cpu upgrade for laptop acer aspire 3690

Hi,
I have an acer aspire laptop 3690, I ran CPUZ and it says:

chipset:
model: grapevine

Intel i943/940GML rev 03

southbridge 82801GHM (ICH7-M/U)

my CPU is an intel celeron M 1.6 ghz says "codename: Yonah"

I want to upgrade the CPU, but trying to figure out, what's the max I can go up to?
How do I know if my chipset is really a i943, or 940???

Also, is there any way to upgrade the graphics card on a laptop?
Thanks

 

What I can definitely say is there is no way to upgrade the graphics card as it's intergrated. Best CPU might be a Celeron M 2.4GHz, but you may as well wait around a bit.

 

Thanks,
I guess something else I was wondering, was can I go to an intel pentium, or have to stick with celeron? Also from what I see it has to be a socket M...am I right?

 

Yes your laptop is a socket M based system.

I am pretty sure you can upgrade to a core duo processor such as the T2500, T2600, T2700.
All of these are much faster than the celeron processor you currently have.
Check ebay, nbr, hardforum and online stores for decent pricing. You should be able to get any of them for under $100

Core 2 duo processors will not work (they need the i945 chipset)

K-TRON

 

I ran into the same situation in a v5000. I decided to play it safe and bought a core duo t1350 it worked great. If your looking for 64 bit you could get a celeron 520 or 530. Make sure if you get a celeron 530 its the socket M variant and not the P variant.

 

if I upgrade to one of these, could I keep my current cooling that the laptop came with for the cpu?

 

Yes you can still use the same heatsink and fan.
Actually the core duo processors will run cooler than your current celeron processor.
This is because the core duo processors have speedstep technology, allowing teh processor to dynamically underclock to save power and run cooler.
The processor will throttle back up to full speed when needed.
The celeron processors do not have this technology, so they run hot and always at full clock speed.
Upgrading to a core duo will yield lower temperatures and more battery life.

K-TRON

 

thanks for your help! I appreciate it

 

well I did it! upgraded to a core duo T2600, works like a charm! And the best part is, it only set me back $30 some dollars! :-D Again thanks K-tron for the help!

 

Cool, I am glad the upgrade went well for you. The T2600 is a nice processor. It should be running cooler than your original celeron cause of its ability to do throttle with speedstep.
Now that you have the new processor installed, I recommend checking out The Undervolting Guide so you can maximize your battery life and keep your system running cooler.

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the info! I went through the steps, but the hottest my cpu ever gets is 54C (that's without my laptop cooler platform), and I use the computer for work, so I think I'll leave it the way it is
Just changed my hard drive today from a 5400 rpm to a 7200 rpm, and the system is a lot more faster with that combined with the new cpu....I'm in laptop heaven LOL
thanks again

edit: also the cache was 8mb, now 16mb :-D and memory upgraded to 2gig crucial memory.....anything else you can think of that I could optimize? I defrag everyday.

 

I have been reading the 3680 thread and went out a purchased at T5600, picked it up on ebay for $35. Now you have me worried, I have the following

Acer 3690-2970
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Celeron M Processor
Processor Number: 520
Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Front Side Bus: 533 MHz
Mobile Technology: Other
L2 Cache Size: 1 MB
System Chipset: Intel 943GML Express
Memory Speed: PC2-5200 (667MHz)
Memory Type: DDR2-SDRAM
Installed Memory: 2 GB


Which is the same as the person who started the 3680 thread with the exception of the model. I copied what the other thread says about chipsets,

Working Chipsets for the Core 2 Duo Upgrade:
Intel 943GML Chipset/i943 Calistoga
Intel 945GML Chipset

Working Chipsets for the Core Solo Upgrade:
Intel 940GML Chipset

I should be getting the processor this week sometime. So I guess I will be the guinea pig to see if it works. If not I guess I can just resell it on ebay.

Isanyone else out there that has done this upgrade?

Next I was planning on adding a 7200rpm hdd. Again to give this a cheap overall speed boost.

 

I do not think the i943 chipset in your laptop is going to support the T5600, but its worth a shot.
If it doesnt support it, simple return it to the ebay seller or sell it

K-TRON

 

Just wanted to give an update....I got the T5600 today and installed it. Everything is working fine.

How do I verify both cores are operating properly?

 

i943 supports Merom Dual-Cores. To check the cores, just go into Device Manager, and check if both cores show up under Processors.