upgrading laptop cpu

[smasher248]

Hello, i have an acer aspire 7736g which has a t6600 intel cpu, and i was wondering what i could upgrade it to, i know it has a socket type p, but my friend says that its not just about the physical slot. So i was wondering can i upgrade to any other socket p cpu and if so which ones are recommended. Thanks

 

[turkey3_scratch]

For one thing you need to find out if the current CPU is soldered to the motherboard. If so, you're out of luck with replacing. Anyways, no matter what CPU you replace it with, you will not find much of an increase or be able to find any modern day CPU for that socket. Why do you need to upgrade?

 

[smasher248]

For one thing you need to find out if the current CPU is soldered to the motherboard. If so, you're out of luck with replacing. Anyways, no matter what CPU you replace it with, you will not find much of an increase or be able to find any modern day CPU for that socket. Why do you need to upgrade?

I need to upgrade because it seems to be handling games like tf2/portal fairly well but i want to give it an extra edge so that i can put the settings from mid to high, i know the gpu is soldered to the mb but im not sure about cpu i wanted to find out if it was worth it/possible before dismantling it

 

[Solandri]

Most of the old Core Duo and Core 2 Duo laptop CPUs were socketed, and can be upgraded. However, you need to check with the manufacturer's BIOS release notes to see which CPUs are supported.

Also, swapping the CPU is not exactly a simple process with most laptops. On some, you have to almost completely disassemble the laptop, which is beyond most people's technical capabilities.

Finally, bear in mind that older laptops like this typically take a max of 4 GB RAM, and have SATA 1 or IDE connector for the HDD. The integrated GPU on the latest Intel Haswell CPUs is actually pretty good (about the same speed as the nVidia 330m on my first generation Core i laptop). So you will see a tremendous improvement in performance upgrading to even a cheap newer laptop, especially if you can find one with a SSD (or swap the HDD for a SSD yourself) or SSD cache.

The desktop Core 2 Duos still have some life in them due to the motherboards having SATA2, being able to take 8 GB RAM, and having expansion ports so you can install a newer GPU. But the Core 2 Duo laptops are beyond end of life IMHO, and you would be better served putting the money towards a newer laptop.

 

[smasher248]

Most of the old Core Duo and Core 2 Duo laptop CPUs were socketed, and can be upgraded. However, you need to check with the manufacturer's BIOS release notes to see which CPUs are supported.

Also, swapping the CPU is not exactly a simple process with most laptops. On some, you have to almost completely disassemble the laptop, which is beyond most people's technical capabilities.

Finally, bear in mind that older laptops like this typically take a max of 4 GB RAM, and have SATA 1 or IDE connector for the HDD. The integrated GPU on the latest Intel Haswell CPUs is actually pretty good (about the same speed as the nVidia 330m on my first generation Core i laptop). So you will see a tremendous improvement in performance upgrading to even a cheap newer laptop, especially if you can find one with a SSD (or swap the HDD for a SSD yourself) or SSD cache.

The desktop Core 2 Duos still have some life in them due to the motherboards having SATA2, being able to take 8 GB RAM, and having expansion ports so you can install a newer GPU. But the Core 2 Duo laptops are beyond end of life IMHO, and you would be better served putting the money towards a newer laptop.

thanks, i dissembled my previous laptop with success i doubt that will be a problem it was an acer v3-571 and it had integrated graphics i 5 cpu 8gb ram so on and i notice very little difference between the 7736g and v3-571 so i will look at the bios release notes and see what cpus i can use, thanks for your help.

 

[Obnoxious]

Your laptop is on the GM45 Express chipset, which utilises socket P. You are lucky, your laptop's processor can be upgraded, but not only to Core 2 Duo's, you can even upgrade to Core 2 Quad processors. (I say you're lucky since most socket P laptops can only run 800MHz CPUs, hence are limited to Core 2 Duos.)

For a list of compatible processors for the GM45 chipset, look over at CPU-Upgrade. I must state that the list of compatible CPUs on CPU-Upgrade is not an extensive list, and you can even upgrade to other processors; however I would adhere to that list. Other compatible processors are not 1066MHz and are inferior CPUs at 800MHz; ideally you should upgrade to the Q9000 or Q9100, which are both compatible Core 2 Quad processors.

Hopefully you're able to pick up the Q9000/Q9100 for cheap, otherwise if they are out of your budget, you can upgrade to a Core 2 Duo, the T9500. I'd look on eBay for processors, since these CPUs are not sold by retailers.

All the best.

 

[smasher248]

Thank you to all who helped me out on this thread and i am just curious is there a better cpu than the q9100 because all the later cpu have an lga775 socket, if there are not any better ones i will be buying the 9100 as the stats are close to my older laptops i5: =815&cmp[]=1043&cmp[]=997]http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=815&cmp[]=1043&cmp[]=997

 

[Obnoxious]

There is one processor which is better than the Q9100, which is the Core 2 Extreme QX9300. The difference between the Q9100 vs. the QX9300 is somewhat minor however, therefore I'd just purchase the Q9100; the minor difference isn't worth the additional costs in my opinion. If you're also wondering, CPU Benchmark do not have the QX9300 in their records.

The QX9300 is the only Core 2 Extreme which is better than the Q9100; other Core 2 Extreme processors are dual-core. To conclude, I would go with the Q9100 for the balance between performance and price.

All the best.

 

[Red_Sun]

I recently swapped out APU's on a cheap ASUS notebook and to date can say it was mostly successful. I went from a 35 to 45 Watt APU, so you can imagine the thermal profile was a key factor. However, I have been monitoring it very closely and it runs stable. In fact, using my own thermal paste really brought temperatures down, unlike the stuff they slopped on at the factory. And they really do just slop it on mind you. The downside is it uses a little more power and a few pems did not survive re-assemble. That being said, just be gentle when tearing it down. No need to torque screws back in too tightly. I took pics on my phone during the process, and well as used a marker to help me remember where everything goes. Also drilled vent holes in bottom under the fan for extra cooling. The heat pipe is copper, but the sink is Al, and a friend suggested I take that into consideration.

CPU-upgrade (mentioned above) is a great resource, as is http://www.cpu-world.com/

Ebay didn't have the one I wanted, and the idiot selling the next tier down was trying to gouge people. I found mine here:

http://starmicroinc.net/index.php

However, ebay looks like they have better prices for the q9100...Starmicro was selling it for 200 clams. Anyways, good luck!

signed,

~Happily voided warranty

 

[Solandri]

you can even upgrade to Core 2 Quad processors. (I say you're lucky since most socket P laptops can only run 800MHz CPUs, hence are limited to Core 2 Duos.)

Be extremely careful upgrading a Core 2 Duo laptop to a Core 2 Quad. The cooling system may not be able to handle the extra heat, causing the CPU to throttle and maybe even perform worse than a Core 2 Duo. Preferably the manufacturer will say if a Core 2 Quad is ok (e.g. the quad core was an option on your model laptop). But worst case, the TDP of the new CPU should be the same as the one it's replacing.

 

[smasher248]

i purchased the Q9100 and installed it however the screen freezes at boot logo and i get enter bios or boot menu, nothing happens for the laptop (model 7736g) when i put the old cpu back in it works fine will the Q9100 not work on this laptop?