[SOLVED] Laptop Rebuild?

[jennypurr]

Hello everyone! I'm good with playing around with the physical aspect of hardware, but I'm completely useless at understanding what parts are compatible with what upgrade options, etc. I have an HP DV7 7000 laptop which I absolutely love and don't want to replace because it's one of the few I've come across that has two hard drive bays. I've had it completely apart down to the frame before to replace the fan a few years ago (who decided that the fan had to be nearly the last piece you get to when disassembling??) and was able to get it back together easily enough thankfully. It's a good computer, but I'm finding it a bit slow for steam games sometimes and it occasionally does odd things (it is quite old after all, and entitled to be a little tired!) and I'm trying to find out what options I might have for upgrading/replacements. I really want to keep the basic frame of the laptop as I love the 17' screen and particularly the two hard drive capability. Beyond that though, I'm wondering if it's possible to pretty much do a rebuild from scratch and replace everything else more or less? My processor is a decent i7, which would be great to keep, but is it possible to get a higher-end (compared to mine) motherboard and therefore video card? I know as it is currently I can't upgrade my video card because with laptops of course they're generally attached, but can I sort of start from scratch and make a new build with my current frame? I know I may be asking too much of a laptop, but I long for the flexibility of a desktop in my portable little laptop, lol! If need be, when it's time comes I'll likely just replace the pieces with the same parts it currently uses, but I'm hoping that you more knowledgeable people may know if upgrades may be an option. I have to strip the poor thing right down again anyway to redo the thermal paste since it's started overheating lately and it got me thinking about what the future possibilities might be. Thank you for your help and advice!

Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY dv7 Notebook PC (DV7-7000)

Windows 10 Home Single Language 64-bit

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
2.40 gigahertz Intel Core i7-3630QM
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

System memory 16 GB
Memory slot 1
8GB Hynix PC3-12800 (800MHz) DDR3
Memory slot 2
8GB Hynix PC3-12800 (800MHz) DDR3

System board Hewlett-Packard 181D 52.24
PCI-Express 3.0

System BIOS Insyde F.29

Main Hard Drive: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 2TB

Video
Graphic device 1 Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Current resolution 1920 x 1080
Refresh rate 40 Hz
Version 10.18.10.4358 (12/21/2015)

Graphic device 2 NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M
Memory 2GB
Version 23.21.13.8912 (3/7/2018)

 

[USAFRet]

Your basic question:

Beyond that though, I'm wondering if it's possible to pretty much do a rebuild from scratch and replace everything else more or less? My processor is a decent i7, which would be great to keep, but is it possible to get a higher-end (compared to mine) motherboard and therefore video card?

A: Almost certainly not.

Laptop parts are NOT interchangeable.
Things like drives and RAM, yes.
Motherboards, no.

Rare (as in never) that a different motherboard, and all of its cooling situation, will fit into a different laptop shell.
And of course, the CPU/GPU/etc is all connected to the motherboard.

 

[jennypurr]

Your basic question:

A: Almost certainly not.

Laptop parts are NOT interchangeable.
Things like drives and RAM, yes.
Motherboards, no.

Rare (as in never) that a different motherboard, and all of its cooling situation, will fit into a different laptop shell.
And of course, the CPU/GPU/etc is all connected to the motherboard.

Thank you, I figured that was very likely the case, but it was worth asking 😊 I guess the next question then would be if you have any advice on how I would go about finding if there would be any worthwhile upgrades possible that would be compatible for any of my current build? I’m at a total loss when it come to understanding what supports what sadly. I’m not sure how to go about finding what, if any, options there may be within its limits.

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you, I figured that was very likely the case, but it was worth asking 😊 I guess the next question then would be if you have any advice on how I would go about finding if there would be any worthwhile upgrades possible that would be compatible for any of my current build? I’m at a total loss when it come to understanding what supports what sadly. I’m not sure how to go about finding what, if any, options there may be within its limits.

For a laptop, more RAM or different drives.
Thats about it.

Laptops are generally NOT uprgadeable.