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Can I change my AMD A8-3520M in my laptop to something faster?

Solution
No, because with laptops, they usually weld the processor into the motherboard, and with the AMD APU, it is also a gpu, so no, you're not in luck, not many laptops allow you to switch the processor.


Only BGA chips are soldered in. This chip is not bga. I did upgrade the CPU of an old Compaq c700 from a pentium dual core to a core 2 a few years back. I can upgrade the i5 2430m in my Asus laptop to an i7 2630qm if I want.

OP, you might be able to upgrade the APU in that laptop, but it isn't worth it as the faster models in that line were not really much faster than what you have now.
 


I see, and the graphics performance wouldn't differ that much seeing as how it's probably limited by the slower speed of the DDR3 memory, but it would be improved a small bit with better optimization in the better APU's, but my parent's PC has an A6-5300 and 6GB DDR3 and plays BF3 on low with 20-30 FPS, I wouldn't expect it to get much better than that,
 
Yes, but even if he did upgrade, he wouldn't get much because graphics speed usually depends on ram speed, and we know that with the APU's that is lacking, my paren't A6 plays Battlefield 2 Maxed out but gets little lags here and there, if he's wanting to play those games, he probably could play up to BFBC2 on low with around 40 frames.