Upgraded Acer 3680 Celeron CPU to a T5300!

[hoggie]

Krazy alright mate..been a bit busy i see
told this would happen lol. well done and what a great thread

[krazyphire]

Krazy alright mate..been a bit busy i see
told this would happen lol. well done and what a great thread

Thank you Hoggie, but its only thanks to you guys that this thread is going strong. I'm just seeking to increase interest in this inexpensive and rewarding upgrade.

[andrewe77]

Wow. I am now a PRO at taking apart this laptop and putting it together again. That's because my T2050 Core Duo didn't work! I would push the power button and the lights would come on but no screen or POST. I disassembled the entire thing again and went back to the Celeron 420.

So, either I bought a defective CPU or I have the G940 chipset that won't work with anything but a Celeron.

What is the most reliable way of finding out the chipset?

P.S.

For anyone trying this out, make sure that your bluetooth and wireless switches on the front work after you put the bottom housing back on the main board!!!! You can get them out of whack to where they won't switch and the only fix is to take it all apart again.

[andrewe77]

PC Wizard 2007 says the chipset is Intel i943/940GML

Everest Ultimate 4.20 says the chipset is Mobile Intel Calistoga-GML i940GML/i943GML

So, if I have the i943GML then why isn't my T2050 working?

I flashed to the most recent firmware as suggested in this thread. Thanks for all your help.

[krazyphire]

PC Wizard 2007 says the chipset is Intel i943/940GML

Everest Ultimate 4.20 says the chipset is Mobile Intel Calistoga-GML i940GML/i943GML

So, if I have the i943GML then why isn't my T2050 working?

I flashed to the most recent firmware as suggested in this thread. Thanks for all your help.

I'm not sure if this upgrade works with Core Duos, but I do know that it works with the T5200/T5300 Core 2 Duos. I'd have to do some research to check board compatibility with Core Duos.

EDIT: I just realized that your model is a 3680-2574 which means the chipset might in fact be a 940GML. Next time you take it apart, check the for the chipset number because I'm not sure how accurate these HDW ID programs are.

[andrewe77]

Ok. if it is in fact a 940, could I swap in a core solo or pentium M?

I'm really only interested in getting a CPU that supports Speedstep so my battery will last longer.

[michacerboy]

Ok. if it is in fact a 940, could I swap in a core solo or pentium M?

I'm really only interested in getting a CPU that supports Speedstep so my battery will last longer.

Im confused why you didnt go with a T5200/T5300 in the first place?

A t2050 will not work. Its based off the Yonah core, whereas a T5200/T5300 is a Merom core. So far, only Merom Core 2 Duo's are known to work in the GML940/i943 chipset.

Plus, the T5300, when on Vista power save, goes to 800mhz. Is that speedstep enough for you? Not to mention how much less power it takes to have the processor not working constantly anymore like the old Celeron we had in there.

[andrewe77]

Because it was less than half the cost of the T5200 on ebay. But, since it doesn't work I now have to resell it. I didn't realize it had to be a Merom core CPU. My Celeron 420M is a Yonah core so I figured the equivalent Core Duo would work.

I guess I'll try to get a T5200.

[letmealone]

I dont think the problem is the Yonah processor, but that your board doesnt mount a i943 but a i940. In facts, if it mounts a M420 could mean that is slightly older than the other upgraded machines, before that Acer adopted the newer and more versatile i943. The main difference between 940 and 943 is the lack of support for dual core cpus, in an italian forum i read about a T2050 running on a HP mounting the i940 but only with the second core disabled by bios (option not present in Acer bios). I think that the only way to surely know if the problem is the chipset or a defective cpu is checking the type of chipset directly on the motherboard. If unluckily it was really the 940, you can still mount a speedstep cpu: the Core Solo T1350 (fsb @533, 1,86 Ghz).

[n4r4k]

@krazyphire and letmealone

I've downloaded PC wizard 2008 and it shows:
NorthBridge : Intel i943/940GML

Using Everest Ultimate Edition 4.20 shows:
North Bridge Mobile Intel Calistoga-GML i940GML/i943GML

Still confusing me, and the only way to convince me is by seeing the chipset itself. But I don't know how to start dissemble my laptop.

Can anyone give tutorial step by step including picts/photos about how to dissemble the acer 3680?
I think this will be very usefull for us who is beginner in this field.
Becoz sometime we don't know the "correct" and "gentle" that result in damaging/brokening the parts.

thx.