Core 2 Duo ULV compatible whit VGN-SZ48GN?

Is the Core 2 Duo ULV U7700 compatible whit the Sony Vaio SZ48GN laptop? I read that the ULV is made for the 945GM chipset but whit the M0 stepping that has "Intel Dynamic Front Side Bus Frequency Switching" lower idle speed and less watt used in idle to.


But my question is. Will it work whit on a VGN-SZ48GN model?

 

Are you sure you want to go from a 2ghz system to a 1.7ghz (that is what the ULV specs call for)?

cheers ...

 

Is that laptop having Socket P or Socket M CPU socket?

Because all those ULV CPUs I've seen are BGA-mods for Socket M (old Napa systems)

Even if the sockets fit - beware that all ULV CPUs found on e.g. e-bay, etc... are BGA-mods, which means that the pins were not factory-made, but instead they were soldered manually to the CPU, since all ULV CPUs come in BGA (Ball Grid Array - for soldering on the motherboard) packages for OEMs.

Problem with those BGA mods is that the quality of the job is often very poor (and, in general - the quality can't be high since it is a manual re-work) and the soldered pins tend to fall off.

I'd stay away.

Actually, you can make "ULV" chip by yourself without changing the CPU, by undervolting and limiting the maximum frequency.

For example, if your CPU works at, say, 0.925V all the way up to 2 GHz, you can just use undervolting software, set all multipliers up to 2 GHz to the 0.925V and disable anything above it and, presto, you got yourself an "ULV" CPU with TDP very close to the 10W.

There are quite good undervolting tools available - e.g. CPUgenie or RMClock. CPUgenie even has a wizard that automatically finds the lowest stable voltages for you.

And, the great thing is that most Core 2 Duo CPUs are so good that they work on very low voltages already! Intel is even artificially limiting the lowest voltage on C2D CPUs in order to be able to get a price premium for those "ULV" parts. In reality, most of the notebook CPUs (except the worst-binned ones) would be able to operate in such way.

 

#psyq321 Didn’t know about the ebay moded CPU. But I can say that i have an Socket M/FCBGA6 on my Sony. And the reason I was looking for the option to install a U7700 on my Sony was to get lower CPU temp and even hop that the laptop could run whit out having the fan getting turned on. But I could try out the CPUgenie before thinking about the option of getting me a ULV CPU.

I was lookint at this one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-INTEL-CORE-DUO-U7700-1-33GHZ-2M-533-MOBILE-CPU-PGA_W0QQitemZ230329876634QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230329876634&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Can u say if it is a BGA mod version.

 

It has to be a modded BGA because Intel never sold ULV cpus in retail, only in OEM and only in BGA packaging.

Look at the picture - it says SLAUR for the CPU stepping

And then, go here:

http://www.cput-world.com/sspec/SL/SLAUR.html

So, yes, unfortunately it is a mod...

Basically, buying this is a gamble - it might work well and you might install it nicely and it would never break...

Or, it can be already DOA, since those pins could easily fall off during the transport...
Or, the pins could fall-off during the installation...
Or, worse, they might detach during the operation and leave your socket unusable...

My honest advice is to stay clear of BGA mods - unless you really are ready to experiment and can accept one of the consequences stated above.

By the way, that CPU is >slow< (I had it/still have it in my old Vaio TZ) - if you are using Windows Vista/Server 2008 or if you are using your notebook for anything more demanding than MS Office - you'll feel quite a slowdown compared to a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo.

 

Thnx psyq321 I will stay clear of the moded ULV. What about the Core Duo LV L2400. Dos that CPU work for me?

I found one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-Duo-mobile-CPU-L2400-SL9JT-D0-BGA-15W-TDP_W0QQitemZ270366367970QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270366367970&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

It looks okay but i dont know much about the mods. So I cant say if the old Core Duo LV series also have mods out there on ebay.

 

Ouch, this one is actually a BGA, not even a mod:

And the picture shows it:

http://images3.bilder-speicher.de/show.php?type=image_org&id=08102416751039

You can't install this unfortunately - BGAs are meant for soldering - so the only way to mount a BGA on a PGA socket is to solder-on the pins, which makes it a "BGA-mod"

--

Unfortunately there are no PGA ULV/LV chips All ULV/LV chips that Intel offers/offered are OEM-only BGA SKUs.

Why is so, I really don't know - I actually suggested to my Intel contacts to consider the "Undervolting" crew and start selling very low voltage and/or undervoltable CPUs in Retail as PGAs... I'd even be willing to pay a premium - say, the same way they make "extreme" CPUs they could make VID-unlocked "extreme low power" CPUs as well

 

I've seen a few PGA modded Socket M LV/ULV chips... here's a modded L2300 for example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-mobile-Co...hash=item350177348574&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

I've actually wanted to try out a PGA modded Socket P processor, but I've just never gotten around to it. There may still be BIOS issues that prevent these processors from being used in conventional Socket M and P machines. I'd love to see retail chips with unlocked VIDs as well. That'd be great.

 

I'm waiting for someone to offer SL9500 as a BGA-mod...

If the price is very low, I might just buy it to try it out and even to risk my HTPC mobo - it would be an awesome low-voltage performer - I guess they would have to enable VIDs below 0.9V for that CPU

 

So from the look of the picture I need to cut of one of the pins at the corner? Because of the fact that a normal Socket M CPU misses 2 pins at the corner. Is that correct? But will the CPU work after such a mod? Because that mod looks safer then adding a new pin that could fall of at any given time.

Looks like no ULV or LV versions of the Core Duo or Core 2 Duo will not work on a Socket M platform So the only option is to undervolt a normal CPU and hop that will get the CPU to go down in temperature and the CPU fan will stop spinning. But the real problem is most that the temp is set to 40 C degrees at level 1 fan (Low fan Speed) and at 55 C degrees the fan will be at level 5 (max fan speed). Maybe the best option is to mod the bios to 55 C for low speed and 70 C for full fan speed to get the fan idle speed down.