's fan are still connected. If its the Core temperature that is rising, try reapplying your quicksilver/thermalpaste of your choice.

Hope you get it working.
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post #18 of 22
3/28/07 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohmsford
What is getting hot. Bottom of the laptop? Core temperature?

You will need to make sure that all wires for the heatsink's fan are still connected. If its the Core temperature that is rising, try reapplying your quicksilver/thermalpaste of your choice.

Hope you get it working.
thanks for your reply. But i just opened the notebook cover of the cpu/heatsink and turned on the notebook, i can see that the fan is not running, all wires r connected. I'm monitoring my notebook with speedfan and it shows the core temp is staying around 50c.
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post #19 of 22
3/28/07 at 12:57pm
I'm not 100% sure of this, but sometimes the fan will only spin after the cpu reaches a certain temperature.
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post #20 of 22
3/29/07 at 2:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohmsford
I'm not 100% sure of this, but sometimes the fan will only spin after the cpu reaches a certain temperature.
thats why i thought too, i'll just wait and see if it spin when heavy load. thanks.
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