Compaq Presario CQ56 - 160SV Core 2 Duo T9500 Upgrade

[henri08]

Hello everyone!

I have a compaq presario cq56 - 160sv Pentium T4500 with a GL40 chipset and i want to upgrade to Core 2 duo T9500. I have done research about compatibility and both have the same TDP and FSB.

I wanted to know if i need to update Bios before i do the Cpu upgrade. Here is a photo of the motherboard and bios version. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

motherboard and bios

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

You shouldn't have to, but if you want to there are two things to know:

1. The BIOS update was only written to be run on Windows Vista and maybe Windows 7.

I have no idea what will happen if you try and run it on W10.

It may work fine, or it may permanently wreck your notebook.

2. HP retired support for the model series since it is over 10 years old, which means that there are no drivers available for your notebook anymore.

This is the only reputable 3rd party website that I know of that has drivers for your notebook:

The have BIOS version F.15 available.

HP Compaq Presario CQ56-160SV BIOS (driverscollection.com)

[henri08]

Hi Paul, thank you very much for your reply.

Ok, I should do the CPU update without updating the Bios first, but if I run into a problem after the upgrade, would you suggest I update the Bios after?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Only in that situation if the T9500 didn't work, would I risk updating the BIOS.

But you still have the risk of wrecking the PC.

I think the processor is going to work without a BIOS update.

[henri08]

I understand. I will update here my feedback after the upgrade.

Thank you again

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

Looking forward to reading about your successful processor upgrade project.

[henri08]

The cpu upgrade worked perfectly, without bios update. Thanks 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome and thanks for letting us know that the T9500 processor works fine in your notebook without the need to update the BIOS.

Hopefully, you are getting better performance out of your notebook with it.