[SOLVED] Can I upgrade HP G6-2249? It has an AMD E2 in it and 6 Gb RAM?

[Antiloquax]

Can I upgrade HP G6-2249? It has an AMD E2 in it and 6 Gb RAM?

 

[R_1]

Welcome to the forums 😀

it says here the unit shipped with up to an A6-4400M.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03487230
the motherboards CPU socket is not soldered so in theory you should be able to open the unit and swap the CPU to the a6, as the unit shipped with that CPU.

 

[robert600]

Can I upgrade HP G6-2249? It has an AMD E2 in it and 6 Gb RAM?

Are you sure it has an E2 processor?? - I don't think there are any that fit the motherboard socket (FS1r2). As R_1 mentioned above ... it probably has the A6-4400M. Can you double-check this please? I've upgraded a bunch of these 2000 series HPs and all the amd versions have had the FS1r2 socket.

Upgrades ... yes

CPU ... Assuming you have that socket ... I HIGHLY recomend upgrading to the A10 5750M - quad core, 2.5 turbos to 3.5 ... I always do this ... it's a good solid processor and quad core has a lot of benefit. $40 or so on ebay.

HDD - switch to SSD ... HUGE performance difference. Get the largest you can afford.

RAM - despite what HP states ... max Ram is 16 not 8.

Optical Disc Drive - I usually switch this either to a Blu-ray burner or ... a caddy for a 2nd hard drive.

Wireless - some support bluetooth some don't ... I usually replace the card on the ones that don't with ones that do ... $5 or so on ebay. I believe your model has the card that supports it so no need to do anything.

 

[Antiloquax]

@R_1 @robert600 Thank you. I already use an ssd. I was hoping to upgrade the chip & RAM. Thanks for the info.

 

[robert600]

Oh ... if you haven't already ... do upgrade to Win 10 (it's still free to upgrade) ... these 2000 series HPs run beautifully under Win 10 no issues what-so-ever. I use iobits driver booster (free version) to maintain and update the drivers ... lots of folks on here are really negative about these driver updating programs but I can only say that with these laptops ... it works great. There is one obscure driver in particular that it finds that windows doesn't... I can't seem to remember which it is ... the card reader maybe.

 

[robert600]

@R_1 @robert600 Thank you. I already use an ssd. I was hoping to upgrade the chip & RAM. Thanks for the info.

Sounds like you currently have a 4 and a 2 for ram chips. Personally, I would repace the 2 with an 8. That will of course give you 12 ... I maintain several that have that ram configuration and it works well ... 16 (8+8) is kinda over kill and 8 (4+4) isn't much different from the 6 you have.

 

[robert600]

Did you get a chance to check your current processor? ... if it is an E2 that changes everything.

 

[Antiloquax]

I will follow your advice on the RAM & go to 12Gb.

 

[Antiloquax]

I use Linux, btw.

 

[Antiloquax]

Did you get a chance to check your current processor? ... if it is an E2 that changes everything.

processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 20
model : 2
model name : AMD E2-1800 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
stepping : 0
microcode : 0x5000119
cpu MHz : 967.323

 

[robert600]

mmmm .... that's a new one to me.

From what I can see ...the E2 1800 uses a BGA413 socket. The BGA stands for Ball Grid Array and Ball grid processors are soldered to the socket/motherboard. Hate to say it but that means you can't replace or upgrade it! I've never seen this on a G6 before and I've messed with quite a few of them.

I'm not sure what ramifications this has for the RAM (pun intended). It's possible it may only be happy with a max of 8.

What bios version does it have? Mine is Insyde F.26 02/21/13

 

[robert600]

Are you in the US? There is what appears to be a FS1r2 socketed motherboard that should fit your laptop for $50. Free shipping and it says offers so ...who knows ...$40 might buy it.

 

[robert600]

Actually I was thinking that simply swapping the motherboard may not work too well because ... since that E2 processor is completely different (I've never seen one) the cooling system (in particular the plate that covers the cpu) might be quite a different shape or whatever.

So ... I dug a little more and found a motherboard from a G6 2235us complete with the cpu (A6 4400M) and the cooling system. It is the same price ($50) and they will look at offers but it has a $10 delivery fee. This would be ideal for you - the whole unit would slip right into your case and effectively turn it into a 2235us.

Your current processor runs at 1700 MHz and doesn't turbo .... the 4400M runs at 2700 MHz and turbos to 3200. This is a huge improvement and well worth the $50 - $60 to my way of thinking. And ... it would allow you to upgrade to the quad core A10 5750 anytime you wanted to. The only negative I can think of is your battery time between charges would decrease (the E2 is 18 watts ... the 4400M is 35) ... that's a small price to pay for the performance boost though but just something you should be aware of ahead of time.

Once you replaced your current motherboard, cpu, cooling system, it's possible you could sell them for about what you paid for the corresponding 2235us parts.

Here's a link to the 2235us listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-G6-2235...sh=item3b24b73314:g:j6EAAOSwVMJcDUMG#shpCntId

 

[robert600]

Oh ... I can say with 100% confidence that the 2235 motherboard with 4400M APU work happily with up to 16GB of RAM. I'm not sure at all if your current motherboard/cpu can.

 

[Antiloquax]

Thank you very much for this. I live in the uk, but I will have a look & see how much motherboards are.

 

[robert600]

Thank you very much for this. I live in the uk, but I will have a look & see how much motherboards are.

Be aware of the potential cooling system fitting problem. A non-working 2278dx that I got for a song arrived today. That'll keep me busy for a while ... hopefully there'll be nothing too seriously wrong with it.

I lived in North Wales for 10+ years ... beautiful place ... world's best kept secret is Wales.