IBM Thinkpad 390E processor upgrade!

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irishconvict
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Alright everybody. I have seen huge threads on upgrading the 600E and 600X... even the 770..... But there is hardly anything at all on the trusty TP 390E. I would like to open this thread to all of you 390E owners (like myself) who want to upgrade their laptop CPU. At this point my assumptions are that this version runs on a 66mhz bus but can be modded (clock generator) to run at 100mhz which would allow for some of the P3 cpu's.

Has anyone had success upgrading their 390E to a higher CPU speed? I upgraded mine to a P2-400 but I do not have access to any higher mmc2 cpu's to test with. Let's get this thread rolling, please post any thoughts or findings from the 390E.

Thanks!
trillium
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I didn't see this thread until after I had posted my 390E upgrade experiments here:
http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/topic7639-30.html.

I have just achieved success at getting the 390E to run at 100MHz FSB, with the original P-II/300MHz CPU being recognized by the BIOS and WCPUID as a P-II running at 450MHz. Further detail in the linked thread.
x6xdemonx6x
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irishconvict wrote:Alright everybody. I have seen huge threads on upgrading the 600E and 600X... even the 770..... But there is hardly anything at all on the trusty TP 390E. I would like to open this thread to all of you 390E owners (like myself) who want to upgrade their laptop CPU. At this point my assumptions are that this version runs on a 66mhz bus but can be modded (clock generator) to run at 100mhz which would allow for some of the P3 cpu's.

Has anyone had success upgrading their 390E to a higher CPU speed? I upgraded mine to a P2-400 but I do not have access to any higher mmc2 cpu's to test with. Let's get this thread rolling, please post any thoughts or findings from the 390E.

Thanks!
From what I can tell the 390x seems to take the least about of moding if its got a p3 then its already running a 100fsb now the question is upgrading to a processor with speedstep though if you do that your jumping up to a 133mhz fsb if I am correct you can jump up to a 850 and stay in the 100mhz fsb problem there is making sure the processor is in the correct form factor MMC-2?!?! I know the 450 in my 390x is the same fsb and cache wise as the 850. If I can find a affordable one that will work I'll try it and inform you guys my man problem now is finding a 850 in a MMC-2 config most of the ones I see say nothing about it
trillium
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You should have no problems going to a P-III 850MHz MMC-2 CPU from your present 450MHz, but the CPU will run at its lower speed (700MHz) - I did this mod to a 390X model 2626-M0U that had a P-III 500MHz CPU. Sometime I plan to try Sharedoc's CPU hardware mod to see if I can get it to run at the 850MHz speed, but so far I haven't attempted that. Since the 390X is not speedstep-enabled I presume that wmarcusm's "Deepsleep" utility, http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/topic723 ... =deepsleep, would be required in combination with the hardware mod - there's lots of info on that and the CPU hardware mod in the 600E thread. I have read some suggestions that the cooling in a 390X might not be up to the task with the CPU running at max speed, but at 700MHZ mine seems to be coping so far!

I don't know if the above applies to the 390X versions that came with a P-II or Celeron 400MHz CPU that used a 66MHz FSB. I have seen a post somewhere stating that all 390X versions are capable of 100MHz FSB, but I can't verify that. But even if the FSB speed selection isn't signalled automatically when a P-III is plugged in, it's probable that the clock generator chip could be modded in a similar fashion to what I did successfully on a 390E.

The hardest part of the mod will be finding the 850MHz CPU!
x6xdemonx6x
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thanks for the info any idea if the processor from the a t21 p3-800mhz will work for a swap into the 390?
trillium
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I'm not familiar with the T21 but I've looked at the Hardware Maintenance Manual for it, and the illustration of the CPU in the parts exploded-view diagram doesn't look like an MMC-2 module, which is what you need for the 390X. Also, "Tawbook.pdf" lists the T21's CPU as "Intel® Mobile Pentium® III 750, 800, or 850MHz with Intel SpeedStep™ technology and 100MHz system bus" but doesn't say MMC-2, so I'm pretty sure the answer to your question is 'No'.

There are several "T...book.pdf" documents available that are quite interesting - they list specs of current and discontinued ThinkPads and can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitute/psref/ - checkout "psref.txt" for what's what. And the hardware manuals for the different models provide detailed parts information and details of how to disassemble the machine; the T21's manual can be downloaded at http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4UYM3F.
beatoem
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for tp390x anyway use sharedocs tp600e cpu mod recommendations.
deepsleep progam works a treat, 850 mghz no problem :wink:

the 390x supports p111 platform natively so no bios mods needed and cache works as per normal,however the 390e did not p111 platform ,so just like the tp600e will need bios manipulation to get past the 127error prompt,loading of powerleap or cpu msr will be needed to enable the cache,as will deepsleep + cpu speedstep mod neededed on all 390 variants ,to run max speed from speedstep cpus.
the 390x also can run 512 mb ram total,with x55ver bios.+is win 95,98,me,2k,2k3,xp + beleive vista os capable too.

nothing beats intelligent laptops,i mean the fairdinkum not the overhyped techno,babble rabble unsupported,overcomplexed dumber core xx. machines that require dozens of drivers + bug fixes to overcome the ruts if say one lost restore partitions.
user freindly thats what technology out to be about. :wink:
d saint"
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