The T7400 Processor

The T7400 Core 2 Duo processor we are looking at today uses the exact same pin package as the Yonah CPU. You will find that these new mobile Core 2 Duos will fit into old Yonah laptops, but not every motherboard will be able to run it due to changes in voltages. We will be plugging in the T7400 into a wide selection of laptops from Asus and Dell in the future to see if we have any success getting the systems to run.

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The Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 on the left, and the Core Duo T2600 on the right.

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The Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 on the left, and the Core Duo T2600 on the right.

The CPU we received is an engineering sample devoid of any product markings aside from Intel serial numbers. The T7400 has a slightly larger CPU core, but otherwise looks nearly identical including the traces seen on the processor’s surface.

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Of course the CPU is only one part of the equation, the other part is the laptop that it goes into. Here we have an unbranded Asus Z96 laptop that came preloaded with a Core Duo T2600 processor.

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By removing the cover on the back, we gain easy access to the CPU. A few screws and some thermal paste applied the T7400 has a new home.

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The motherboard on the Asus Z96 is your standard Intel “Calistoga” i945PM mobile motherboard, so it’d be interesting to see which of the laptops in our lab is capable of running this CPU as well. We will be testing this in a later article as we revisit the T7400 with an updated BIOS.

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