cpu Upgrade aspire 7738g

I love my 7738g (core2 duo t6600, gt240, 4gb ddr3), but its getting old. I'm gonna swap one of the hd's with ssd, but I also need a faster cpu. I know this model has been sold with t9550, so that should defenitly work. Q9000 is also an option for the same reason. My questions are as follows:

What is the fastest cpu (preferbly quad-core) that I can use?

In a forum I have seen someone claim to have 8 gb ram. What do i mod to make it support it?

Are there better gpu's that will fit on 7738?

 

You can use a q9200 or qx9300 CPU. You don't need to mod anything to get 8gb of RAM lol, you just need 2x4gb modules, should be 30$ or so.

For the graphics card, you can use ANY MXM 3.0 type A card. The best is the AMD 6770m with gddr5. They are available here for a great price, however, you should INSIST on gddr5 or a refund/exchange with all expenses paid.
AMD(ATI) FirePro M5950 GPU 1G GDDR5 MXM 3.0 Graphics Card (P4R8T) - Graphics Card - Parts - Computer

There is also a crazy mod to support MXM 3.0 B cards. You have to be comfortable soldering on your motherboard. To upgrade the CPU and GPU you need to be comfortable holding the motherboard in 1 hand.

You need a 120 watt adapter if you want to upgrade to quad core.

Another nice upgrade might be a full HD 1080p LCD screen.

 

Thank you for an prompt answer.

Then I guess I'll go for qx9300 if its not too expensive. Any drawbacks with this one like heat or extensive mods to make it fit?

Anyone care to explain this? Why does acer say it only supports 4gb? Can I use 16gb or 32gb as well?

I'll look into it. where do I get them, and what do they cost?

 

qx9300 is too expensive.

The q9200 is a CPU that was only made in ES. Its 2.4ghz, the qx9300 is 2.53ghz.

The q9200 doesn't have an X in it, thats right, but BOTH of these processors have unlocked multpliers. They are overclockable to 3 or even 4ghz provided you have the cooling and voltage.

Yes there can be cooling issues with these, even at stock clocks. You might want to go the dual core route, as VERY few applications will utilize all 4 cores.

This means a t9900 3ghz dual core will be faster than a stock q9200 or qx9300, and while the performance will be the same with a q9200 at 3ghz, it will run a LOT hotter and pretty much kill your battery life.

You don't need to mod anything to get it to fit, however there are 2 different heatsinks out there and 1 is a lot better.

For the q9200, there are a few different models out there - STAY AWAY from QAJF. QAVR is good. The issue with some of them like qjaf or qajf (cant remember) is that they don't have temperature sensors, so your fan will either be on all the way - or your notebook will simply melt.

The whole quad vs dual is a tough issue. However, in this case if your awake in 8 hours and see this, it may be a no brainer.
Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9200 Engineering Sample QAVR 2.40GHz 1066MHz | eBay

8gb of RAM? I will explain. The people at Acer who type up that info? Probably never touched a precision screw driver in their life and don't have the slightest idea what RAM is.

16gb, who knows, no ones ever tried it thats for sure. Overkill IMO.

Heres a 1080p LCD I bought and used on my 7738g. However, its a matte screen and the picture is really grainy - I might try to remove the matte coating.
Chi Mei 17.3" FHD LCD Panel of DELL M6600 and XPS 17 (N173HGE-L11) - LCD Screen - Parts - Computer

I could sell you my screen if your interested, since its already in the USA, I also have a glossy 1080p LCD that has a small scratch.

 

That pretty much settles it then. I plan to be in the same rom as my laptop, and i HATE fan-noise. Still the link you provided is a good deal as of now, so I'll chew on this one a little more. I suppose the x-series like the X9100 would also go in this laptop? Any advantage in this over the t-series?

Btw. I use a lot of Adobe-products (indesign, photoshop, premier), and plan on using wm-ware for virtual machines. For this I would benefit from more cores, or am I mistaken?

Probably right, but I might try just for the fun of it.

Thank you for the offer. I live in Norway, so I guess it would be expensive to send. Du let me know the result if you remove the coating.

I'm gonna buy this one. Looks like a rare bargain. One question tough; What is the difference between new and pulled?

 

I'm sorry if I'm reviving an old thread, but I also need to carry out an upgrade.

I'm forced into it, as I'm going to university to do a degree that requires I can run 3d design software, and my laptop in its current state is constantly overheating. I don't have enough money to put myself through uni and buy a new one.

My Aspire 7738G has a G10m gpu, a t6600 cpu and 4gb of ram.

Since I have to fix the heating problem, I may as well upgrade while I have the laptop apart. I will be following an assembly/dis-assembly guide since I have no idea what I'm doing and have only ever modified desktops.

I want a decent CPU, GPU and a RAM upgrade to 8gb. I suppose I would prefer a fast duel core to a quad, as I don't think there's any need for a quad.

My question is what are the most sensible options for a low budget? I'm not bothered about having an insanely expensive upgrade, but one that dramatically improves the performance for gaming and 3D autocad design, without soldering or fitting something which will make the overheating worse.

I could probably spend around £200 GBP ( around $320 USD) but after that it starts becoming cost prohibitive and I may as well save for a new machine. I'm a total noob to laptop repair and upgrading so would appreciate any advice about the best route to take.

 

Your best bet to lower temps is to re apply the thermal paste with something like Arctic Silver 5. And blow out all the dust. You could also install any P series CPU, for more power yet less heat. As they are pre unvolted T series if you like. For £200 you could comfortably have a reasonable system. I have a 5739g with a P8700 CPU and a 6770m GPU. The temps are great, and it runs all games / engineering software we run at my uni with ease. If you don't need the graphics so much, put the money in to a X9100 or t9900 CPU ~£120.

 

Quad core works if you have any reason for that, at least it worked on my motherboard, there are a few different ones out there.

Can I see a pic of your motherboard?

 

I would love to go all out and install a fast quad and the very best graphics card (maybe even carrying out the mod that involves hacksawing and soldering. I love my laptop and I've grown attached to it. Apart from the overheating it's been the best laptop I've ever owned.

But I would just be doing it because I would love to do it, rather than being practical. There's got to be a point where it's just not worth it, and you can buy a very high-spec returned Dell Precision on Ebay for like £650, so there comes a point where the sensible part of my brain will overrule the curious tinkering part.

And as you've said earlier in the thread, applications that would need it are few and far between, and it may also cause heat and power issues that need to be worked around.

I would love to post a pic but my camera on my phone is busted and I don't have a digital camera of my own. I could probably borrow one when I carry out the mod. Are there different motherboards, or are you curious as to whether or not the overheating has damaged the board?

Avora

I will definitely be giving it a good clean out to get rid of all of the nastiness, and that paste looks like good purchase.

Some of the P8700 cpus on Ebay are very cheap ( around £30 though I think they may have been pulled or reconned) some are around £120 or more, what type should I be looking at?

The GPU you mentioned seems to be out of my price range. I like the look of the one that niffcreature mentioned earlier in the thread.

This one was the cheapest one I could find. Not sure if it's gddr5 or not.

AMD GL M5950 1GB GRAPHICS CARD - AireTech IT e-Shop UK


The PC will mostly be for 3D modelling ( CAD, not games), word processing, but I'm also looking into designing a simple multi-player FPS for the iPhone using UDK and 3DS Max as a hobby. I will be going to uni as a mature student, and I've done all my drinking and partying, I'm now 30 so I don't think I'll be going out on the lash with 19 year-olds. So I may as well do something useful with any spare time I have.


I also like to play the occasional game. My laptop could manage Crisis on medium to low settings fine (although it did stutter like hell on the intro) before it started overheating too much, it also managed most titles on my Steam account with ease, so ideally I would like to be able to play some of the newer games on decent settings, and be a little bit future proof for a couple of years.

 

I believe there are some 7738g or 7735g motherboards that will accept an MXM 3.0 type B card without any modification.

 

Would the serial number help identify the MB?

Is there a reasonably priced type B card that's worth the effort of a mod, or may fit without a mod?

Forgive the noob questions, but I really haven't kept up with all of this stuff. The last time I changed a CPU or GPU, or even a stick of RAM in a desktop, it was to get it ready for Half-life 2.

And I'm largely ignorant of laptop components.

The reason I ask, is that this reconditioned PC:

DELL PRECISION M4600 INTEL i5-2520M DUAL CORE 8GB RAM AMD 1GB GRAPHICS 1080P | eBay

Supposedly comes with a three year warranty from a UK seller, and although quite a bit more than I'd wanted to spend and with a poor HD at only 250GB, it does seem like it could be better than spending a lot on upgrading.

I'm worried that I'll be left with a laptop that's still overheating after spending around £2-300 on components. Although, I think I paid like £750 for this laptop at the back end of 2009. So it's a tough decision to make.

What cards and CPUs would you recommend in the £2-300 range without heavy modding?

 

No I think the motherboard I saw may be some kind of early release or maybe the AMD version of this laptop (7538g)

If you do something similar to what I did with my nv78, it definitely wont overheat, its actually not too difficult a mod:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...heatsink-quadro-3000m-up-next.html?highlight=
And yes, even a GTX 260m is a pretty huge upgrade, these can be had for under 100$. Next up is a 5870m for 150$ For Dell Alienware HD5870 HD 5870 5870m 1GB Graphics Card C8245 RT01J | eBay

Or a really great upgrade would be the GTX 670m for 235$:
Laptop Video Cards :: nVidia GTX 670M 1.5GB Mobile Video Card - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

But all of these requires heavy modding to the actual motherboard unless you have the special one I saw a picture of.

 

Any modifications needed for ATI 6770m to work on 7738g?
I read someone talking about vbios flashing after gpu upgrade..

 

Hi folks, I need help.

I bought yesterday 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz (4GB x 2kit) in hope that I could do a simple upgrade of my Aspire 7738g. Unfortunately it doesnt even boot into BIOS, nothing just black screen..
I have even tried to put only one 4GB instead of 2x2GB I had there before in case the BIOS can access only 4GB... but same black screen.. any combination with one old 2GB RAM 1066MHz + one new 4GB 1333MHz to have the same frequency as the slower one.......still nothing..

I am desperate... spent already whole day googling.. even I managed to flash MODDED BIOS to have hidden options...

RAMs cost me 72€ and I would really appreciate ANY hint or help. Dont know where is the problem.. my motherboard(Intel PM45 Express) should support 8GB of RAM..

Thanks for replies..

 

Sounds like your new RAM is dead. Does it still work with only the old RAM in it?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

As Avora said, it seems that RAM is dead. First of all, maximum frequency, that this chipset can handle is 1066Hz. But, this is not the case of which the RAM is not working, I think, because max working frequency of RAM should be decreased to 1066 MHz, as usual. Second, is it DDR3 or DDR2?

to arsen: it depends on the following:

1. From which system the card was pulled off (HP, ACER, DELL, MSI). If the bios is from DELL, ACER, HP - the card should work. Normally, 6770M with red PCB is capable to work with ACER notebooks.
2. If it has the ROM chip soldered on PCB. If no, the vBIOS of card has to be integrated in sBIOS of notebook. As I mentioned above, RED PCB 6770M is capable to work with our notebooks, it has ROm chip soldered on it. Green PCB 6770M is without ROM chip - vBIOS of the card should be integrated in sBIOS of the notebook. Black PCB 6770M - is for Mac only. Blue PCB - for HP, but there is no information on the web yet, is this card workable in ACER notebooks or not.

P.S. for example, I have AMD FirePro M4000 with Blue PCB and ROM chip soldered on it - the card is working perfectly. It is logically to assume, that blue PCB 6770M should work also, but this is the matter of try.

 

I confirm,Blue PCB from HP Laptop,Romless, works after vbios integration.

 

That`s a great and usefull information! Thank you!

 

Have someone tried to mod 7738G for MXM 3.0 B support?

 

I'm going to try when my gtx 560m arrives.

 

Hope it works. Waiting for the result!

 

560m wont go to maximum clocks. I got an hd5870m working way back when.

 

Is the problem in vBIOS of 560m or in power consumption?

 

I think in my case both because it's a Toshiba card and I'm with a 120W adapter

 

As I remember most powerfull adapter for this notebook was 120W. Toshiba? That is the first time when I hear about discrette Toshiba video card. I`ve thought that they don`t support MXM cards.

 

They do have quite a handful, most of them without vBIOS chip though.

 

Tested Toshiba Qosmio X775 NVIDIA GTX 560M MXM 3 0B Laptop Video Card N12E GS A1 | eBay
Here's what I bought. I thought bios chip is that is under the touch area(PU100).. So I am wrong?

 

seems, like it is vBIOS. But, I can be wrong.

 

Card didn't work(no screen) i integrated it's bios into system bios now screen lights are on but no image.
I guess something about vbios and card incompatibility.
I used Dell's gtx 560m bios.

 

You need the original vBIOS. You have to get it from the Qosmio's (probably, since they are Toshiba's top-tier) BIOS.

 

I booted HP 6770m with a Dell bios.
I'll try to find Toshiba bios but I think it is soldered already to the card.

 

Have you flashed with DELL one directly, or you have tried with Toshiba's BIOS first?

 

First, just plugged, no screen, then with dell bios lights up,no image.
There are also Msi and Clevo bioses available for gtx560m, i'll try them.
Couldn't find Toshiba bios.

 

Hi. Been reading all the posts and still unsure what I should do for the best? I'm a self taught 40+, day job a tattooist, but having issues with my 7738g. Don't discredit me, I've built some nice machines ( bridged rampage 3 extremes, GTX 560 ti's, extreme i7 cpus, OZ vertex ssd's, etc) but would like some guidance with my laptop. I've re pasted it with artic paste about 5 months ago and cleaned it out but its over heating again. What's my best option for upgrading with little or nothing to do? What mb will take the mxm3.0b card without altering? Also, what cpu would work with that? I guess I'm asking for you to tell me my options, please. I have on board now a Intel Q9000, 4 gb ram and Nvidia GT130M. Really appreciate it guys

 

About MB I think none. I have seen some models with enough place for MXM B but missing graphicc cards slot.
CPU - QX9300 best for our socket. You might also look at cheaper Q9200 QAVR(Engeneering sample,not an Oem but I don't think any issues will appear)
GPU - 6770m(red pcb), firepro m4000, m5100 or nvidia quadro k2100m,the last one is best with its price but not sure 100% it will work.
Also an SSD would be a nice upgrade.

 

@frosty72 - arsen gave you an answer on most of your questions. I'll add that MXM-B upgrade is only possible after re-seating couple of elements on the MoBo. Also what paste have you used? If it's Arctic Silver 5, then you have to spread it thin and evenly over both cores. I recommend MX-4 since just a rice sized blob in the middle of each core is enough and it does the job few degrees cooler.

 

Thanks man. I'll go do some pricing and feel a lot more confident now pressing that 'commit to buy'. Really appreciate it.

 

About Q9200. This is engineering sample, but it is overclockable as QX9300, and it is not so expensive as QX9300. But, it is rare.

About card - do you really need such performance, as GTX560M can give to you? It is really hot thing. If you need performance, you can get it by putting less money on buying M4000 (PR80-C Dell part number), for example.

 

If you are interested, I have QX9200 for sale

 

not to hijack this thread but just to clear some stuff up

i have a 7738g with the following specs
t6500 2.1ghz 800 mhz FSB
gt130m
3gb ddr3


and i want to upgrade to the
ATI hd6770
t9900 cpu
and 8gb of ram

do i need to get a red 6770 or will the other colors work, and what do i have to do it make it work (is it plug and play?)

im a desktop guy thats dabbled in laptops before but its been awhile

 

Hello. You should get RED PCB 6770M. Other version are ROMless - to make them work with your laptop, you have to integrate vBIOS in sBIOS or solder the ROM chip on the card and than make blind-flash.

 

ok thanks for clearing that up

 

Hi, i have an Acer 7738g with an Intel QX9300 installed and modded bios 1.11 (for hidden settings).

I read over intel spec site that the chipset mounted on this laptop, PM45, support 8gb of ddr (on acer site they said only 4gb but i think that intel, the mother of the chipset, is right).

So i bought a set of 2 corsair 4gb PC-8500 (7-7-7-20 as the installed ones), the best confirmed to work on intel site.

But after installing them the display goes balck and nothing appens... (ram is not dead, it is now installed on another pc)

Do you have some ideas? If someone has 8gb installed on 7738g can you tell me what kind of ram you have??

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi, i have an Acer 7738g with an Intel t9600 with gt240m i try to install fire pro m4000 but didn't work (it was green pcb?), i now want to get quadro k2000m but i am not sure it will work, did somebody try it or know something about it? (sory for my bad english)

 

That card has really high TDP - 55W. That`s even higher than M5100 has. Your M4000 maybe is romless version? Can you post its photo? If it is ROMless, you just need to add vBIOS into your sBIOS.

 

anyone for me?
i want to upgrade my 7738g to 8GB of ram... but always black screen before bios post.
the new ram is not dead... is currently installed in another notebook.

 

Have you tried to install each RAM stick separately?

 

yes but no luck... someone online managed (if true) to install 8gb on 7738g... i tried with fw 1.13/2.12 official an modded ones.
i can't understand where is the problem. the chipset support 8gb of ram. i changed the cpu with a qx9300 with no problems and now i'm sticked on ram...

 

Try to loose the timings, maybe your chip-set is picky.

 

Ehm.. i don't know how to do that (or maybe i can't understand what you mean)
can you help?