Need help upgrading CPU in Aspire 6920G

Hi all

I have a couple of noob questions regarding upgrading the cpu in a Aspire 6920g - 6A4G25Mn, I would just like to say that i love the laptop but it seems to me that my versions glaring fault is its cpu, its only an intel core 2 duo 2.0ghz (T5750) and to me its letting the rest of the hardware down.

Baisicly as I am new to this sort of thing, would realy apreachiate it if some one more technicaly sound then me could point me out a good cpu for my system and buget, im realy looking for somthing between 2.8ghz and 3.0+ghz and am looking to spend no more than £150, though £100 would be much better o and probably would have to be another intel core 2 duo for ease of instalaition (unless im mistaken)

Secondly, I have a rough idea on whareabouts to find the cpu slot thanks to a thread on this board, but as more experianced users than myself, if you think there is somthing I should know before doing this please let me know as any help would be truly apeachiated.

Thanks for help in advance, and also thanks for reading.

Regards
Baz

 

What will you be using the Notebook for - Gaming, Image/Video-editing, Tasks such as Office, Browsing, etc. ??

 

Mostly gaming and web browsing

 

Oh, what sort of gaming..?? (Which games do you play most ?)
And which GPU, HDD, RAM ??

 

o sorry about that mate, yea atm I play mmo's such as Lord of the rings online witch plays fine realy, but i would still like to get better perfomance out of it. I also play rts's at the mo im playing lord or the ring battle for middle earth 2 (aye, lord of the rings fan here ) and tbh this plays not so well ie, when theres too many units out the game goes in to what i call slow down mode, still playable but slightly anoying.

But im also looking to branching out to games such as gears of war and then gears of war 2 when it comes out, i dont think i will go a far a crysis though

Edit: other specs are..... 250hdd 4g ram and nvida 9500m graphics card

 

Does LOTR 2 utilize both CPU cores when playing ? Are both cores at 100% ?
You can check this by running taskmgr minimized, and in between the game, ALt+Tab out and check the graph on the Performance page in task manager.

CPU upgrades normally don't boost game performance, but if the CPU is the bottleneck and resulting in bad physics realism, a T9300 would be the best option, and will provide the max boost as compared to the T5750. (But not less than 150 Quid )

Which GPU (8600M GT or 9500M GS) ?

HDD ? RAM ?

 

First off, be aware that the fastest CPU for the PM965 chipset that the 6920G is based on is the Core 2 Extreme X9000, and that's only 2.8 GHz. With that increased performance, you're also looking at increased heat output (44W TDP vs. 35/34).

I would recommend moving up to a Core 2 Duo T8300 or T9300 at 2.4 or 2.5 GHz, respectively. They seem to be the "sweet spot" for mobile CPUs at this point for the Santa Rosa platform - you will be spending more money for less performance with any faster CPU.
Of course, if you don't mind a slightly older CPU design, the Core 2 Duo T7700 or T7800 at 2.4 or 2.6 GHz are still capable performers.

I've got the 6920 Service Guide, which shows you how to upgrade the processor in your machine - I'll PM you a Rapidshare link. And yes, I can relate to the feeling - I've got a T5550 in my 6920G, which feels like a slug sometimes. You'll benefit big time from the increased FSB speed.

One last thing: make sure you apply a fresh layer of thermal compound on your CPU before putting the heatsink back on!

 

How did you get that! I only have the user guide. Can I have a copy too?

 

Ok, 250GB HDD and 4GB RAM are good.
If got some extra cash, you could trade of that 250GB HDD for a 320GB 7200RPM drive, which will help games alot in level-loading.

If that game is pushing both cores to 100%, only then go for a CPU upgrade, otherwise it won't help gaming in any way.

Technically speaking, a T9300 would provide a 15-20fps increase in games, that actually hammer the CPU. The 0.5GHz increase per core will help with about 6-8fps, and the extra 4MB cache would help with a 12-16fps increase. So, the enhanced CPU will only improve the frames-per second rate....

 

Andy, upgrading from the T5750 to the T9300 would take the FSB from 667 to 800 MHz - wouldn't that have a decent performance jump?

Matmat - check your PMs. I got it from atthegates when I asked him a while ago.

 

Thanks for the help guys, looks like im on the hunt for the cheapest T9300 that i can find

TehSuigi, yea that service guide would be realy benifical to me and a great help, one more thing though can you explain thermal compound to me a bit more as ive never heard of it, ie do i have to buy, whare from and how would one put it in place please mate?

thankls again........adding rep points to you both now

 

Thermal compound = thermal paste.
It transfers heat from the CPU to the heatsink better than simply having the two touch each other.
Basically, look online for an Arctic Silver 5 tutorial for notebook CPUs.

 

Ok I will do, thanks again

Andy, on lord of the rings online the cpu is not pushed %100 (on either core) but in saying that i would like to be able to push the graphic settings up acouple of notches too insted of playing it at medium-high, but on the other hand lord of the rings battle for middle earth 2 does end up pushing the cpu to max when there are too many units out on the field, i just hope that its a cpu fault rather than a game fault as i can sort out the cpu

 

Pushing graphics settings up may require a GPU upgrade, which at this point isn't possible. It may be so later - depends if the 9600M GT MXM card is compatible with the 6920G.

(for info on MXM, check out other threads around here)

 

The 9600M GT is MXM-II. But it won't provide a significant performance boost, and is very expensive ATM.
(6920G BIOS support = ??)

 

Exactly my point, Andy...wait, where the heck did you see the 9600M GT on sale?!

Might be more worthwhile to wait for the 200 Series to inevitably waddle onto the MXM-II form factor.

 

Yea I think I'll leave the gpu alone for now.

Btw thanks to whoever left me rep

 

Check here - it'll tell you who did.
Oh, and allow me to officially welcome you to the Acer Forum!

P.S. Lemme know how the upgrade goes; I'm seriously tempted.

 

Hehe thanks man!

aye, it seems as this is the the place to be notebook wise and tbh acer-wise as i find acers own support system pritty much non-existant and crap, I have been leaching round here for some time and know that you guys are realy helpfull and informative, so there was only one place when it came to me needing some advice and to finaly step out of the shadows

And aye i will defo let you know how the upgrade goes, though it wont be for about a month or two as i have a holiday due in a few weeks and then i need a little time to save up for the T9300 witch after a quick look seems to be around the £200-£250 mark, But i will keep you posted sir

 

Sir? I haven't been here long enough to deserve that.
And I was in the same situation a few months ago myself - lurking until I had a question to ask.
And like I said, feel free to go for the T8300 instead - you'll be 100 MHz slower and with 3MB less cache, but it might just be in your price range.

 

Look on youtube for video about cpu replacement, it could greatly help you.

 

Thanks man, i'll check that out

 

here is one video of a CPU SWAP