MSI FX603 BIOS Update for i7-920XM

Hello All,

Some has made this upgrade & why I snagged a i7-920XM on eBay from a seller with 100% rating (feedback is the first thing I look at), Many reported upgrading 1st gen i3, i5 & i7 to the CPU and has 35 positive reviews. So that gave me hope & normally, upgrading CPU's are no issue for me.

Trying to replace my i7-640M (self-upgrade from i5-480M) to the 920XM & it wouldn't boot, although something was running, the cPU was rather warm, fan running & USN notebook cooler was also running. So that's an indicator that it's (for now), halfway compatible.

Had to go recover from the EC feature just to get back to where I was, holding down power button for 30 seconds after shutdown (battery was already removed), Allowed the notebook to stand while sleeping, then the notebook fired right up as normal, with i7-640M installed. Maybe I should consider myself lucky, the procedure doesn't work 100% of the time.

My thoughts were that the GT425M would take over for graphics, as the 920XM has no onboard, the way I like it.

Is there a custom BIOS for the MSI FX603-064US that can make this CPU run? Or if I can be pointed to a source that creates modified BIOS, that's OK also.

Thanks for any answers to get me to the upgrade, if possible.

Cat

 

Different family of CPU's, they use different chipsets.

As far as I know, the best you can put in your mobo is the Core i7-640M.

 

Make a dump of your BIOS and upload it here

I don't know if its going to help or if the CPU will get throttled hard.

 

Thanks for the assistance!

Am trying to find a tool to extract the BIOS to have a dump, tried two tools (ftpw.rar & BIOS dump tool.zip) & no luck, the first wouldn't allow the extraction, the second, notebook froze & had to force a shutdown.

If no luck with Windows tools, will have to try a Linux alternative, the notebook dual boots Windows 7 & Linspire.

BTW, as far as the i7-920XM compatibility goes, CPU-Z reports Havendale & Clarksdale on the MB tab. This i7-920XM is Clarksdale.

Will keep trying other tools, if anyone know of one that can get the Aptio BIOS, please let me know.

Cat

 

If this is of any help, here's a copy of some file, looks to have came from fparts ran above. Putting in Spoiler tags so as not to have a half page post.

Spoiler: fparts

; For Cherry Trail and Braswell platforms

;

; rev 2.8.1

;

; These settings are not part recommendations, nor are they an indication these parts are supported on Intel platforms.

;

; All parts on this list have NOT been validated, and it is the responsibility of the customer to validate the flash parts used on their platform.

;

; Flash parts may change opcodes and architectures so please refer to the respective flash datasheet and errata/application note and flash vendor to confirm.

;

;

;

;Description of fields:

; 1) Display name

; 2) Device ID (2 or 3 bytes)

; 3) Device Size (in bits in hexadecimal (0x) notation, For example 8 Mbit = (8*1024*1024) = (8,388,608) convert to hex 0x800000

; 16Mbit=0x1000000, 32Mbit=0x2000000, 64Mbit=0x4000000, 128Mbit=0x8000000, 256Mbit=0x10000000, 512Mbit=0x20000000

; 4) Block Erase Size (in bytes - 256, 4K, 64K)

; 5) Block Erase Command

; 6) Write Granularity (1 or 64)

; 7) Enable Write Status Register Command (1- True, 0- False)

; 8) Chip Erase Command

; 9) Chip Erase Timeout (in milliseconds)

;

; Winbond

W25Q40BV, 0XEF4013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q80BV, 0xEF4014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q16BV(CV), 0xEF4015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q32BV(FV), 0xEF4016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q64BV(CV)(FV), 0xEF4017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q128BV(FV), 0xEF4018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q16DW, 0xEF6015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q64DW, 0XEF6017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q128FW, 0xEF6018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q64FW, 0XEF6017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q16DW, 0xEF6015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q32DW, 0xEF6016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q32FW, 0XEF6016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q40BW, 0XEF5013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

W25Q80BW, 0XEF5014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

; Macronix

MX25L1605A(D)(36E)(06E), 0xC22015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L3205A(D)(06E), 0xC22016, 0x2000000, 0x10000, 0xD8, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

MX25L6405D(45E)(36E)(06E)(73E), 0xC22017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L12805D(45E)(36E)(35E), 0xC22018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L8005(35E)(06E)(36E), 0xC22014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L3225D(35D)(36D), 0xC25E16, 0x2000000, 0x10000, 0xD8, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

MX25L25635E(L25735E), 0xC22019, 0x10000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L1635D, 0xC22415, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L6455E, 0xC22617, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX2L12855E, 0xC22618, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25L4006E, 0xC22013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25U6435F, 0xC22537, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25U12835F, 0xC22538, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

MX25U1635E, 0xC22535, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000



; Micron/Numonyx

M25PE10, 0x208011, 0x100000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PE20, 0x208012, 0x200000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PE40, 0x208013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PE80, 0x208014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PE16, 0x208015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PX80, 0x207114, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PX16, 0x207115, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PX32, 0x207116, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

M25PX64, 0x207117, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q16, 0x20BA15, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q128, 0x20BA18, 0x8000000, 0x10000, 0xD8, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q032, 0x20BA16, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q064, 0x20BA17, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q064Ax1E, 0x20BB17, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q128Ax1E, 0x20BB18, 0x8000000, 0x10000, 0xD8, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q032Ax1E, 0x20BB16, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

N25Q016Ax1E, 0x20BB15, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

; Atmel/Adesto

AT26DF081, 0x1F4500, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 1, 0, 0x60, 20000

AT25/26DF081A, 0x1F4501, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 20000

AT25DF081, 0x1F4502, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0X60, 20000

AT26DF161, 0x1F4600, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 35000

AT26DF161A, 0x1F4601, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0X20, 64, 0, 0x60, 35000

AT25DF161, 0x1F4602, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 35000

AT25DQ161, 0x1F8600, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 35000

AT25/26DF321, 0x1F4700, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 60000

AT25DF321A, 0x1F4701, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 60000

AT25DF641(A), 0x1F4800, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 120000

AT25DQ641, 0x1F8800, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 120000

; SST/Microchip

SST25VF016B, 0xBF2541, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 1, 0, 0x60, 50

SST25VF032B, 0XBF254A, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 1, 0, 0x60, 50

SST25VF040B, 0xBF258D, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 1, 0, 0x60, 50

SST25VF080B, 0xBF258E, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 1, 0, 0x60, 50

SST25VF064C, 0xBF254B, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 50

SST26WF016B, 0xBF2651, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 50

; Chingis

Pm25LV080B, 0x9D7F13, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

Pm25LV016B, 0x9D7F14, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

Pm25LQ080, 0x7F9D44, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

Pm25LQ016, 0x7F9D45, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

Pm25LQ032, 0x7F9D46, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

Pm25LD512C2, 0x7F9D20, 0x20000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xC7, 80000

; EON

EN25Q40A, 0x1C3013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25F80, 0x1C3114, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25Q80B, 0x1C3014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25F16, 0x1C3115, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25F32, 0x1C3116, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25Q32B, 0x1C3016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25Q64, 0x1C3017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25Q128, 0x1C3018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25Q16(A), 0x1C3015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH16A, 0x1C7015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH32A, 0x1C7016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH256, 0x1C7019, 0x10000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH128A, 0x1C7018, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH64A, 0x1C7017, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25QH80, 0x1C7014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25F64, 0x1C3117, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

EN25S64, 0x1C3817, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

; AMIC

A25L016, 0x373015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25L032, 0x373016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25LQ32A, 0x374016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25LQ16, 0x374015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25L040, 0x373013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25L080, 0x373014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

A25LQ64, 0x374017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

; GigaDeivce

GD25Q80, 0xC84014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25Q16, 0xC84015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25Q32, 0xC84016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25Q64, 0xC84017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25Q128, 0xC84018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25LQ16, 0xC86015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25LQ32C, 0xC86016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25LQ64, 0xC86017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25LQ128C, 0xC86018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25LQ256C, 0xC86019, 0x10000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

GD25B64B, 0xC84017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

; Spansion, 0xEF for old dies (S25FL0 series) from Winbond, 0x01 for thier own dies (S25FL1xx series)

S25FL164K, 0x014017, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

S25FL132K, 0x014016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

S25FS128S, 0x012018, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

S25FS256S, 0x012019, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

; Fidelix

FM25Q16, 0xF83215, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 50000

FM25Q32, 0xF83216, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

FM25Q64, 0xF83217, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 100000

FM25Q128, 0xF83218, 0x8000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 150000

FM25M16A, 0xF84215, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

; ESMT

F25L32PA(2S), 0x8C2116, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

F25L64PA, 0x8C2117, 0x4000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

F225L16PA, 0x8C2015, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

F25L04PA, 0x8C3013, 0x400000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0x60, 80000

F25L08PA, 0x8C3014, 0x800000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

F25L16PA(2S), 0x8C2115, 0x1000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

F25L32PA, 0x8C2016, 0x2000000, 0x1000, 0x20, 64, 0, 0xc7, 80000

Hope this is of some help, will keep on pounding!

BTW, Speccy snapshot of notebook, have been posting on my main PC. Using liquid metal of the copper heatsink (a tiny drop spreads on both the CPU/Heatsink), temps has never been lower at both idle & load. A near 2 hour Prime95 run didn't make the notebook reach the 75C mark, a 16-17C improvement over thermal paste.

EDIT: Speccy snapshot not allowed, flagged to be 'spam-like'.

I'll need the same with the i7-920XM if it can be installed.

Cat

 

Upload the photo to the forum, dont use a 3rd party host site.

AFUWIN/AFUDOS is your best bet to read the BIOS.

 

OK, finally was able to unlock the BIOS to get the ROM file, if it's it's helpful.

This is the only way I could find to provide the file, cannot find a tool to open with, can be downloaded from my Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lioJK5Moa-cQ8ZCLUa9zMtihYTXvHbhS/view?usp=sharing

This is the full version before 7zip extraction:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15jvIf1HNhCMmbC4Jl1mfGZiKYrQnkS2l/view?usp=sharing

In regards to this CPU, I know it's 'doable', because a couple of years back, a friend brought me a HP notebook with a i3-370M installed, of which he let me keep, plus gave me a donation to install the slightly more powerful i7-940XM (at twice the expense of the 920XM). He had a 180W power brick of the HP brand from an AIO PC which was a perfect fit, the amps were higher, but that's OK, because the system will draw only what's needed. No way would a 65W power brick push that system, ran very hot with the i3-370M, plus whatever discrete GPU installed. Most OEM's provides power bricks that's underrated for the job, why most of mine has been upgraded to 120W models.

Once I installed the CPU & used a couple of tiny droplets of liquid metal between the IHS & GPU & copper heatsink, spread thinly on both surfaces, the notebook fired right up, a reboot was needed to complete the driver install. Covered CPU & GPU electrical contact areas with liquid tape to prevent shortage.

Note that I'm good at building PC's, for myself & others, and have repaired/upgraded many computers, BIOS mods is my weakness. While I can upgrade to a newer one, don't have the first clue as to how to modify an existing version.

If anyone can't open this file, please point me to a tool that will & I'll give it a shot. Took over 12 hours of work to include research & trying to extract with various tools (including AFUWIN/AFUDOS), finally unlocked the BIOS with the latest Ultimate Boot CD. Prior to that, was denied access with any tool. The above link was extracted with Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit 2.0. So I've been proactive during this time, been working hard to find a solution, went sleepless last night in doing so, finally going to bed at near 8AM (EST) & waking at 11:30AM today.

Oh, and here's the BIOS model, version, whatever:

E16G4IMS.107
Build 01/14/2011

EC Version:
16G4EM51
Ver 4.01
EC Build 09/21/2010

Of which the top number (E16G4IMS.107) points to my MSI FX603 as configured when I purchased new in 2011. Just doesn't show the discrete NVIDIA GT 425M card.

http://browser.geekbench.com/geekbench3/2342084

Thanks for bearing with me!

EDIT; Still trying to find a tool to open the file with, is it safe to perform this on my main PC? Don't want to cause my UEFI to become torched, although unlike notebooks, have a switch to move back to a working BIOS (all computers should have has the option long ago).

All of these tools are getting flagged left & right by my active installed security, even the otherwise mostly useless Windows Defender hiding in the background has a warning. Have ESET Internet Security for AV/Firewall, MBAM Pro for antimalware & SuperAntiSpyware Pro for spyware. These are flagged from everything to dangerous to trojan droppers. Have no idea why, these are only tools to work with, weren't blocked from downloading, other than one, of which I grabbed from MajorGeeks instead.

Cat