got stuck with 855GM

[d7wang]

The datasheet says there is little hardware difference between 855GM and 855GME while the latter has an extra 25% memory and graphics performance. Some engineer in a notebook forum also claim that the north bridges can be exchanged between the two. Does anyone has any idea on how to modify a 855GM to a 855GME? Many thanks.

[DMB2000uk]

You're wanting to swap the northbridges on a laptop motherboard?

While it might be technically feasible, i doubt it'd work due to the BIOS not recognising the different northbridge.

Are the memory and graphics difference in synthetic benchmarks or actual real world?

I'm not convinced the performance difference in real world is going to be enough to justify attempting this.

Dan

[Zertz]

Everything is relative, 25% faster than a turtle isn't all that much faster ;)

Anyways, while I'm sure the two are pin compatible, since it's essentially the same chip but with disabled features, I'm also pretty sure it's not possible to swap them yourself. I might be wrong, but I don't think a softmod exists and you can't solder a Micro-FCBGA chip without proper equipment

[d7wang]

I also believe that 855GM is essentially the same chip with 855GME. My original purpose is to find out a method such as a pin trick to overclock or modify a 855GM to support 333MHZ memory frequency. However it seems nothing useful can be found by goolge on this point. Maybe the difference, or the secret switch, between the two chips is made on-die and is impossible to toggle outside. As for the 25% performance, I think every tiny improvement is a power of overclocker~ Whatever, thank you both.