Sony Vaio X505 going more eXtreme...

[fem]

Just received the Portege lower case with the PM773 from the UK... my X505 is ready to go to college!!!

[fem]

And off it goes to Anh………

I actually can’t help feeling a bit nervous… like a parent who sends their kid away to college/university or something! But they know their kid will come back better “equipped” !

[nullall]

Well, congrats on the upgrade plans and I hope you will get your baby back ready to roll!
I have an X505 CP version that I got few years ago from Japan.

I simply think this is one of the most unbelievable feats ever achieved in laptop design!

I would also like to extend the life of my x505 at some point, just because it is such a wonderful little machine.

I am wondering about a few things. You have mentioned that:"Pentium M processor ULV 773 (1.3Ghz, 400Mhz FSB, 2MB cache), is the top processor that can be fitted in the X505"

I am wondering how you determined this and if your conclusion considered all the "latest" model intel processor lineup? I know that at the time of the X505's design it's motherboard was the first 10 layer "sandwich" design processors out there ( I read this in the developer story of the X505 long time ago),
and they needed to do this in order to be able to fit it in such a small space.
Now, given this I am wondering if the above mentioned replacement motherboard has the same architecture, because if not, then possibly with technology having improved so much in the past 7 years, maybe they are able to create way more powerful motherboards/chips using the "sandwich" architecture.

Please forgive my non-technical description of what I referred to as "sandwich" architecture as I am not an expert in this area, but would be really interested to hear an expert's opinion on my question,so if anyone reading this has a good knowledge of processor/motherboard design and could enlighten us all with your help, I will, for one, certainly appreciate it.

Again good luck fem and keep us posted on the progess!

[ceehoppy1st]

I'm certainly no expert, but figuring out cpu's is mostly just detective work. You start out by looking at high end options for your pc (or a similar model) Example: For our UX's the "top dog" from the factory is the U2200 1.2 GHz core2solo. Then you can dig around Intel's website for specification charts where cpu's are grouped together by "family". Look for processors with the same socket type, FSB, & similar thermal load (watts). Top of the "U" code list is the U7700 1.33GHZ core2duo. It has 10W vs 5.5W, but is manageable. There are other cpu's that will physically fit the UX mobo, but use so much power & dump heat (high watts) that they are unstable/unusable for the UX.

[fem]

I guess this, more or less, is what Anh did for the X505 as well. And since he successfully upgraded his X505 to the PM753 @ 1.2Ghz, the PM773 @ 1.3Ghz (this is the top of the line for the PM ULV processors) is also possible, since these two CPUs have the exact same architecture and characteristics. I do not know if other CPU series fit the X505…

nullall, I am pretty sure that if they (Sony) want, they can develop a more advanced sandwich mobo for the X505, but with the stock mobo, we can only change the CPU. We are not talking about changing the whole mobo...

Anyway, I am not a tech-geek either. I am pretty sure Anh can enlighten us in this respect.

[sloomy]

Is there any news in this project?

What about the micro-Dimms von Sony? Could they not suit into the boad?

s.

[fem]

My x505 is on Anh's hands... I am waiting to hear from him too. Which micro-DIMMs you refer to? Can you post a link?

[swann]

My x505 is on Anh's hands... I am waiting to hear from him too. Which micro-DIMMs you refer to? Can you post a link?

Please let me know when the machine gets back and the rest of the story. Its a little like up tuning a Ferrari? Swann

[bigs]

any news on this upgrade fem?

[fem]

Not yet. I just asked Anh for an update. I have been abroad for several months and going back to the US at the end of August. I will post when I hear back from him.