Sony Vaio F Series Laptop (PCG-F480)

[imported_goku]

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=155371



"I purchased an MMC2 PIII 850MHZ processor off ebay. I installed it into my laptop and it works, but there is a problem. First the bios detects it as a 1000mhz processor which doesn't really bother me but when I boot into windows, CPUZ detects it as a 700MHZ processor which is the speedstep speed of the processor, so it's running slower than it should be. The laptop has got a power management utility so when I switched to peformance mode, it locks up. So I install intel's speedstep program for the older speedstep series and it detects it as running in battery mode, well when I switch to performance mode, the laptop once agian locks up. So I'm wondering how I should go about fixing this issue.

I've been trying to figure out how much the F series laptops have evolved and if I could simply upgrade the bios in my laptop to that of the PCG-F690 which has an 850MHZ processor with the only difference being it's Rage mobility video card (opposed to neomagic 256AV+ of the 500 series laptops)



So I'm wondering think it's possible/good idea to download a bios update from a newer F series based laptop?

F-590K Laptop= http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...l?mdl=PCGF590K

Very similar specs and mentions it running with a 750mhz PIII processor.

F-480 Laptop= http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...pl?mdl=PCGF480

The specifications of both laptops are very similar and also this page brings me to the conclusion that a bios flash for this laptop would work.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...id=779&os_id=6
(Click on See all applicable models and Operating Systems) and read the list, it mentions the 590K. That bios is from 2001. But I was wondering if I could instead upgrade to a bios that is from 2003 from the 590K page instead which only mentions the 590K laptop.
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...id=763&os_id=6

I'm a bit confused as to why one bios would pertain to a huge series of laptops and then a even newer version of the bios pertaining to only a limited number of laptops. Also can anyone tell me what they changed in the newer bioses besides 'operating system compatibility' and also whether or not using the new bios with windows 98 would be a bad idea.."

 

[imported_goku]

bump

 

[FelixDeCat]

Try adjusting the FSB if you can.

 

[imported_goku]

FSB is at it's correct speed of 100MHZ, when speedstep kicks in, the clock multiplier is what changes, not the FSB.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Originally posted by: goku
FSB is at it's correct speed of 100MHZ, when speedstep kicks in, the clock multiplier is what changes, not the FSB.

Yup, you got youreself a doozy here.

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: goku

I'm a bit confused as to why one bios would pertain to a huge series of laptops and then a even newer version of the bios pertaining to only a limited number of laptops. Also can anyone tell me what they changed in the newer bioses besides 'operating system compatibility' and also whether or not using the new bios with windows 98 would be a bad idea.."

first bios version= all those laptops use the same motherboard

newer bios revision= different motherboard than the first batch, hence new bios

you cannot flash bios to the wrong mainboard without killing it, though it might be worth a shot if you are positive the two series are using the exact same mobo.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: the cobbler

Originally posted by: goku

I'm a bit confused as to why one bios would pertain to a huge series of laptops and then a even newer version of the bios pertaining to only a limited number of laptops. Also can anyone tell me what they changed in the newer bioses besides 'operating system compatibility' and also whether or not using the new bios with windows 98 would be a bad idea.."

first bios version= all those laptops use the same motherboard

newer bios revision= different motherboard than the first batch, hence new bios

you cannot flash bios to the wrong mainboard without killing it, though it might be worth a shot if you are positive the two series are using the exact same mobo.

Well I know that all three series (400, 500 and 600) use the 440BX chipset with the ONLY DIFFERENCES that I can see being that they have a bit different video cards. The 500 series over the 400 has the neomagic 256AV+ instead of vanilla 256av, the 600 series has a Mobility Rage Video card. Otherwise they're all the same size, have the same features and I'd assume have interchangeable parts.

 

[FmrLCpl]

goku,

I plan to upgrade my FS430 (PIII 450MHz), can you please tell me which socket does the VAIO PIII use? I upgraded the hard drive last week to 20 GB, but did not see the CPU (wasn't really looking for it at the time) Do you have a link to the instruction of how to replace the CPU?

So far, I replaced the hard drive from 6 to 20 GB,
Added memory from 64MB to 256 MB
Added a network card, and a wireless network card.
This unit is mainly use to surf the web during vacation

Thanks