Eee PC hacked to accommodate 1.2GHz Pentium M processor

In case you haven't noticed, the Eee PC has quickly become a favorite among folks that like to, shall we say, customize things, and it now looks like you can chalk up another big modification to the list of operations the laptop has gone under. This latest come to us from one "guryhwa," who managed to cram a 1.2GHz Pentium M processor into the laptop, giving it a bit of boost of the stock Celeron. Needless to this, this particular hack involves some soldering and a good deal of guts, but you apparently at least don't have to make any modifications to the BIOS. Without any changes, however, the processor only runs at 840MHz, although guryhwa's apparently working to improve that.

[Via Eee Site]

[John @ Feb 26th 2008 2:03PM]

Perhaps a software program like tweakbios will make your life easier?

I am sure the speed restriction isn't cause they are being mean, but because they don't know what to do with the extra heat disapation...

[Mark @ Feb 26th 2008 2:10PM]

No, they're not being mean, more like they didn't expect anyone to swap processors.

0.5watts doesn't seem like that much more heat to dissipate.

[Jack @ Feb 26th 2008 3:17PM]

Go EEE PC

[Jesse S @ Feb 26th 2008 2:08PM]

There's no step-by-step, how's it done?

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 2:40PM]

Step 1 - Acquire mad soldering skills
Step 2 - Practice your mad soldering skills
Step 3 - Give up before you fxxk up your Eee because your "mad soldering skills" are a joke.

[Eric M. @ Feb 26th 2008 2:11PM]

Gotta love the hackers!

[Joe @ Feb 26th 2008 2:23PM]

As long as he isn't trying to pass as a graphic designer... Inner bevel and drop shadow? All we need to make this complete is some lens flare!

Yeah, I know his name on the screenshot isn't the focus here. I just wish photoshop would have a warning whenever you apply inner bevel and drop shadow to an object.

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 2:46PM]

New Adobe inner bevel and drop shadow error message:

"Warning! Internet folk with too much time on their hands like to complain whenever they see this effect while they surf for Internet porn. Would you like to use a different effect to save yourself the hassle of listening to them whine and moan?"

[phanbouy @ Feb 26th 2008 4:29PM]

Warning: You Just Bought Hot Pockets!

[Matt @ Feb 26th 2008 2:13PM]

I would have guessed that the EEE used BGA for soldering the chip to the board to keep costs down, but does this mean that the processor is socketed?

[Andrew @ Feb 26th 2008 3:18PM]

I do have some of those "mad soldering skillz" but I would have to assume the CPU isn't soldered pin by pin, all 900 or so of them. There's no way to desolder that without some expensive specialized equipment (hot air soldering station with proper attachments, I think). Maybe there's something else to desolder before you get to actually lay your hand on the CPU, which itself is then socketed?

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 3:55PM]

Too bad your spelling "suckz"!

[Allan @ Feb 26th 2008 2:15PM]

It's nice to see people going at this so much and making progress... but really until there are things that people can easily do without too much headache (or soldering), I doubt many at all will really attempt it yet.

But more power to these people. Wish I had the ability.

[Tom @ Feb 26th 2008 2:25PM]

Needless to this?

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 2:47PM]

Me fail English? That unpossible!

[Andrew @ Feb 26th 2008 3:44PM]

Funny about the PCI cards with slot in processors. Aren't AMD planning something similar?

[John @ Feb 26th 2008 2:35PM]

Not to mention what a properly heated soldering iron can do to those pesky joints near the cpu...

while the cpu was out he should have soldered in a socket to change it again in the future...

.5 watt's may not be much more, but any other processor would up it up a bit... it doesn't seem like there is any fans in there either... perhaps the next mod is the eee plumbing to cool everything down...

Too bad it isn't like the old days where you could plop a pci card in with a processor on the card to pre-empt the onboard processor... perhaps with usb3 we will have the bandwidth to do small tweaks on some of this stuff...

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 2:53PM]

The Eee does have a fan, however it essentially functions as a "system cooler" rather than a cpu cooler.

The fan is located underneath the board while the CPU and bridge chips are on top attached to a metal plate under the keyboard. Passive cooling at it's best.

The fan does help to lower the ambient temperature, but it in no way directly cools any specific components.

[chrise524 @ Feb 26th 2008 3:04PM]

Sweet, now alls I need is an Eee PC

[Jack @ Feb 26th 2008 3:24PM]

test

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 3:52PM]

You Failed!

[Jack @ Feb 26th 2008 4:26PM]

Geez, all I was doing was following the instructions as given by Ryan to update your profile. You had to make a post first though to easily access your profile, and I didn't know of a better way than to post a test post. Lighten up. At least I have a pic for my avatar now.

[phanbouy @ Feb 26th 2008 4:30PM]

and you used the Centro with grey instead of Green keys? double fail!

[Jack @ Feb 26th 2008 4:34PM]

Uh, Sprint doesn't have the white/green combo? The pic is what I use, and I'm quite happy with both Sprint and the Centro thank you.

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 8:31PM]

@ Jack

"and I didn't know of a better way than to post a test post"

How about just waiting until there was another story to make an intelligent comment in?

Wait I see the problem......it's that whole "Intelligent Comment" thing that caught you off guard......carry on.

(Don't worry, I won't make fun of you for having a picture of a Centro....that's humiliating enough as it is!)

[roman.kim @ Feb 26th 2008 3:48PM]

Some people are able to get almost 1.2GHz from the stock 900MHz Celeron with software. My 4G runs at 981MHz, and temps don't go above 58c. I've also got 2GB of RAM in mine, just in case...

There is more then enough CPU power for basic computing in the EEE, the darn screen is the main limiting factor.

[Khris @ Feb 26th 2008 3:53PM]

I agree with this as well. I love my Eee but sometimes the screen resolution gets annoying.

I've tried the graphics driver hack to increase the resolution via scaling, however I found that to be more annoying than a cramped screen of READABLE text.

[iofthestorm @ Feb 26th 2008 10:33PM]

58C is rather hot you know, my desktop Athlon x2 5000+ with a 300mhz overclock doesn't get that hot.

[iofthestorm @ Feb 26th 2008 10:34PM]

Oh and that's at full load too, with an extremely hot graphics card right under the CPU.

[Oinquer @ Feb 27th 2008 5:39AM]

i never messed with Celeron...but the processors in the 700 - 1000mhz mark usually used to get hotter then the AM2 new socket and Intel new ones...
i had a 700Mhz duron the would easily get in the 40º mark...that not full load...and my Pentium 1000mhz would be something like it. (stock cooling)

[BigD145 @ Feb 26th 2008 4:54PM]

Keeping it underclocked would seem like a good idea. I have a motherboard with an issue like this that underclocks a 1Ghz down to 700Mhz and it means the difference between needing a fan and not needing a fan. I'd put up with a slightly slower clock in order to get rid of a Celeron.