(Not Typical) Replacing Laptop Mobo & GPU

[Jrobinson156]

To go ahead and get a few things out of the way:

I know that most people believe that you can't replace laptop mobo's because of form factor. I simply found an upgrade the slots perfectly into my current shell.

I know that it's widely thought 99% that most laptop CPU's are soldered on. For the brands that I've had, I've found this to be untrue. I can't speak for other brands so maybe 60%-70% are supremely limited but model isn't.

Originally I was going to simply upgrade the ram and cpu as everything Is stock and the laptop is about 5 years old now. However, with this mobo upgrade it'll allow for the new stock specs to far exceed the old ones, allow for a dedicated gpu instead of an integrated, and allow for a potential upgrade to the cpu that still functions with the BIOS properly. I should note that I'M NOT USING SUPER MODERN/RECENT PARTS. Originally, I was going to build a mobile pc and connect a mini projector to it or build one into the case but I've found that this build idea will give me something to compete with mid-range to low-mid laptops of today's world while costing less and offering more functionality than a tablet. I figured that it would cost around $100-$150 to upgrade (including small stuff like thermal paste) and that seems better than buying an entirely new laptop plus this is more fun.

On to my questions. The plan is that once I get the mobo I'll upgrade the CPU and GPU to models that have more power but the same low TDP. While I could reasonably expect a slight increase in thermal output due to the increase in GPU power, I figured that keeping the same TDP's and cooling setup would minimize risk of cooling. However, I wondered if it would be a major hit if I were to go for a GPU that have +5TDP considering the limited casing? I'm also having issues finding TDP info for the mobo as I haven't had time to install it yet (just got it today) so I can't run the usual diagnostics. But I'll still lean towards trying for an equal TDP to TDP upgrade. At worst, I figured that this would significantly upgrade the stock specs if the CPU and GPU upgrades don't pan out though I'm expect them to. If anybody has any advice about this project I'm all ears. Maybe there's something that I'm overlooking and I don't mind being alerted to it.

Thanks

 

[Scottray]

Interesting project! Generally, the TDP spec is maximum when the CPU or GPU is fully loaded (also depends on the test bench/ test suite that the manufacturer is using for the measurement). Thus, a replacement GPU that is +5W greater shouldn't be an issue, because in general use, you don't maxi it out for long periods of time. I'd suggest monitoring your temps closely while in use. And just to be on the safe side, shut it down and unplug it while it's unattended. Once you know it's stable and not a heat hazard, then you're good to go.

 

[dudeman509]

Most laptops before Haswell-era were indeed socketed processors.

How is the cooling solution in that laptop? Does it currently run quite hot?

Is it a single thermal pipe? Equal TDP is usually a perfectly fine upgrade on such a cooling solution. If it has dual heat pipes/fans, I think a +5W TDP would be just fine. If you currently have some form of cooling overhead with a single thermal pipe (some are beefier than others), then the +5W TDP would probably not be too much of an issue for it either.

 

[Jrobinson156]

Interesting project! Generally, the TDP spec is maximum when the CPU or GPU is fully loaded (also depends on the test bench/ test suite that the manufacturer is using for the measurement). Thus, a replacement GPU that is +5W greater shouldn't be an issue, because in general use, you don't maxi it out for long periods of time. I'd suggest monitoring your temps closely while in use. And just to be on the safe side, shut it down and unplug it while it's unattended. Once you know it's stable and not a heat hazard, then you're good to go.

True! Thanks for the advice. Though now the plan is to do an extended experiment to test stability within different parameters and environments before pushing the gpu tdp, what + tdp would you cut it off at? I know that as you said earlier it obviously depends on how often my usage is gpu or cpu intensive. I would assume that even given your advice above that say +30tdp could be pushing it even with minimal cpu intensive tasks.

 

[dudeman509]

Interesting project! Generally, the TDP spec is maximum when the CPU or GPU is fully loaded (also depends on the test bench/ test suite that the manufacturer is using for the measurement). Thus, a replacement GPU that is +5W greater shouldn't be an issue, because in general use, you don't maxi it out for long periods of time. I'd suggest monitoring your temps closely while in use. And just to be on the safe side, shut it down and unplug it while it's unattended. Once you know it's stable and not a heat hazard, then you're good to go.

True! Thanks for the advice. Though now the plan is to do an extended experiment to test stability within different parameters and environments before pushing the gpu tdp, what + tdp would you cut it off at? I know that as you said earlier it obviously depends on how often my usage is gpu or cpu intensive. I would assume that even given your advice above that say +30tdp could be pushing it even with minimal cpu intensive tasks.

+10 TDP seems to be about the limit of one of mine that I took from a lowly Pentium (35W) to i7-QM (45W). It runs right at the cusp of thermal throttling when going full-tilt.

 

[Jrobinson156]

Most laptops before Haswell-era were indeed socketed processors.

How is the cooling solution in that laptop? Does it currently run quite hot?

Is it a single thermal pipe? Equal TDP is usually a perfectly fine upgrade on such a cooling solution. If it has dual heat pipes/fans, I think a +5W TDP would be just fine. If you currently have some form of cooling overhead with a single thermal pipe (some are beefier than others), then the +5W TDP would probably not be too much of an issue for it either.

Sorry for the late response. I didn't get an email notification. The stock build is a single thermal pipe. Though I'm worried about cooling the gpu with this setup. If you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated?

What is most likely is that I'll do a tdp for tdp because I'm worried about cooling the gpu. As for how it runs now, it gets kind of hot stock but it's more because of bad habits... i.e. me sitting it on a surface where it doesn't get to breath.