I figured I would give an update of my experience with this 4 month old notebook. The original thread (http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=622600&highlight=ml6230) on the ML6230 had over 1000+ replies so this should be interesting to some people. When I first spotted the deal here I wasn't so intrigued. I mean 512mb ram and a Celeron with Vista? Not a great combo. But still for $300 and ram prices so cheap I decided why not? I figured I could use it for simple tasks like internet, email and office.

So I bought it expecting the worst. I wasn't surprised when I first turned it on and it took a good 10 minutes to get into Vista, even if it is home basic. I found a great deal on 2gb so-dimm ram here a few days later for $30 and ordered it. In the mean time I decided to reformat to get rid of the bloatware. A simple refortmat brought the boot time down to 2minutes so I starting to get impressed by this cheapo laptop. My ram came a few days later and installing it was a breeze. Boot time went down to 40 seconds. I had a quick little machine. It looked pretty good, felt durable and pretty quick. I was very happy for a good 3.5 months until the Celeron M 520 started to feel a little slow so I decided on an other upgrade.

I found out that the motherboard supported Dual Core Yonahs so I figured on upgrading the processor just to make the notebook a little bit more capable. I found a good deal on eBay for $35 for a used T2300E core duo CPU. I received it a week later. I got a little worried about installing a new processor but I located Gateways excellent service guide (http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/Oasis/8511725_Service.pdf) and it took me step by step on how to do it. It took me a total of 5 minutes to switch out the celeron for the core duo. It booted right up which was quite a relief. The laptop feels very quick now (30second boot times now :D) and doesn't feel at all like a sub $300 notebook. I just toss it in my backpack and go to my classes. It has held up perfectly to this daily abuse and I have had no problems at all with this laptop. Its been 100% reliable.

Here are some pictures and screen shots (click to enlarge):
still in pretty good shape even after spending a good chunk of time in my backpack. I took off the ugly Vista Home Basic and Celeron stickers ;)
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3518/notebook001bk3.jpg
heres the bottom. you can see the 2gb ram and the heatsink
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6992/notebook004oh7.jpg
here it is without the heatsink
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6244/notebook007la2.jpg
heres the heatsink
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8752/notebook008pa6.jpg
heres the T2300E 1.66ghz 2mb cache fitted in :D
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/7605/notebook009yp7dr0.jpg
and finally heres a screenshot
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/978/untitledtc4.jpg
Notice the 667fsb - which speeds things up. The cpu score went from 3.8 with the Celeron to 4.6 with the T2300.

You are probobly thinking that I voided the warranty. I figure if anything goes wrong I can just stick in the old celly in send it in for repair. So it (should) be all good. Also another worry I had was about the cooling as I was unsure if my the heatsink would handle the heat and I am happy to report it does better then I expected. Load temp is around 55c and idle is 36c.

So all in all here is how much everything cost:

Laptop: $275 (via price match 110% cs made a mistake) + purchased on not tax weekend
giftcard for stating dvd burner: $50 - sold for $40
memory $30
T2300E $35
total cost for for everything: $300 for a dual core 2gb laptop :D

I am very impressed with it and I am really grateful to slickdeals for giving me the heads up on such great deals.

Thanks for reading this thread and to other ML6230 owners please let me know how you are enjoying your notebook.

I am also pretty impressed with this laptop. I upgraded it to 1.5gb of ram for $40 and also put a 320gb hard drive for another $78. The processor speed hasn't bothered me but it is a good idea. I didn't even think it was upgradeable. The only thing that bothers me a little is the graphics card or lack thereof... Is there any possible graphics upgrade?

I am also pretty impressed with this laptop. I upgraded it to 1.5gb of ram for $40 and also put a 320gb hard drive for another $78. The processor speed hasn't bothered me but it is a good idea. I didn't even think it was upgradeable. The only thing that bothers me a little is the graphics card or lack thereof... Is there any possible graphics upgrade?

Haven't been on SD for a while so pardon the bump.

No the graphics aren't upgradeable but you can set the amount of ram to allocate to graphics.

And I also upgraded the hard drive recently to a 200GB 7200RPM model which also increases speed quite a bit compared to the original 80GB 5400RPM model. Also upgraded from Vista Home Basic to Vista Ultimate (free because of the MS Feedback dealie) and now this notebook serves as a great media center when hooked up to my HDTV.

This was such a great deal.

Hey, SB:

I just found your post and am planning on replicating your CPU (and other) upgrades to the ML6230.

I ordered the T2300 (not T2300e, hope that is not key) on ebay and am waiting. Is it still running well? Did you know this was the maximum CPU that the chipset could handle? or did you just guess? I thought about going higher/faster, but then changed my mind and went with this based on your report.

Does the CPU require thermal paste? how difficult was the installation/upgrade? It looks fairly routine based on your description. Also, did you update the bios? Thanks.

Hey, SB:

I just found your post and am planning on replicating your CPU (and other) upgrades to the ML6230.

I ordered the T2300 (not T2300e, hope that is not key) on ebay and am waiting. Is it still running well? Did you know this was the maximum CPU that the chipset could handle? or did you just guess? I thought about going higher/faster, but then changed my mind and went with this based on your report.

Does the CPU require thermal paste? how difficult was the installation/upgrade? It looks fairly routine based on your description. Also, did you update the bios? Thanks.

That CPU should work no problem. As long its a Core Duo Yonah you should have no problems. My computer is still running like a champ.

I tried putting my brothers T5550 in which is a Core 2 Duo Merom chip and it would not boot... even though the gateway support page says this motherboard supports meroms. I would say its safe that if you stay with Yonah Core Duo's you should be fine. The T2700 is the fastest Yonah out at 2.33ghz. They are going for around $180 on ebay which is just too much to justify (imo) for a laptop that costs $300.

The heatsink comes with a thermal pad that you can reuse and I did for a good while and it worked fine. Eventually I did use thermal paste just to improve my temps a little bit. But you should be fine with the thermal pad. It was pretty easy to install the processor. The hardest part was unlocking/locking the mechanism that holds the CPU in place. It requires some force. The service guide will walk you through that though.

I didn't update the bios. I believe the one on it currently is the latest one.

But yeah if you have any troubles going about this just PM or respond to this thread and I'll try to help you out.

Good Luck.

That CPU should work no problem. As long its a Core Duo Yonah you should have no problems. My computer is still running like a champ.

I tried putting my brothers T5550 in which is a Core 2 Duo Merom chip and it would not boot... even though the gateway support page says this motherboard supports meroms. I would say its safe that if you stay with Yonah Core Duo's you should be fine. The T2700 is the fastest Yonah out at 2.33ghz. They are going for around $180 on ebay which is just too much to justify (imo) for a laptop that costs $300.

The heatsink comes with a thermal pad that you can reuse and I did for a good while and it worked fine. Eventually I did use thermal paste just to improve my temps a little bit. But you should be fine with the thermal pad. It was pretty easy to install the processor. The hardest part was unlocking/locking the mechanism that holds the CPU in place. It requires some force. The service guide will walk you through that though.

I didn't update the bios. I believe the one on it currently is the latest one.

But yeah if you have any troubles going about this just PM or respond to this thread and I'll try to help you out.

Good Luck.

Thanks much. I read HERE (http://www.feelingfly.com/diy/upgrade.html) that someone was able to get a T5500 (core 2 duo) in the ML6230. Pretty sick. However, I have already ordered the T2300, plus the T5500 is double the cost. Didn't want to put too much into the CPU upgrade, when I still need a 7200K HD upgrade.

Thanks much. I read HERE (http://www.feelingfly.com/diy/upgrade.html) that someone was able to get a T5500 (core 2 duo) in the ML6230. Pretty sick. However, I have already ordered the T2300, plus the T5500 is double the cost. Didn't want to put too much into the CPU upgrade, when I still need a 7200K HD upgrade.

Hmm thats interesting. I think maybe because the T5550 I tested was an OEM chip (and wasn't sold at retailers) it will only work on the laptops designed for it.... like the bios has to support it? I don't know... when I tried no go. Popped the T2300 back in instant boot.

But yeah that article does inspire me a bit... might snag a T7400 on ebay.

Cool. Let me know if you get it and what happens.

That CPU should work no problem. As long its a Core Duo Yonah you should have no problems. My computer is still running like a champ.

I tried putting my brothers T5550 in which is a Core 2 Duo Merom chip and it would not boot... even though the gateway support page says this motherboard supports meroms. I would say its safe that if you stay with Yonah Core Duo's you should be fine. The T2700 is the fastest Yonah out at 2.33ghz. They are going for around $180 on ebay which is just too much to justify (imo) for a laptop that costs $300.

The heatsink comes with a thermal pad that you can reuse and I did for a good while and it worked fine. Eventually I did use thermal paste just to improve my temps a little bit. But you should be fine with the thermal pad. It was pretty easy to install the processor. The hardest part was unlocking/locking the mechanism that holds the CPU in place. It requires some force. The service guide will walk you through that though.

I didn't update the bios. I believe the one on it currently is the latest one.

But yeah if you have any troubles going about this just PM or respond to this thread and I'll try to help you out.

Good Luck.
Good news. I got the chip today and after spending half an hour straightening the pins I installed with no problems. I'm testing it out right now. Everything seems to be working, but the system is not appreciably faster. In fact, some things are slower. I'm going to mess around until I can figure out what's going on. One huge noticable difference the temperature of the system has basically gone done 5-10 degrees on average.

Good news. I got the chip today and after spending half an hour straightening the pins I installed with no problems. I'm testing it out right now. Everything seems to be working, but the system is not appreciably faster. In fact, some things are slower. I'm going to mess around until I can figure out what's going on. One huge noticable difference the temperature of the system has basically gone done 5-10 degrees on average.

Good to hear things installed smoothly for you.

I found multitasking was smoother, extracting files (winrar) and the like were much faster.

How much ram do you have?

Good to hear things installed smoothly for you.

I found multitasking was smoother, extracting files (winrar) and the like were much faster.

How much ram do you have?

1.5GB. I installed a 1GB chip right after purchase. I'm also running XP rather than Vista. I may switch to Vista to see how that works. I originally downgraded to XP b/c Vista was too slow.


Going to try and upgrade my Dell 600m soon.

Here I thought I was doing a first with a T5500. :P

The T5500 does work without an issue. Just plug and play. Speedstep works perfectly. Cooler temps slightly longer battery life and a 2nd CPU with a 667FSB(although the mem stays at 533). T5500 was about $40 shipped on EBay and seems the sweet spot for me. Although I have seen the T7200 go for as low as $70 shipped but really only nets you the 4MB L2. T7600 is too pricey price to performance.

Not much info out there on this so I just thought I would write in and confirm for those wondering for sure if it works.

Here I thought I was doing a first with a T5500. :P

The T5500 does work without an issue. Just plug and play. Speedstep works perfectly. Cooler temps slightly longer battery life and a 2nd CPU with a 667FSB(although the mem stays at 533). T5500 was about $40 shipped on EBay and seems the sweet spot for me. Although I have seen the T7200 go for as low as $70 shipped but really only nets you the 4MB L2. T7600 is too pricey price to performance.

Not much info out there on this so I just thought I would write in and confirm for those wondering for sure if it works.

Just another confirmation in case anyone is trying to breath new life into an ailing laptop. I waited (for months) to find a good deal on Ebay and snagged a T5500 for $32 shipped, the lowest I saw was $25. It worked like a charm. Probably not worth the upgrade for me because I had already removed the Celeron but definitely worth doing otherwise.

Incidentally if you haven't tried Win 7, it works amazingly well on the ML6230. Vista isn't too bad either with the upgraded CPU (horrible without it).

Another quick bump in regards to CPU upgrades. I popped in a 2ghz T2500 that i snagged off ebay for $45.

Works great and has definitely added a little more life to this cheap notebook. I ran the superpi benchmark on it to see the difference between the T2300 and the T2500 and they got 37seconds and 32s respectively. Not too shabby. IRC the original Celeron M 520 got around 45s. So its quite a bit faster than when I got it :D

So here are the final specs of my ML6230

Intel Core Duo T2500 @ 2ghz
2GB Corsair Value Memory
Western Digital 2.5 7200RPM 250GB hard drive
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit (which runs amazing on this)

quick screen shot of 7's assessment
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6231/ml6230.png (http://img413.imageshack.us/i/ml6230.png/)

So all in all its a very capable machine going forward :D

Another quick bump in regards to CPU upgrades. I popped in a 2ghz T2500 that i snagged off ebay for $45.

Works great and has definitely added a little more life to this cheap notebook. I ran the superpi benchmark on it to see the difference between the T2300 and the T2500 and they got 37seconds and 32s respectively. Not too shabby. IRC the original Celeron M 520 got around 45s. So its quite a bit faster than when I got it :D

So here are the final specs of my ML6230

Intel Core Duo T2500 @ 2ghz
2GB Corsair Value Memory
Western Digital 2.5 7200RPM 250GB hard drive
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit (which runs amazing on this)

quick screen shot of 7's assessment
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6231/ml6230.png (http://img413.imageshack.us/i/ml6230.png/)

So all in all its a very capable machine going forward :D
That's awesome. What are you getting in terms of battery life. One of my other goals was to get 3 hours on the battery, but I think the HD upgrade and latest CPU upgrade have nixed that.

That's awesome. What are you getting in terms of battery life. One of my other goals was to get 3 hours on the battery, but I think the HD upgrade and latest CPU upgrade have nixed that.

3 hours is probably the max you could ever see see under the most optimal conditions; lcd at the lowest brightness, all wifi and audio disabled and in power saving mode where the CPU doesn't go above 1ghz.

I have maxed this current configuration at about 2hrs and 40 minutes and that was with the above settings. All I did was type notes during a class lecture. It made it though the 2hr 30 min class but just barely lol.

I would say I would get about 2hrs out of it during normal use like surfing the net and listening to music through headphones. But yeah I think maybe next year I might try and fit in a T7400. Maybe get this laptop running pretty well through 2011 :D

Good review, thanks, but I still think my HP is better than Gateway, just personal opinion :)

what kind of temps are you guys getting? i popped in a T2400 and it boots directly no problem but noticed with some hulu viewing, the computer ran into BSOD a few times.

When i installed the cpu i wiped out the thermal pad and cleaned it all off and put in some antec silver (comparable to artic silver 3)

current idle temps:
core 0 - 43 C
core 1 - 46 C

load temps
core 0 - 68 C
core 1 - 72 C


dont know if this matters or not but im running the RC version of win7, 32 bit.

are you guys running similar temps with your coreduo setups? i dont know if im running to hot or not?

You are using better cooling materials than I am. My temps are about the same (or worse). I recalled that I thought these temps seemed a little high but I think this lappie always ran hot for me, so i've used an antec laptop cooler since the beginning. It was on sale at Fry's for $5 w/rebate awhile back. No BSD for me ever but I always run the cooler. Sorry if that isn't much help.

You are using better cooling materials than I am. My temps are about the same (or worse). I recalled that I thought these temps seemed a little high but I think this lappie always ran hot for me, so i've used an antec laptop cooler since the beginning. It was on sale at Fry's for $5 w/rebate awhile back. No BSD for me ever but I always run the cooler. Sorry if that isn't much help.


do both cores run the same temp? or are each of your core's running different temps?

i noticed one of my cores run's hotter than the other.... strange..:confused:

I think different as well. A little strange but after some reflection I'm not sure why they should be the same temp. In general core 1 does the most work, right? The other only kicks in if necessary.

I think different as well. A little strange but after some reflection I'm not sure why they should be the same temp. In general core 1 does the most work, right? The other only kicks in if necessary.


so it must have been something else that caused the BSOD and not the cpu because i ran prime95 (ran fpu test with both cores @ 100%) and the cpu maxed out at 78C and wouldnt budge higher than that. all the tests from prime95 checked out OK with no errors.

according to intel's specs, seems like all the yonah cpu's temp threshold is rated at 100 C.

FYI... i had a buddy who has the same laptop check the temp for the oem celery 520 thats installed.. runs at 55-58 C idle. so adding the antec silver DID make a difference.


ran the same hulu videos again on and no BSOD again either... maybe i had a memory leak or something at the time... or maybe my ram is causing it (running two diff brands 1 512meg samsung and 1 gig corsair valueram)?

either that or the harddrive is going out.... i dont know how that would cause a BSOD error with a hulu video playing in the background though..

im curious if anyone has upgraded the hard drive to a 2.5 solid state drive? is it even possible to fit one in? i know they sell 2.5 solid slate SATA drives, but i dont know this computer will work with them or not.. any idea?

im curious if anyone has upgraded the hard drive to a 2.5 solid state drive? is it even possible to fit one in? i know they sell 2.5 solid slate SATA drives, but i dont know this computer will work with them or not.. any idea?

Thought about it but couldn't pull the trigger on the SSD b/c of $$. Theoretically, there should not be an issue; all 2.5 SATA drives should work. I've replaced with a 7200K drive which was nice.

Sorry for the random bump. Haven't been on SD in a little while.

I don't think your CPU is overheating at all. These mobile processors have pretty high heat tolerances.

I think its probably your ram going bad. Try running Memtest to eliminate that factor.

My T2500 loads at around 65c and its never crashed even after 5 hours of the Orthos (stress test to push cpu to 100%).

Sorry for the random bump. Haven't been on SD in a little while.

I don't think your CPU is overheating at all. These mobile processors have pretty high heat tolerances.

I think its probably your ram going bad. Try running Memtest to eliminate that factor.

My T2500 loads at around 65c and its never crashed even after 5 hours of the Orthos (stress test to push cpu to 100%).


you know i didnt memtest it but i did pickup a new 1 gig stick to total it to 2 gigs. running fine w/ no crashes since that one incident.

computer is running great other than the battery which is completely dead now, looks like too many recharge cycles burned it out..

i'll be keeping this one for awhile... maybe in 1.5 years time i'll pickup a used c2d merom when they're dirt cheap.. i think the highest 667fsb merom is the T7600 2.33ghz right? that one has a 4MB cache, so i dont know if thats possible to use with our motherboard or not?

along wtih that and a SSD upgrade then (when theyre cheaper) i'll be able to extend the life of this thing as much as possible!