Aspire 3100 memory and CPU upgrade.

Ok,

I subscribed here for a specific problem. I know alot about computers. I have my own notebook. But I have never opened a laptop in my life. Just saying it that you guys know I know alot about hardware. Its jsut that I never made any customizations to a laptop. Only on a desktop computer. So it would be nice if people could assist me on how to open a laptop in the first place.

Ok, the above laptop the Acer Aspire 3100 is not my own laptop. It is a laptop of a friend of mine who bought the laptop second hand. The laptop is completely ruined. It was sold with a pre installed version of windows vista home premium. It has a legal Windows key and I have a legal home premium installation disk here. So theres nothing to worry on getting things installed. There is one problem though. It's the hardware.

Here are its specifications.

Motherboard:Acer Navarro
Chipset:ATI RS482
Processor: Mobile Sempron 3500+
RAM memory:512MB DDRII
ATI Xpress 200M Videocard
And a 80Gigabyte hitachi harddrive.

The 2 main problems are the amount of ram for Vista and the CPU. Ofcourse these specs meet the minimum requirements. But like we all know, minimum means and laggy. And my friend found that out I guess. I could ofcourse simply install a XP version on the laptop. But I dont have a legal serial for that. I do have XP on some computers at my place. But these are OEM versions so it has to be home premium. And after all I wanna experience on how to upgrade a laptop. So this is a nice chance to do tht.

Now that friend of mine asked if I could add atleast 1 gigabyte of SO DIMM. He trust me on that since he know I dont ruin computers and all. The problem is, this notebook doesnt have a simple plug and play area. It is possible to add it though by screwing the notebook open to get to the mainboard. And if anything is possible a CPU upgrade would be fine aswell. I already updated the BIOS to the most recent version which is 1.05 (Doesnt sound that new though)

But is it possible to add a better CPU on this type of notebook? Since I heard it isnt always possible. And in fact I never heard of a mobile AMD CPU. I did heard of mobile intels ofcourse. So I actualy doubt it is possible to upgrade. And If i researched correctly I also found out some mobile processors are integrated on the circuit board. In that case its game over aswell. Unless you guys have a alternative in that case. Although I doubt it. Also Im wondering if there are AMD mobile processors for sale? Which one should I pick? Mobile AMD CPu's are Socket 774 right? Where can I buy these mobile processors? Cause I havent seen one yet. And what would be a good alternative above a 1.8ghz sempron? A 2.2ghz sempron will do ok I guess. Anything better would be wicked. But I think my friends max budget for the cpu would be around €60 (I live in europe....Holland to be exactly)

I guess these were all my questions...Oh ya one little detail. Im gonna take the laptop to a local hardware store and ask what type of screw driver I need. The screws I have to open are very tiny cross head (I dont know if a cross head is the perfect term in english. But Im reffering to a screw with a cross. But then a very tiny one) And I dont know what type of screwdriver to buy. Maybe you guys can tell me more on what kind of tools I will need to acces the mainboard. I already managed to unplug the keyboard. But that's all and I know I need to get a screw driver for these type of screws. Hopefully you guys can assist me on that matter.

These are alot of questions. Hopefully you guys can answer them as quik as possible. Thanx in advance already and many greetings.

 

With a bit of googling I found out that Acer 3100 sold with AMD Sempron CPUs and 5100 sold with AMD Turion X2 CPUs use compatible motherboards (There is a good chance that both are using same motherboards even). If that is the case then you should be able to upgrade to a Turion X2 CPU. Check the first part of the motherboard serial number against the code given in that link. Motherboard shown in the above link has NO CPU, and there is a socket for it, meaning the CPU is removable. However replacing the CPU can be tricky because you might have to remove lots of parts in order to get to the CPU.

On the other hand, upgrading RAM is very easy. I think you can comfortably upgrade to at least 2GB, even 4GB might be a possibility, but you have to consult the manual to find out more. But I think 2GB will be a big improvement for someone who is used to run Vista with 512MB. For a quick check go to crucial.com and run the System Scanner tool.

Putting in a faster HDD is another upgrade, First I advice you do the RAM upgrade and a disk upgrade, if you still feel the notebook is performing slow then try the CPU upgrade.

 

where can I find this motherboard serial code. On the motherboard itself? I do have the appropriate screwdriver now. So if thats the case please tell me so I know I have to open the thing. Or is it written on the outside?

 

A mod needs to move this thread to the acer board...

Okay from reading your post there is a lot I need to bring you up-to-date on

1) The latest Bios for the aspire 3100 isn't 1.05 it is 3.13 you can get that plus all drivers for the 3100 from the acer euro FTP located here.

2)The processor socket for the sempron used in the 3100 isn't 774 it is socket s1, you will find that because older turion x2's also use this socket you can upgrade to one of them as PhoenixFx said.

3)The aspire 3100's mainboard (acer navarro) can handle up to 4Gb of ram but remember if you put in that much you will need to upgrade windows to the 64bit version. For you I would just recommend 2Gb as vista will work fine with that. The ram (memory) slots on the aspire 3100 are found right under the thermal panel (biggest panel under the notebook), just turn the notebook over unplug it and remove the battery, then unscrew the biggest panel and you will find the memory slots right there.

As for upgrading the processor once you open that thermal panel you will also see the processor in the upper right hand corner(underneath the heatsink) then all you have to do is remove the CPU fan and you can then remove the CPU itself. I would however not advise you to do this without first finding the service manual for this model as if you don't know what you are doing here you could damage the notebook or bend one of the CPU pins.

I am also going to recommend what PhoenixFx said; first upgrade the ram then the hard drive then if it still seems slow then try the CPU upgrade last.

 

thx for the detailed explanations. So I removed the largest panel on the back. And your right, there are memory slots out there. I want planning on adding 4 gigabyte after all. That would be overkill. My friend doesnt need a super high end notebook. So 1,5 - 2GB (Lets say 2gb for dual channel) would be way enough. As for the harddrive. You could be right since its a 5400rpm. Ill buy these 2 parts and see what it does to the speed. furthermore I dont see any big trouble removing this heatsink. And I cant see any pins. They should be underneath the CPU chip right. So what pins your talking about exactly. Well first of all im gonna get some SO DIMM and a harddrive. I tell ya guys if it runs ok or not.