ThinkCentre M73 Tiny CPU upgrade

Doom5003

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
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I have a old ThinkCentre M73 Tiny with a i3-4130T installed.
Would it be possible to upgrade it with a desktop variant like a i5-4590?
I know they have different TDP, but wouldn't limiting/lowering the power draw help with that and the possible extra heat?

Finding T or even S variants is nearly impossible in my region, especial on the secondhand market.
 
that could work, but only if the BIOS recognizes off-list CPUs and only if you have a way to set the Power Limits. Have you tried Throttlestop on that machine yet?
 
that could work, but only if the BIOS recognizes off-list CPUs and only if you have a way to set the Power Limits. Have you tried Throttlestop on that machine yet?
No not yet, haven't had a reason to used it on the current setup. But i can install it and just test it on current cpu and see if it works.
But now i wonder whether the bios will recognize other non-T CPUs.
 
they are probably locked-out in the BIOS , but making such small system dissipate twice the power will take a massive increase in airflow (drill it)
 
Keeping TDP the same or less is usually recommended, first step is to find the highest TDP that system could have shipped with and go from there. From Lenovos' website, 35W is the maximum shown with an i7-4765T. You MIGHT be able to do up to a 65W CPU, most manufacturers overbuild somewhat but I assume the power supply is external, check what it's max output is. 65W negates any non-T/S CPU right off the batt, except some Xeons.

You could possibly do these (I listed similar models so you can hunt around, and the lowest turbo frequency for multiples):
xeon 1240Lv3 or 1230Lv3 both are 25W 4c8t 2.8ghz turbo or faster and would run cooler, but have no iGPU so are probably not for you.
xeon 1275Lv3, 1268Lv3, 1265Lv3 which are 45W and 4c8t 3.7ghz turbo or faster, the 1268Lv3 has the best iGPU of the three and would be my choice.

Edit: after reading those reddit posts from 70 Polara it looks like the 1268Lv3 is the perfect maximum fit for these, and *should* work. Using any non-T/S or low power Xeon will not work right, the system is limited to sub-50W TDP so slapping in an i7-4790K will be disappointing.
 
I have M73 and i3-4130

The CPU clock speed does not drop when OCCT is under load. It is 3.4GHz on all threads. The temperature reaches 90 degrees C.

I bought an i3-4350 for around 10USD which has 3.6GHz and a better iGPU HD 4600 and we'll see if it works.
IMG20220527142646.jpg
 
I have M73 and i3-4130

The CPU clock speed does not drop when OCCT is under load. It is 3.4GHz on all threads. The temperature reaches 90 degrees C.

I bought an i3-4350 for around 10USD which has 3.6GHz and a better iGPU HD 4600 and we'll see if it works.View attachment 477848
Thanks, keep us posted.
 
M73 Tiny with i3-4130 (HD4400)

Cinebench R20 764
3Dmark Firestrike 579

720p/Low avg/min fps tempreture up to 86C
Dirt 3 61/52
Bioshock Infinite 27/19
Mtero 2033 26/7
Dirt Rally 34/28
Tomb Rider 43/33
OCCT up to 92C

An interesting fact is that the similar year-old HP 705 G1 Desktop Mini with the Kaveri A8-7600B APU has 50% better GPU with standard throttling, and after turning off Throttling (app AMD Overdrive with the "Turbo Off" option) it achieves twice as much results at the cost of about 90 degrees Celsius

HP 705 G1 (lock / unlock)
Firestrike 741/1252

The CPU, however, is only weak with 401/556 points in Cinebench R20
 
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Yeah AMD had better onboard graphics for sure, but that is dramatic

The i3-4350 processor of course works in the M73 Tiny but it required the use of Intel XTU. On the standard settings, after turning on the OCCT, it quickly reached the power limit and reduced the clock to 3GHz. It helped to set the Intel XTU -0,150V voltage core offset. Now in OCCT the loaded CPU reaches 94 degrees but holds 3.6GHz. The results in Cinebech are around + 5% (5.8% is due to the clock difference i3-4130 vs i3-4350). But the biggest gain was on the GPU with the HD4600 being around +15% more frames.
 
I have seen YouTube video which put a Xeon E3-1275L in the M93 (which is very similar to M73). The CPU has a TDP of 45W. I would be very interested in these tiny unit if it works.

 
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