Hi,

I recently purchased a Y510 with a T2330. I realize that if one were to upgrade their processor it would void the warranty so lets keep this as a hypothetical scenario. Now, i realize that since this model is available with both T5450 and T5550 socket p processors that there should be no issue with compatablilty there.

Does anyone know if the system could be upgraded to the T7**0 or the newer T8**0 or T9**0 (800Mhz 45nm) processors?

 I know they are compatable with the intel chipset but am unsure about whether the drivers available would be available to support it? If only some processors are compatable with the Lenovo bios which cpu's are supported?

Thank you very much for your input and opinions.

Ian


Message Edited by ian_ryeng on 04-17-2008 07:22 PM

I have upgraded my cpu to the 9xxx series. The system automatically adjusts the bus to 800Mhz for these.

yours
el stunnerifico

Thank you very much for your help :smileyhappy:

If any of the notebook hardware gurus would care to provide a suggested list of available CPUs that could be easily dropped into the Lenovo Y510 I think many of us would be most appreciative.  I realize it isn't an upgrade for the faint-hearted.  But then some of us are natural born riverboat gamblers anyway.

My Y510 (from Office Depot) came with a T2330 CPU at 1.6Ghz.  Some others I've seen reviewed apparently came with a T5450 CPU at 1.66Ghz.  Perhaps there are other options as well.  Would this computer support a 2.4Ghz cpu?  If so, which one?  I'm particularly interested in CPUs with larger L2 caches and perhaps faster clock speeds.

What would be great would be firm knowledge that say, something like a T7200 or T7800 or T9300 could be simply swapped into the cpu socket and all would be well with no bios tinkering required.  The cost of these upgrades is a bit prohibitive for experimental purposes.  :)  But if I knew without a doubt that the T9300 would work without compromise I'd likely save up some coins and buy one real soon.  2.5Ghz and 6Mb L2 cache would surely be worthwhile!

I'm not suggesting that I'm ready to do this upgrade.  But it would be a welcome "plan B" option should I feel the need for added performance in the future.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.




Message Edited by Hawk521 on 04-23-2008 08:43 AM

Message Edited by Hawk521 on 04-24-2008 06:12 AM

My T9300 cpu arrived today from NewEgg.   The cpu swap on my T2330 based Y510 went smoothly.  I did apply some thermal paste on the heat sink contact area to get a good thermal connection.  Buttoned it up (whole operation took about 20 minutes) and held my breath while I turned it on.  The words "LENVOVO" never meant more than they did on the boot screen.  It was ALIVE!  It booted up and gave a "new hardware detected" message and indicated it was installing the device driver.  When completed, it stated that a restart was required.

After this reboot it seemed fine.  I even ran a benchmark or two just to make sure it would take a load.  But shortly I got an error that "Digital Cable device registration" had a problem and had stopped.  **bleep**...  I didn't know to expect this one...but happily a Google search found the solution.  There is a DRM folder that I had to empty and restart.  After that the Digital Cable error went away and all is well.  I still don't know what that is all about, but it appears to be a common problem for overclockers and signficant cpu upgrades.

So - the swap of a new T9300 for the original T2330 is indeed virtually "plug and play".   The only anomaly I've seen is the two core cpus always display a few degrees difference in their operation temperatures.  Core 1 is invariably a bit cooler than core 2.  Not much (a few degrees F) but it seems odd.  Perhaps this is normal... The Arctic Silver installation info indicates that sometimes it takes a couple hundred hours of operation to get maximum efficiency out of the thermal paste.  Time will tell.

Anyway, for those who have been reluctant to pursue such an upgrade, I'll just say that my experience was golden.  Not much harder than swapping the RAM.  Now - anybody need my old T2330 cpu?  lol

BTW - the simple Vista experience index value has improved.  On my factory stock Y510 it was 3.1 (with graphics being the lowest performer).  After the upgrade (including an upgrade to 4gb of RAM) it now registers 3.5 and the processor value is 5.4!  Every test value increased with the single exception of primary hard disk which remained at 5.2.

I am happy with the upgrade.  Was a bit of a gamble to spend $325 on a cpu upgrade to a machine that I bought new for $529 a few months ago.  But then, I've got a lot of performance now and probably couldn't replicate it with a new Lenovo at anything near the same investment.  The experiment was worthwhile!

Cool deal hawk521!  Thanks for the info.  After my warranty expires I may do the same.
And if you seriously don't want your T2330, I could paypal you for the shipping cost. (I'm in NC also)
That's what's in mine, and a backup might be a good idea.