Acer Aspire 6930G Upgrade Help.

This is my first time posting here so I hope I don't offend anyone. I've been surfing around this forum looking for answers since I found this site to have much better information than any other site I've been to. I'm sure there are many threads that resemble mine but I still haven't found definite answers.

This is my current laptop:
Acer Aspire 6930G
T5800
4 GB RAM
500 GB 7200 RPM
9600M GS

I've upgraded my HDD recently and now have a spare. I've though about adding in a second one into the second bay but those two legs are in the way. Has anyone found a distributor for the hard drive bay door that allows a second HDD or can anyone who has shaved off the legs tell me how much would be a safe length to shave off and what tool would be best for the job.

I've also considered getting a T9900 online (after being put down that it can't support quad cores) and I'm wondering if anyone has successfully installed a T9900 into a Aspire 6930 or 6930G. It sounds fine theoretically but I'm not sure if the CPU would fry my motherboard or not without proper BIOS support. My BIOS is currently on version 3204 and for odd reason, Windows says I have no administrative privileges when I try to phlash it, so I haven't been able to phlash it to version 3236. If I can upgrade it to a T9900, I'm wondering if anyone who has done it before can make a short guide. I remember lucino mentioning that it is more difficult than most laptops.

I've also read on the forums somewhere on a post by aditya900 that the 6930G can supposedly support more than 4 GB of RAM, has anyone verified this? Since messing with video rendering programs and hosting GMod servers tend to use up a lot of RAM, I'm very interested in sticking in a 4 GB stick to get 6 GB.

I'm also interested in getting a ATI 4670 if it does come out in the MXM-II factor or the GT 130M or whatever is the most powerful at the time . I've cracked open the case and the video card is right at the top next to the removable plate.. I'm hoping that you can just slide out the card or do you have to disassemble the case and remove the motherboard in order to upgrade the video card. I'm really hoping it's not the latter. I am wondering if anyone has done this before.

I've also found a Full-HD laptop screen and I am wondering if it would be worth it.
http://www.screentekinc.com/Acer_As...ch--1920x1080-full-hd-laptop-lcd-screen.shtml
Does this sound weird to want to upgrade the monitor. I've called the company already and found that the price if $265 plus shipping. I've also found a guide in the forums as well with instructions to remove the bezel from the screen.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=368769

I know this is a bit of a mouthful for a first post but I can't think of a better place to ask. Thanks for reading this and thank you for your time.

 

HDD cover - Search for 42.AVB07.001, here: http://www.zandparts.com/acer/ and here: http://www.mk-electronic.com/default.htm I guess, this is what you are looking for, though, I don't about the shipping

lucino had upgraded his 6930G with X9100, so I guess it wont be a problem to upgrade yours with T9900. Here is the upgrade topic: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=388910

I don't know about the RAM, but 4GB sticks are pretty expensive.

Well, AFAIK the only available MXM-II HD4670 is the one in MSI EX625. Acer 8935G is using the MXM-A one I don't think that it would have compatibility issues, even with MSI's vBIOS, but who knows.

I don't know about you, but for me Full HD on 16" is way too much, on a 17" or 18" it's OK, but for 16" I think that WSXGA+ (1680x1050) is more than enough, but it is just me

 

The graphics card is easily swapped out without taking apart the entire laptop, once you have the back cover off there's just four screws holding it in.

Even grinding the 2nd hard drive cover I couldn't get a 2nd hard drive to fit, if you get your hands on an SSD you could remove it from its casing and do what I did here- http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=390742

I agree with triturbo that a T9900 should work fine, the X9100 worked on the original BIOS version the lappie shipped with (sorry I don't remember that BIOS version)

Sorry I have been meaning to write up a dissassembly guide with pics but I'm just in the middle of moving countries Here's a VERY rough guide...

Remove the card from the cardreader (theres normally a blank dummy card in there) and also the dummy expresscard
After you remove the bottom ram/HD cover, unscrew the 2 screws holding the wifi card (or disconnect the antennae) as you need this free when removing the motherboard later

The only thing I got stuck on, was after you remove all the screws from the bottom, your next step would be to run a credit card or similar along the seam/join of theTUBA bass thing at the back of the laptop to pop the clips holding the two bits together. The seam is the one just below the molded 'TUBA' letters.

Then flip the laptop back upright, open up the screen and gently pull the same piece of plastic up and out (it has 'dolby home cinema' and the touchpad buttons on it)- there are two (maybe three?) ribbon cables attached- flip up the black tabs and the cables should slide out.
Then gently prise the keyboard out and again there are ribbon cables you have to disconnect.

You will need to pull the optical drive completely out (easiest way is before you pull the laptop apart make sure the drive is ejected so you have something to pull )
With the laptop upside down find the two screws which were hidden by the optical drive (they hold the trim surrounding the keyboard on on the right hand side) and remove them

Remove the screws from the area left under the keyboard (all screws on the metal area) this should release the keyboard surround and touchpad panel- again check for ribbon cables and dissconnect

Now from memory I can't remember the exact procedure so you'll have to go by feel unless you can wait a week or so until I get time to do a write up..but..

There should be 4 (?) screws marked by arrows on the motherboard, remove these.
Disconnect any wires with plugs that connect to the motherboard, there are 2-3 near where the power button was, one small one near where the touchpad was and 1-2 over to the right of the touchpad (from memory, I may have forgotten some- maybe check there are no screws I've missed either)

Then with everything disconnected gentle try and prise the motherboard out. It will catch near the fan vents and the left side. Takes a bit of wiggling and I slightly pulled the plastic on that left side to give a bit more room, but it will eventually come out.

Once it's out (congratulations!) remove the four screws holding in the graphics card, slide out the card and that will reveal two more screws. Now all you have to do is remove those two and the four around the cpu and your ready to go

I have to stress I'm only going from memory with the above so check and recheck that all screws and cables are disconnected before trying to remove anything, especially the motherboard.

If you get stuck by all means post back and hopefully someone here will help you- I will if I can but may not have internet for a while

Have a look at the pics on this thread to give you an idea of what you'll be looking at - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=386159

 

......WOW. I'm thoroughly discouraged now on changing the CPU. But I still want the upgrade so I guess I'll have to do this, and you've done this twice? As for the HDD cover, I'll wait a bit longer on that since I'm still making sure that this new drive doesn't break. Right now, my priorities are the CPU so the the RAM is only a nice upgrade and the screen as well.

Hope your move goes smoothly lucino. I never liked moving between states in the US let alone countries. Thanks for all your feedback. Now to go buy that T9900.

 

BTW If you think that replacing your display would be easier than replacing your CPU, better think twice

Good luck with the moving lucino, I know that you'll need some

 

lol, sorry I didn't mean to discourage you, it's really quite painless if you take your time, and the above even sounds harder than it actually is too me also when I read it!

Ya I've done it a few times now

Let us know how you get on, I'd be interested to see what temps the T9900 runs at in the acer


Thanks triturbo, yes I'll need all the luck I can get..23 hour flight and all

 

Well I got the processor and am currently taking apart my laptop but now I'm stuck on the stupid tuba thing. I can't get the piece of plastic out.

 

Why don't you have a look at what I did for the CPU upgrade. Might be easier..
ACER 6930G CPU and GPU upgrade

 

Thanks but I prefer lucino's method. The holding it over the edge sounds like a deathtrap for someone like me. It's just the piece of plastic with the Dolby Home Theater won't release on the right side of the laptop flipped up. It think it's the e button.

 

Yeah, you are absolutely right. I just didn't have the patience to follow lucino directions and usually when I disassemle so many parts and screws I loose some of them or forget the way back

 

I hate the letter e now if only because that's where the plastic plate is being held. I think there are two hidden screw in the battery pack area. brb

 

Does anyone know if the points I circled contain hidden screws?

 

I give up, let's try it your way nclive.

 

They look like injection mould points from manufacture.

 

I got it in and yes. IT WORKS!!!!!!!!! muhahahahahaha

The temps are a little spastic though so I'll give temps later on after all the thermal stuff has settled in.

 

Errrrrr....... Is it normal for temps to jump from 38C idling to 100C on full load and spastically changing depending on load? Not to mention that HWMonitor and Speedfan are giving me completely different temps on the CPU.

 

Congrats EchoShade. No, that's not normal. Does it feel hot though?. Touch the bottom surface after running for a couple of minutes and see if it is hot. 100oC is a lot, you will definitely feel it. If I use Nvidia monitor will give me different temps from CoreTemp32 (60 compared to 45 right now). My laptop feels cool though so I don't trust Nvidia Monitor (it doesn't run very well after all).
What kind of thermal compound did you use? did you put enough? Did you clean the Heat Sink before putting the new CPU? You know if there is a small gap somewhere (a small hole or something) between CPU and heatsink it will create very high temps in the CPU. You might need to clean the CPU and HS and apply some thermal compound more.
I am going to bed now.

 

Well 4 different programs give me 4 different temps.

Core Temp: 105C
Speedfan: 100C
HWMonitor: 84C
Rightmark: 99C

I applied AS5 and spread it beforehand since the heatsink made it hard to get in. I made sure the die was completely covered. I'll try tightening the screw again but I cleaned the heatsink as well as a I could with 20 bending cotton swab covered in 91% alcohol in a tiny hole. And considering how annoying that heatsink was, I'm dreading having to reapplying it. Also, I'm kind of afraid of running Orthos for a while since it goes immediately to 100C.

 

Hey all, finally got some intermittant net access

Congrats also EchoShade on the upgrade! nklive is right about checking all he mentioned above to get the temps down, somethings not right.

One other thing you could check is the wire which connects the cooling fan to the motherboard to power it. One time I forgot to reconnect it and the temps rocketed, another time I pulled it out by accident not knowing while I was trying to put it back together...

 

I did it nclive's way of just pulling up the heatsink since there were invisible screws. So I never messed with any cables, but I REALLY don't want to have to clean the heatsink and cpu again. I'm guessing a screwed up sensor since it should be physically impossible to gain 60C in half a second. The picture I attached has temps from the four programs. Also, ignore any icons I have. If any has any idea what's in the background or the shortcuts, you're just as guilty as I am.
Also on HWMonitor in the top-right corner, is that first temp the temp of my monitor and is that temp natural to be idling there and reaching 80C on HD Youtube videos?

 

I win the moron of the year award!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Opened it up to clean it again. Found out I forgot to screw one corner of the heatsink down................................

So for those interested in the temps now after my idiocy.

Idling @ 37C compared to the T5800 idling @ 50C
Full load @ 74C compared to Never tried with the T5800.

But HWMonitor is still pciking up the wrong temps and I'm still curious about the first temp from my last post.

Also, has anyone used Coolaboratory MetalPads and had a good experience with them? Cause playing Left 4 Dead almost fried my video card.

EDIT: Does anyone else have a pretty warm monitor base?

 

Normally I won't spread the AS5 beforehand. I will just apply some on the surface and then as I lower the heatsink, it will spread the AS5 evenly and on the right thickness. But nevermind.

So that's good, your temps look very normal. I tried the HWMonitor and it is picking lower temps compared to CoreTemp32, 3-5oC lower. I don't know why is that but I don't care really since it is quite low.
Happy to help someone with the upgrade. I never tried the MetalPads. They sound very interesting by I wonder how much they cost. I would think of using them for the graphic card and the memory rather the CPU.
I think we should make a 6930G lounge like some other laptops have. Although, now that I am thinking, we are not that many owners of 6930 here, right?

 

Yes I have that too. Especially in the area where the Acer logo is (it might be because it's a different material). I don't know why is that. I don't see any vents coming out from there. At least I would expect only the left hand area to be hot (since the grills are on that side) but I think the middle bottom area is the hottest point of the screen.

 

Hey, look what I found

Thermal Compounds Test Part 1
Thermal Compounds Test Part 2

Looks like the metal pads are performing quite well for thermal pads. Only 2oC difference compared to an average thermal compound and as the author mentioned they weren't prepared as the manufacturer recommended before the experiment so that might leave some room for improvements.

 

Wow, thanks for all the help. I think I got the pads working correctly now.... I think. The idling temp has been brought up from its original 55C to 58C but brought down during gaming from 71C to 67C soooooooooo can't tell if that's good or bad. The material also seems really flimsy for about $5 a piece. I'm going to start undervolting the CPU today. Post the results later.

 

After UVing, I got the max temps to drop from 74C to 62C. I also got a weird pattern in the lowest voltages.

 

Sorry EchoShade I can't help you since I have no idea about undervolting and frankly why are you doing this? Is it for your laptop to run cooler in the expense of slower CPU?

 

Undervolting doesn't slow your CPU. It just makes your computer run at the speeds it is needed. If you need your max CPU frequency, it will run at that frequency but you can make it run at lower voltage so that it is more efficient and consumes less power (hence producing less heat and give you more battery life, I got easily 15 deg C cooler and 30 more min for free basically). Undervolting is great and I highly recommend you read the undervolting thread in the hardware section. It is well written and easy to follow.

 

Now I have a new problem. After playing L4D, my screen started forming random colored lines vertically and horizontally. I did a hard shut down and turned it back on after 10 minutes. I got a discolored white screen instead of the usual Phoenix Bios. I removed the crappy MetalPad (which had already bonded to my GPU and made the majority of the core uncleanable) and replaced it with AS5. I still got the discolored white screen except I let it sit there and instead got a BSOD. After the BSOD however, it rebooted and worked for some reason? Whatever but it's good that it's working again. But this has happened twice now (first time in the post mentioned above and the second time last night). I have the most current drivers from laptopvideo2go so I wondering if one of the 3 thermal pads aren't making contact anymore.

 

It sounds like something got wrong with your GPU. You mentioned that you used metalpads and they were melted on the core???
There is the possibility that the metal pad you put was too much or too long thus as the GPU temps were increasing the metal pads were melting and in this way were spreading around the card. That might have led to a short circuit, hence the electrical malfunction. I am just guessing here, ok.
My suggestion is to clean the memory and the gpu core or wherever you've put metal pads and apply just a small drop of AS5 (don't spread it beforehand). Of course, that's what you did.

 

Thanks sgogeta4. I read the guide which is very easy to follow and the benefits of the UV but for my case because I have Penryn it might not beneficial as others CPUs. The reason is because Penryn have half multipliers (12.5x etc) and RMclock picks only full numbers (11, 12, 13) which means I will have to go to 12, efficiently underclocking a bit my CPU. It will run at 2.4GHz instead of 2.5GHz. So I am in a dilemma either doing the UV and slightly UC to have lower temps or doing nothing and have higher temps and full power. So far I have no problems with playing or temps. Maybe I have to wait until RMclock supports Penryn fully. But UV looks like a great thing to do to your laptop. I am quite jealous to be honest that other people can do it.

 

Well, my temps are even worse now with AS5. Idling at 60C. Gah, now I'm very confused as to what I should use to get the heat down.

EDIT: Fried a third time. Had to reseat the card to get it working again. Though Windows will still completely boot with sound and everything, just a white screen. Now I'm wondering if it is the video card or not since it crashed with temps of 61C. Maybe the monitors being hateful.

EDIT 2: Now I notice a trend in the temps of the GPU. It'll travel from 54C to 64C and back to 54C over a period of 10-15 minutes. And max out at 74C

 

The temps you are referring are for the GPU right? OK.
Try to clean as much as possible and then try to clean the heat sink as well. If there any solid traces you can pick them up with tweezers or cotton swab. Leave the card to cool down before you start the cleaning. This way the thermal compounds will solidify and it will be easier to remove. Try to be careful when you are removing the AS5 especially, because it can be spread all over the place and on your hands as well. Remember the AS5 is electrically conductive which can cause problems if it contacts the electrical connections of an integrated circuit. If you have the 9300M GS, the heat sink has a black tape on one side, right? I hope you haven't removed it. This is to stop the card's parts making contacts with the heat sink. Only the memory and the core have to make contact with the heat sink. (They are the only parts that produce massive heat. The black tape on the side of the card where there are not any memory chips, hence the tape.

 

Crystal CPUID can undervolt your CPU without changing the speed.

 

Thanks Meaker for the tip. I try to check it around the forum for more details some point next week maybe.

 

I believe a BIOS update is needed. My laptops getting screwier and screwier by the day. Took three consecutive reboots to enter Windows without freezes.

EDIT: And like always, I can't update the BIOS because of error code 1275. I'm getting so mad at myself for swapping the CPU.