Modding Toshiba X205 laptop

[Cedar234]

Hi, I would like to ask for a little help as modifying this laptop is getting a little beyond me at this point. I have done countless hours of research into this laptop in trying to build it into my perfect computer.

I know there's other options out there, but cost isn't an issue, time, or even cooling in the laptop. What I'd like to do is modify the motherboard/BIOS to support the Q9000 cpu. I've found that intel shows the pm965 chipset

does not support anything further than the X9000 cpu, nor more than 4GB of ram. People online have reported that they were able to get 6gb and 8gb of ram to work without any modification.

I have found this:

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=110620

 

and see how they have soldered a few wires here and there, insulated a few cpu pins, use throttlestop to get the second 2 cores at stock frequency. I do have the soldering skills needed, and am able to insulate pins needed but

I really have no idea where or what to solder to since this is a toshiba, not a lenovo. So according to them, and quite a few success stories there, the pm965 chipset can support 1066MHz FSB and also 4 cores. So if I could get a

little expert advice or maybe a bit of help on how to go about this, it would all be greatly appreciated. 

 

Also, power draw is not an issue. I am not interested in running or installing the SLI graphics cards in this laptop, I only have the 8700m 512mb. Cooling is not an issue as i've had the X7900 in this computer before and it did just fine.

no alarming temperatures. I know I may need to add the Q9000 microcode into the bios, and I know that intel's specifications list that the pm965 only supports dual cores, but in the forum i linked to, displays that it very well could have

been a limitation intel put into place for whatever reason. Also again, it's not about the money, I know I can just go out there and buy a better computer for less than I'm going to put into this laptop. But it's not about that. It's just a

project I created for myself. I own much faster, newer, computers. I just want to see how much I can get out of this, hopefully very potential machine. Any comments telling me just "do not do it", will be ignored.

 

I've already swapped out the LCD also, from a 1440x900 panel to a 1920x1200 panel. works flawlessly.

[Enter Plasma]

I had a Fujitsu T5010 I tried to mod in the same way, I tell you it's going to be a pita.

My chipset for example was technically able to support quad cores, but the bios apparently didn't support it. A friend of mine who's big into modding laptops also told me that the power delivery on the mobo was too weak for it and to even think to try running it I would need a higher wattage power brick, which made sense.

I was working on a tight budget unfortunately, didn't have anyone helping me to mod the bios, and in the end I broke the screen in an accident so... Well it ended up sadly.

 

I wish you good luck  

[Cedar234]

I may just buy a quad core and slap it in and see if it just plain old works. cause i know with this toshiba, it definitely can power it because my x9000 cpu is running 24/7 at 3.8GHz 1.5v highest temp i ever see is 85C

[Cedar234]

I went ahead and bought a Q9100 and a X9100 just to see what i can get working in this laptop. will post updates! (items in the mail now, china post)

[SlipperyPete]

On 8/7/2017 at 2:54 PM, Cedar234 said:

I went ahead and bought a Q9100 and a X9100 just to see what i can get working in this laptop. will post updates! (items in the mail now, china post)

im excited to hear the result. good luck

 

[Cedar234]

Time to have some fun before my Q9100 comes in the mail. My x9100 is here. Going to solder on a second heat pipe for better cooling and going to overclock it as much as I can. And don't worry about the crimps on the pipe. I heated it up so the pressure pushed the crimps out mostly. Pipe fully works still.

[Cedar234]

Accidentally burned a hole in my bed haha but I think it looks good for my first time modding a cooling system like this. BTW dead mobo. Wouldn't do this on my working mobo

[Cedar234]

Well I couldn't get it to post. I removed the BSEL1 pin to make the mobo think its 800MHz but it didn't work. Oh well. The cooler is better by the way. Only by about 5°C so I won't really be over locking more than I have already. 

 

The plastic on this laptop isn't how I remembered either. I guess being 10? 11? Years old, it really made the plastic brittle. Lots of the screw mounting points and bushings are broken. Computer is falling apart. From sitting on a shelf for most of its life, not being used. Oh well. It was fun to tinker. Back to my i7 3615mq MacBook now.

[Cedar234]

update in case anyone cares, had successfully hackintoshed this machine. now it can play youtube with no issues, the subwoofer isn't supported via macOS so found a 3watt 2.1 miniamp on eBay. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-5V-5W-Bass-2-1CH-3D-Surround-3W-2-Dual-Stereo-Power-Amplifier-Board-Mini-AMP/172837484141?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

wired and soldered it all in there. the laptop sounds clearer, louder, runs way faster on macOS, sierra. and runs even cooler! 

[SlipperyPete]

2 hours ago, Cedar234 said:

update in case anyone cares, had successfully hackintoshed this machine. now it can play youtube with no issues, the subwoofer isn't supported via macOS so found a 3watt 2.1 miniamp on eBay. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-5V-5W-Bass-2-1CH-3D-Surround-3W-2-Dual-Stereo-Power-Amplifier-Board-Mini-AMP/172837484141?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

wired and soldered it all in there. the laptop sounds clearer, louder, runs way faster on macOS, sierra. and runs even cooler! 

im super happy that this worked and that you updated the post, i followed with the hope to see an update like this. nice job