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5920G: A Modding Odyssey


triturbo

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Cooling:

Previous stages.

To put things in perspective this laptop would hit 90s with T5750 (35W, 2GHz, 2MB cache, 667MHz FSB) and HD3470 (12W). Now - low 80s while both CPU (X9100 - 44W, 3GHz, 6MB cache, 1066MHz FSB) and GPU (HD4670, 35W) are overclocked (3.6GHz and 775/885).

CPU:

I've successfully upgraded to next-gen platform (PM45) CPU (X9100 E0) thanks to this mod.

There's a wire inside which makes PLL unlock and enables FSB overclocking.

I have a theory that a Quad is possible but it involves A LOT of work - A LOT of soldering and A LOT of pin isolation, as well as a small PCB board for some components :D

RAM:

Intel says 4GB max, but I had to try it and it turns out that 8GB are running just fine :D

GPU:

Well I've tried to get GT 550m and HD8850m working but sadly it's a no-go.

The first (GT 550m) lacks proper designation on the board in order to swap some resistors. It's not that impossible mod given that I ever come across the ASUS GT 240m (M90GN) boardview (since there are almost no markings on the GPU itself, the only way to know which is which, is through a boardview file).

The second one (HD8850m) is a definite no-go since the receiving board is M96 based and it's lacking couple of crucial connections. One of them is PWR GOOD, which is essential to get it running, since it tells the core that all is good, and it can run.

So in the end I'll stick with my old, but trusty HD4670.

HDD:

I'm running an mSATA SSD through adapter board, because of the less heat it generates (I'm all in for shaving couple of ºC from this poorly designed machine) :D Speeds limited to SATA II of course.

I have a theory that I can mod my vacant mPCIe slot to mSATA, since I have an useless second SATA connector on the MoBo. I've compared couple of schematics and everything that is different is the 4 data lines - in the mPCIe they are obviously PCIe lines, and in the mSATA - SATA. So all I have to do is cut the PCIe lines and solder the SATA lines from the connector which is conveniently placed right behind the mPCIe connector. I'm yet to try this mod, so so far it's just a theory.

I'm also running an optical-bay caddy with Hitachi's 7K1000, probably the last 7200rpm 2.5" HDD. Yes, my ODD connector is PATA (limited to 33MB/s), but I'm using this drive's response time, than the transfer speed.

Disply:

I'm currently running Dual CCFL WXGA (1280x800) display on single lamp only, since there is no space to add second inverter. Also the Dual CCFLs inverters are requiring different voltages than what 5920G supplies. There is a link in my signature to mod your cable for Dual LVDS - which grants support for higher resolution displays. I've tried it and it works :) Oh, and the current display is absolutely stunning compared to the stock POS.

Tried to get the best 15.4" display running M4400's WUXGA RGB LED - but sadly it doesn't work at all. Most displays would output picture even without back-light (you have to use flashlight in order to see it), but this one is totally dead :(

Misc:

I'm using 120W Cooler Master adapter and it's definitely needed!

The Intel Ultimate-N 6300 WiFi card works fine and has a slight improvement from 4965AGN and it also gives me some space for the cooling mod :D

I've swapped the keyboard (white) for a black one and in my opinion it looks WAY better.

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I don't think that it is possible, unless you have a pretty large vapor chamber. Even then the radiator would have to be on the opposite side, otherwise it would be pointless. This is the only way that I figured out - vapor chamber -> heat-pipes -> radiator. Of course I'm losing conductivity on each transition since I've used Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive, because I was too afraid to use solder. I believe solder would drop 5 or so degrees more.

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I'm also running an optical-bay caddy with Hitachi's 7K1000, probably the last 7200rpm 2.5" HDD. Yes, my ODD connector is PATA (limited to 33MB/s), but I'm using this drive's response time, than the transfer speed.

A 7K1000 can do 133MB/s on a SATA-II interface as shown by CDM benchmarks here.

PATA UDMA-5 is a 100MB/s interface. Using the PATA interface with a SATA-to-PATA caddy should see just over 90MB/s (68% of SATA-II) in real life as shown by results here for bulk transfers. Means it would be perfectly OK for backup.

The PATA interface would however limit you in other ways. It can't do AHCI's multi-threaded reads (eg: Q=4 in CrystalDiskmark) affecting boot/app opening performance if used as a main drive. In addition you won't get AHCI's ALPM slumber mode for reduced power consumption during battery operation.

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Thank you for the explanation, especially the reads and battery part. So I'll proceed to testing my mSATA theory. If successful I'll ditch the caddy :D

I've just rerun the CDM - 30MB/s cap, so I guess I'll have to use your advice. Still, I hope that the mSATA mod would be successful.

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I've just rerun the CDM - 30MB/s cap, so I guess I'll have to use your advice. Still, I hope that the mSATA mod would be successful.

TIuser has rolled that previous advice on overcoming the 30MB/s limit into a comprehensive post along with a binary package. The good reading is at http://forum.techinferno.com/desktop-storage/2108-diy-adding-ssd-hdd-storage-using-optical-bay-caddy-%5Bver-2-0%5D.html#post38289 .

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