How easy is it to upgrade my laptop CPU by myself ?

I'm thinking about buying a laptop and upgrading the CPU myself.

Say I buy an i3. Is it possible to upgrade the CPU to an i7, assuming both use Socket G2 ?

Did a bit of reading and notice that some i7 CPUs come in 2 socket variants -

1) Socket G2
2) BGA-1224

What's the difference between these two ? I can't find the information on the Intel website -

Intel® Core? i7-2720QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)

List of Intel Core i7 microprocessors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Thanks for the help guys

 

It depends on the model and make of laptop you are looking for upgrade, some are easy but some of the newer laptops are a bit difficult because you have to strip completely to access the cpu.
BGA is soldered to the MB and can not be changed.

 

You might have to deal with overheating issues if you do that. A quad i7 runs a lot hotter than a dual core i3 and the laptop's cooling system might not be able to handle it.

CPU upgrades also almost certainly void the warranty.

 

For your reference:
Ball grid array - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zero insertion force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, you should confirm that the motherboard is capable of going from i3 to i7.

It's hard to judge your building experience based on past posts, so here goes another big warning:
The process itself typically requires a complete teardown of the laptop into its component parts. You need to be comfortable with dismantling and reassembling your laptop without too much troubleshooting, as well as the procedure for removing the old heatsink and CPU, replacing the CPU, repasting, cleaning the heatsink, and reattaching properly.
If you make a mistake in the replacement process, you will need to keep tearing down to troubleshoot - it's a pain. Running a laptop with connections in place but not in its chassis is doable, but can stress whatever the components are sitting on top of if they aren't completely detached from the chassis.

 

What Pylon757 said, aside from the heat issue there maybe a CPU compatibility issue depending on the chipset you get with the i3 laptop.

To my knowledge most i3/i5 Sandy Bridge laptops use the HM65 chipset which is not compatible with any i7 CPU's and only goes up to a i5-2540M.

If you're lucky and the i3 laptop comes with a HM67 chipset (very rare but possible) then you'll have the option to upgrade to any Sandy Bridge CPU on the market.

This chipset rule also applies to business laptops with QM65 and QM67 chipsets.

 

Honestly, I've only ever built desktops.

This is my first foray into replacing the laptop CPU. I have had some experience replacing the RAM and HDD of my sister's Lenovo Y470 but I wonder if that counts. Once, I also installed one of those Broadcom Crystal HD cards in my Asus eeepc (but that was ages ago).

You make the CPU sounds like a completely different ballgame.

 

Thanks for answering that question. How do I identify the socket that different laptops use ? CPU-Z ?

 

Some laptops have bottom access doors to change the CPU. Like a few toshibas I was just working on. 4 screws total.

Some laptops require complete dis-assembly as there is no access to the CPU on the bottom of the laptop. You'd have to hold the motherboard in 1 hand.

Yes, the CPU is an entirely different ballgame. The WORST case with RAM is you'll have to take off the keyboard. On an ultraportable, there may be only 1 slot and the rest will be soldered on like the BGA, also I've seen a HDD where you had to do this, only on ultraportables. But for the CPU, yes, its very commonly not accessible at all unless you completely remove the motherboard.

 

Yes, CPUZ.

Actually I can just tell you. For mobile i3/i5/i7 CPUs, use digits. You can only upgrade from a 3 digit to another 3 digit like 330m to 720qm, or 2310m to 2720qm.

 

I have a question though. Out of boredom I was clicking around the Sager website -

And the Intel website - 2nd Generation Intel® Core? i7 Processors with Mobile Intel® HM65 Express Chipset

You mentioned that HM65 does not support i7. Is there some meaning in your post that I did not understand?

 

That's to my understanding but I stand corrected if that's what Sager and Intel says.

You'll still have to deal with the cooling problem with i7 quad cores, I'd suggest nothing higher than a i5-2540M ATM from a i3-2310M to be safe.

 

what is the brand/model of your laptop? if its a dell/thinkpad you're in luck, because dell has service manuals with disassembly instructions

 

If you can do that, you're fine. Laptops are built within a more confined space, but there shouldn't be a major issue getting used to it. Just make sure you have a spudger and/or credit card on hand to split the plastics.

 

Yeah I probably should run around the stores with a flash drive loaded with CPU-Z just to be sure

Ok sure. I have a whole syringe of leftover Arctic Ceramique to use up as well.

 

Undecided. But your comment just swayed me towards Dell a little bit.

 

Not true, my Asus A53E which uses a HM65 chipset will accept i7 CPUs. I know because I replaced the stock B940 chip with an i7 2620m. My laptop uses the same motherboard that the K53E series uses and I've seen that model sold with quad cores.

 

go with brands that always use the same motherboard and bios then for most of their models. like for example my dell precision supports pretty much any of the sandy bridge processors.

in my experience, upgrading the processor on a new laptop is not worth it. the hassle of selling off the processor it came with and then going through ebay to find a upgrade generally outweighs any savings. ram and hard drive however are worth upgrading by yourself.

 

Today i tried to replace the B940 in my K53E with an i5-2540M (i need VT-x). Unfortunately, it didn't work (it seems to try to boot, but the screen remains black all the time).

Are there any other steps for the upgrade, apart from just replacing the CPU chips for this laptop?

 

It depends on what notebook but some BIOS' only allow certain CPU's to work which could be a problem. If you haven't done so you can try updating to the latest BIOS first to see if the manufacturer updated a new CPU list then try installing the new CPU again.

 

i updated the bios to latest available last week.

 

Hmmm I had a look at your model and it list these as the CPU options:

Unfortunately the i5-2540M is not listed as an option so the BIOS doesn't recognise the microcode on the chip hence why it couldn't boot. You could try and see if anyone is willing to mod the BIOS adding the necessary microcode of the i5-2540M in these forums ( BIOS Mods/ MyDigtialLife) but given the complexity and certain risks involved I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. Otherwise you may have to just get the ones in the list in order for it to work with your notebook model.

 

I EXPLICITLY asked the official asus support for a list of CPUs with VT-x which i can upgrade to. They said:
Intel Core i7 2620M
Intel Core i5 2540M
Intel Core i5 2520M
Intel Core i5 2410M
Intel Core i3 2310M
Intel Core i7 2630QM
Intel Core i7 2720QM

 

I would recommend you to visit this site which should help you.

In addition to that I recommend to:
- put new cpu
- take out all RAM
- unplug battery, power cable and hold power button for 10 seconds
- put in RAM and battery. turn it on again

 

and there happens what? missing microcode magically appears like in hot dreams of a 20-something?

 

1 microcode is same for all processors with same family and stepping. Which means that most likely it is already in the bios. For more detailed answer I need more time for searching CPUIDs of your 2 CPUs... I will better go catch a dream

It is more likely because 2 different processors have different memory controller (I7 will work with 1866 memory while I3 will downclock it to 1600 at best). Same problem was written about upgrading from 1-st gen I-core CPU usual I7 (1333) to i7-920XM series (up to 1600).

 

what i7? what i3??? poor 20-somethings, they are tightly caught within their dreams...

it's b940->i5-2540M

 

The i7's listed above?

 

Are you trolling or what? It doesn't matter exact numbers, I have just told you that microcodes ARE THE SAME!
I5-2540M 206A7
B940 206A7
Here, double check it. Whatch for CPUID SECTION

While memory controller must be different. I5 will use 1600 for sure while b940 most likely use 1333 only.

 

i wanted a cpu with vt-x in place of my b940. i asked asus, they gave me this list. i got a i5-2540M and it doesn't work. asus support obviously lied. end of story.
now some 20-something tells me to dance on my ears for 10 seconds, like if it will turn the lie into truth.

 

why dont you use the links from intel? they are the first ones in google, easy to find. why do you go elsewhere and prefer to speculate and dream in vain???

Intel® Core? i5-2540M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
Memory Types
DDR3-1066/1333


Intel® Pentium® Processor B940 (2M Cache, 2.00 GHz)
Memory Types
DDR3-1066/1333

 

Because this exact 20-something (me) is definitely smarter than you. And therefore I do NOT use Intel links because they usually lie about memory controllers.

I7 2nd gen will easily work with 1866Mhz RAM and possibly work with 2133Mhz. 920xm and 940xm will wok with 1600RAM. And so on.

But if you prefer to look like potato please go ahead. I am not going to spend more time on stubborn people whose fat ego may compete only with their body.

 

But are you saying thats why his CPU upgrade didn't work or not?



VV75 I think you probably did something wrong or broke something during the disassembly process. Thats my opinion.

 

I am saying that more likely than incompatibility is my version. It is not 100% true but it is more possible than what this ... says.

Somewhat similar situation http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...us-g73jh-a1-i7-920xm-problem.html#post6081015

 

Keep things under control in here please; if I have to come back and read posts I'll close this ... thanks.

 

works perfectly when i put back the old cpu. in fact, i am writing from this laptop right now.

 

now asus support is trying to tell me that only certain revisions are supported. true story is probably a typical vendor lock-in, when only special SERIAL NUMBERS are accepted. same as ibm was doing in the 90s...

 

I'm closing this thread before it gets out of hand again. Please remember that forum rules prohibit public disclosure of private employee information. Further intervention to remove private information will result in permanent bans.