Any chance to downgrade laptop CPU?

[RyanM]

Office Depot's running a wicked sale on the Compaq R3000Z CTO laptop, under $440 shipped after mail-in-rebates. After I make some modifications to the CTO setup, it should still come in under $700 after rebates and be a pretty bitchin' system.

Thing is, it comes with an Athlon XP-M 2800+. Ideally, I'd like to downgrade the CPU to something like a 2000+ or so, but unfortunately, that's the slowest one they offer.

I was wondering if anyone knew about whether or not most Compaq laptop mobos support slower CPU speed settings, so I could buy a 2000+ or something like it aftermarket and pop it in?

Also, anyone ever see undervolting ability on a Compaq/HP lappy?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[silverpig]

See if you can find an overclocking utility for the board in it and then underclock it.

 

[Mingon]

Right mark clock should be able to do it, but why bother the cpu is a small factor in battery life. Reducing screen brightness etc. will have a greater effect.

 

[RyanM]

Originally posted by: Mingon
Right mark clock should be able to do it, but why bother the cpu is a small factor in battery life. Reducing screen brightness etc. will have a greater effect.

I'll be taking all measures; 12-cell instead of 8-cell battery, screen brightness, lower power save thresholds, and the underclocking. I know it won't be the biggest saver, but if I can reduce the CPU speed to around 1.33 GHz, I should have great performance for simple tasks and basic multitasking, while saving a few watts here and there.

I'd totally forgotten about software overclocking tools. Any recommendations on decent ones? Is the one you mentioned called "Mark Clock"?

 

[RyanM]

Here's the final CTO specs on the notebook. Any thoughts?

Before anyone says anything about the RAM or choice of optical, I can always throw an extra 512MB SODIMM in cheaper than they'd charge to add an extra 256MB module, and I personally have no need for burning a CD on the road. This isn't a desktop replacement either, so any more than 40GB of HD space is overkill. Frankly I'd settle for 20GB.

Edit Qty Compaq Presario R3000Z $953.99

Processor AMD XP-M 2800+ (1.6 GHz) - Edit
Notebook Display 15.4" WVA WSXGA+ (1680x1050) - Edit
Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM (1x256MB) - Edit
Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2 - Edit
Hard Drive 40 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive - Edit
CD/DVD Drive 8X DVD Drive - Edit
Video Card 32MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(TM) 4 420 Go - Edit
Modem/PC Card 54g(TM) Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN - Edit
Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Edit

After Rebates $673.99

 

[thunderroller]

set normal settings

 

[win32asmguy]

My friend has one of the A64 version of these and has no problem adjusting the multiplier from 4x to 9x (resulting in 800mhz to 1800mhz) It does seem to make a major difference on battery life, also... a good 45 minutes or so on the 8-cell. Although its still under 3 hours, so a centrino setup might be a better alternative if you can find one that takes dual batteries and is at the same price point.

 

[RyanM]

A Centrino under $800 is a rarity, and one with a 15.4" screen that does 1680x800 under $1000 is imfreakingpossible to find.

Can he just lower the multipliers via the bios, or does he use a software program?

I've yet to find any leads on any via google.

 

[vegetation]

You do realize the xp-m runs at 800mhz idle and speeds up under load, like a Pentium-M so there isn't a whole lot you can do to the cpu, aside from locking the cpu at 800mhz which would give you a few minutes extra of battery life.

 

[bearxor]

I have a Athlon XP-m 1400+ I'll trade you for your 2800+

But seriously, I don't think downgrading your processor is going to help, unless you downgrade to something with a lower voltage.

Also, are you sure that 2800+ is running at 1.6ghz? I was looking at getting a 2600+, and it runs at 2ghz. The 3000+ mobile runs at 2.2ghz. I'd imagine the 2800+ is somewhere in between.

But, if you are intrested in a trade, just let me know

 

[RyanM]

That's C&P straight from the Office Depot CTO configuration page, so I'd assume it's right.

When I was looking on newegg, I couldn't find the 2800+ Mobile, so I never doubled checked.