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Crayon Shin Chan
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How to Soft Find out if CPU is soldered?

Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:57 pm

I have a VIA C3 laptop here. It's a Ezra C3, a C5C C3. That is, a 0.15 or 0.13 micron C3, which explains why it still runs a bit hot for a processor that is purported to be notebook friendly.

Anyway, CPU frequency scaling is terribly unstable on this CPU in Linux. I'm thinking of getting a Pentium III-M CPU and plugging them in (hey, it's only RM50 and guaranteed to be faster than this) but I'm worried what will happen when it turns out my C3 CPU is soldered into the motherboard.
How do I find out if it's soldered or not? Is there some kind of software utility that will tell you that? (I don't have a screwdriver small enough to get these screws out)

The motherboard's chipset is a PN266/VT8235. Anybody know if this chipset is only used with soldered CPUs?
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Re: How to Soft Find out if CPU is soldered?

Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:59 pm

Crayon Shin Chan wrote:
I don't have a screwdriver small enough to get these screws out


Then how are you going to change the CPU anyway?
 
Taddeusz
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Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:20 pm

I don't know of any utilities off the top of my head. Your best bet is to go to a hardware store and buy a set of jeweler's screwdrivers. They come in handy anyway and no nerd worth their salt should be without them.
 
Buub
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Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:28 pm

How is software going to determine whether pins are soldered? Maybe it will send out a little scout bot to go check? Of course, then you have the risk of it turning out to be the evil bot and not the good bot. Danger Will Robinson! :lol:
 
Crayon Shin Chan
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Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:59 pm

okay... well I thought that if CPUID could find out what socket/process these CPUs are made on, it could probably tell me if it's part of the MB or not.
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Taddeusz
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Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:05 pm

I don't know how much screwdrivers are in Malaysia but over here you can pick up a decent little set at Radio Shack for for just under $15 US.
 
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Sat Mar 04, 2006 12:52 pm

There's no way to tell without visually inspecting it. Software cannot tell if there is a direct solder connection or a socket.
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Buub
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Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:16 pm

Crayon Shin Chan wrote:
okay... well I thought that if CPUID could find out what socket/process these CPUs are made on, it could probably tell me if it's part of the MB or not.
Brace wallet time.

The CPU (and thus CPUID) has nothing to do with whether its soldered or not. Any CPU may be soldered or socketed. It's not like there is a soldered version and a socketed version, each with different IDs.

Basically, it's a design choice made by the manufacturer. Soldering is a lot less expensive than adding a ZIF socket. But of course, it makes the motherboard non-upgradable.
 
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Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:24 pm

Yeah, I should've noted before: When we say that a CPU is compatible with Socket A (or whatever), that doesn't mean it must go into a physical socket. All it means is that the CPU's electrical pinout conforms to the Socket A spec (i.e. which signal is on which pin). A mobo maker is always free to drop the CPU directly onto the motherboard, and solder it into place.
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