Acer Aspire 5742ZG CPU upgrade?

Hello everyone!

I have a fully working Acer Aspire 5742ZG (p614g32mnkk), and after changing from 4GB to 8GB RAM (DDR3 1066MHz) and from an HDD to an SSD, I now wish to upgrade my CPU from a P6100 to a i7 640M.

According to the Chipset (Mobile Intel HM55 Express Chipset) and according to the Socket G1, this i7 640M is the best CPU I can upgrade to, right?
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/pentium_(2009)/p6100
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/core_i7/i7-640m

But before that, I have the following 3 questions:

1. Is the CPU in my laptop upgradable (not soldered)?
2. Do I need to upgrade the BIOS or anything else? (I have 2GB and 8GB flash drives)
3. Is the i7 640M fully compatible?

Any help is greatly appreciated =)

 

After doing some research, this is what I got from my CPU and Motherboard:



I believe the rPGA means it's NOT soldered, therefore it's upgradable, right?
If yes, will the i7 640M be fully compatible without any issues (despite having Turbo mode)?

 

Yes, and it should work perfectly.

If the i7 is a bit expensive, even the i5-540m is a massive upgrade and it wont lose much at all when compared to the i7, the i's are all dual core with hyper threading cpu's, only the clock increases from model to model.

 

Thank you so much for your answer =)

What about the BIOS, do I need to upgrade it or do something to receive the new CPU?

The i7 640M was like 49usd from eBay (China). Sadly I cannot find brand new ones...

 

And you could grab the i5 for 5-10$.

Just use a decent thermal paste, clean the heatsink/fan and put it back together.

Its the same series, so its just put CPU, and start the PC, you might want to go to Device Manager, CPU and uninstall, then reboot, so that the turbo works correctly.

 

Thank you again for your swift reply!

So, the P6100 (original - 2 cores & 2 threads, no turbo) and the i7 640M (the one I want - 2 cores & 4 threads, with turbo) are from the same series and therefore all I have to do is replace them?

Additionally, I noticed that the CPU-Z software indicates that my original CPU (P6100) has a max TDP of 25.0W, while according to this website below, indicates the TDP is 35.0W...

https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/pentium_(2009)/p6100

Which happens to be the same TDP as the i7-640M (also 35.0W according to the website).

Could you confirm this situation please?

 

Intel lists the TDP at 35W for both:

https://ark.intel.com/products/50175/Intel-Pentium-Processor-P6100-3M-Cache-2-00-GHz-

https://ark.intel.com/products/49666/Intel-Core-i7-640M-Processor-4M-Cache-2-80-GHz-

I dont know where CPU-Z gets the TDP info/value, but its wrong.

 

Thank you so much for your support man, you have cleared all my main concerns!

By the way, I have liked all your posts since your help has been very important to me =)

I just have a few (last!!) couple of questions now (sorry, I'm very curious...):

1. But having that i7 CPU (despite also being a Dual-Core) with 4 threads instead of 2 and also with Turbo, won't run the risk of overheating or consuming too much energy from the Power Supply??
2. Lastly, do you know what stores sell (if possible, brand new) discontinued CPU's like that i7 640M I want? All I see is (possibly) used ones from eBay, China...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core...2_obKq4AIVrjLTCh1TbAooEAYYASABEgKMPfD_BwE:G:s

 

The Arrendale CPU family was launched in 2010, there are no new CPU's being made for a long long time, so all you can find is used chips, and thats fine, CPU's dont degrade, they either work like new or they wont work at all, I would grab a used i5 from ebay for 10-15€, max the RAM to 8GB and mount a cheapo 250GB SSD, both the RAM and a cheap SSD will do much more than the extra 200/300MHz that you gain between an i5 and the top i7.

Since the TDP is the same, it will heat the same, and if the laptop was never repasted, expect it to run cooler than stock.

Also, remember to use h.264ify extension in your browser so youtube plays mp4 videos that your iGPU can decode instead of VP9 that will hammer your CPU.

 

Thank you again for the great info =)

I didn't understand the last part about the browser extension...

 

Hello everyone,

I have an Acer Aspire 5742ZG (p614g32mnkk) and I am about to upgrade its original CPU from a P6100 to a brand new i5 540M which I just bought.

Do I need to update BIOS or do any software procedure before doing this change? or just replace CPU and that's it?

Here is the new CPU (which according to the seller, it's brand new):



And here is my PC current specs:

 

Hi, I merged your new thread into your existing one.

From what it looks like, your BIOS may already support that CPU. If there is a BIOS update to apply, you may want to do it before trying the new CPU. Often new BIOS versions can include updated microcode.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

 

I see, thank you very much.

Although there is 1 problem... I did extensive research and I just couldn't find any online support for this laptop motherboard... and therefore I am unable to conclude if I need any BIOS update or not. Please someone help.

Additionally, do I need to do anything within Windows10 Settings to recieve the CPU?

 

BIOS downloads:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/3310?b=1

You shouldn't need any windows drivers for the new CPU.

 

I see hmmmm, and according to the titles of these BIOS, they are also useless since they don't mention anything related to the currently suported CPU's, right?

 

Do you know where can I find the changelog or supported CPU's/Hardware for the current BIOS version I have which is the original one (v1.01)?

 

The latest 1.30 BIOS has no changelog, but the others do. There isn't any info related to CPU support though. BIOS updates in general aren't well documented. But in general the later the revision, the more hardware it is likely to support. You may not need it at all though -- it's entirely at your discretion. The most important part is being extremely careful when you are removing the old CPU and installing the new one.

 

Hmmmmm... I'm disapointed at the lack of documentation for something so important...

But yes, I will try changing the CPU when I have time, I believe that's all I need to do anyway.

When I do, I will comeback here and provide feeback.

Thank you again good sir =)

 

Can someone tell me if there are special software or Win10 preparations to recieve the new CPU?

 

As said, no, just swap the CPU and uninstall it in the device manager so it will turbo boost correctly, there is nothing more to do, its the same for the BIOS, only one as more enabled features than the other.

And use a decent-ish thermal paste, Artic MX-4 is very easy to find in Portugal, buy a 5gr tube it will serve you for a long, long time, even 1.5gr is enough, make sure to put paste in both dies(the shiny rectangles).

 

Ok, so all I need to do is swapping CPU and then boot the PC up normally (hopefully it will work)? and then in the Device Manager I will probably the see the 4 CPU's i5 (4 threads, right?) and then, unnistall the previous P6100 hardware there? I believe another reboot might be necessary afterwars, correct?

As for the BIOS, I will follow your advice and not modify it.



Thank you for your help!

 

Hello everyone!

I just finished the entire operation successfully at the first try, and I'm writting this post with the laptop after getting the new CPU.

It worked 100%!

The 1st boot kinda scared me because it took a long while and then a grey screen appeared for like 15 seconds... but then it worked just like always. In some games I can already notice the diference... it's awesome!

The fan cooler became so silent and soft that I was scared and though it wasn't working... which is something I have to confirm yet...

Since I re-applied thermal paste to both my CPU and GPU, and then cleaned the Cooler fan of all the dust acumulated in 9 years, it's working so much smoother and silent. Also, both the CPU and GPU while gaming stay at 65Cº and idle, at arround 45Cº.

Is there anything I do to do with the new CPU now in order to enable it's automatic turbo or something? What are the next steps now????

Here is the picture of the moment I was about to swap the CPU:

 

Congrats! How is it holding up with temperatures?

The only thing you might want to do to get some peace of mind is run some benchmarking software. In terms of things you actually need to do, there's nothing, you're done! Congrats again!

 

That's a good question.

I have no idea what the temperatures were before this whole upgrade... but I noticed the notebook is now physically a lot cooler (I guess it's because I cleaned/reapplied thermal paste, and proceeded to clean all the dust from the copper and also from the fan).

Anyways, at gaming using the CPU (100% usage) it reached a maximum peak of 78ºC. Then I decided to use 2 wooden frames at both left and right sides in order to make the notebook taller and allow air flow below, and the maximum peak dropped to 71%.

At idling or just doing basic stuff and browsing, it goes from 40ºC to 55ºC which is a bit scary to me...

Same exact values applies to the GPU.

What can I do other than buying a laptop fan base to decrease the temperature??? I am used to desktop temperatures where 30ºC is minium and 50ºC is maximum....

 

Repasting and cleaning the fan/vents is usually the first step in decreasing temps. I think you're fine with those temps -- laptops have much more cramped cooling systems than desktops, and you have to remember that different CPUs have different heat output levels, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. A laptop cooler could be a good idea if you're concerned, but I wouldn't be worried with 78°C. Intel lists 105°C as the thermal junction for that CPU, so I'd say anything below mid-90s under load is acceptable. Idle temp will depend on a variety of factors, like ambient temperature, and 40° is in a normal range for that CPU.

 

I see... Still, the ideal situation for me would be for it to never pass past 69ºC so I guess I will buy a triple-fan base... What else do you suggest?

I was just browing on firefox while watching videos on youtube and doing other stuff, and the maximum peak of temperature 65ºC while average was like 48ºC... very scary numbers without running any fullscreen application. What do you think of this?

 

I think you need to readjust what you consider scary

You'll be fine.

 

Ok thank you for the conclusion =)

I will still buy a triple fan base just to cool it off even further!

 

A laptop cooler isn't a bad idea, it'll prolong the life of your notebook at the very least.