Question CPU Upgrade for Toshiba Satellite C55-A5245

[CentralCommander]

Iv'e been wanting to upgrade this old laptop, Iv'e already replaced the RAM and WIFI card, but Dynabook support just wont give me enough detailed specification on the best supported CPU for this laptop. I found on Dynabook support that you can upgrade it to BIOS version 1.40. I bought this laptop in 2013 so it has a Socket type G2 (FCPGA988). I also need to make sure the CPU I'm planning to get is whitelisted and support by this BIOS version. To my knowledge the best CPU I can upgrade it to an Intel Core i7-3940XM. I want this CPU but I'm pretty sure the BIOS won't support it. Another most likely supported CPU is the Intel Core i7-3630QM. Any advice on how to update the BIOS and whitelist this XM CPU?

 

[USAFRet]

Even with a properly socket CPU, the problem with laptops is both the BIOS, and the heat management.

Any BIOS upgrade would have to come from Toshiba.

And how sure are you of the PGA socket, vs a BGA?

 

[CentralCommander]

Even with a properly socket CPU, the problem with laptops is both the BIOS, and the heat management.

Any BIOS upgrade would have to come from Toshiba.

And how sure are you of the PGA socket, vs a BGA?

This laptop is from 2013, and I opened it up myself, the CPU socket had holes in it unlike BGA which are usually soldered and therefore not removable for upgrades unlike LGA, where it's removable and upgrades are available. However for this BIOS update your are correct, so the max BIOS upgrade is 1.40. So most likely, I'm limited to the QM CPU.

 

[USAFRet]

This laptop is from 2013, and I opened it up myself, the CPU socket had holes in it unlike BGA which are usually soldered and therefore not removable for upgrades unlike LGA, where it's removable and upgrades are available.

OK, just checking.

This refers to that having an i3-3110M, which can be a BGA socketed CPU.
https://support.dynabook.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=4002620&isFromTOCLink=false

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...ocessor-3m-cache-2-40-ghz/specifications.html

 

[CentralCommander]

OK, just checking.

This refers to that having an i3-3110M, which can be a BGA socketed CPU.
https://support.dynabook.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=4002620&isFromTOCLink=false

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...ocessor-3m-cache-2-40-ghz/specifications.html

So would this mean the best CPU I can upgrade to would be the QM one?

 

[USAFRet]

So would this mean the best CPU I can upgrade to would be the QM one?

No, it would be whatever the BIOS can utilize.
Which we do not know.

 

[CentralCommander]

No, it would be whatever the BIOS can utilize.
Which we do not know.

Alright thanks.

 

[CentralCommander]

No, it would be whatever the BIOS can utilize.
Which we do not know.

So would you be able to recommend me a CPU that I could upgrade?

 

[USAFRet]

So would you be able to recommend me a CPU that I could upgrade?

No idea, because I don't know the BIOS.

But...what is your goal for this laptop?
Any new CPU would still be a 3rd gen...over a decade old.

What CPU is in it now?

 

[CentralCommander]

No idea, because I don't know the BIOS.

But...what is your goal for this laptop?
Any new CPU would still be a 3rd gen...over a decade old.

What CPU is in it now?

Not sure, but I found the specification documents for this model, seems like I have a i3-3110M. (found this here: https://support.dynabook.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=4002620&isFromTOCLink=false) The goal here is to use it for work and light gaming, which I'm sure it can do as the original CPU runs game at 20fps, this upgrade should boost that because it'll become a quad core (original is a dual core), bringing better multi-core performance.

 

[USAFRet]

Not sure, but I found the specification documents for this model, seems like I have a i3-3110M. (found this here: https://support.dynabook.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=4002620&isFromTOCLink=false)

Right, thats what I linked above.

But that might just be representative. That model may have come with other CPUs.

Run Speccy or HWInfo to see what is actually in it.

 

[CentralCommander]

Right, thats what I linked above.

But that might just be representative. That model may have come with other CPUs.

Run Speccy or HWInfo to see what is actually in it.

Just checked, i3-3110M