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Changing motherboard components

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If one had the soldering skills necessary, would it be possible to change out typically non-swappable components on a laptop or desktop motherboard? For example, if I wanted to remove an Intel graphics accelerator chip set from a laptop motherboard and replace it with an ATI chip set from a different laptop motherboard, could it be done?

Or if I wanted to remove an Intel processor seat and replace it with an AMD processor seat, is it possible?

If so, what sorts of things do you have to know about the two components being swapped? Where would one find the pin-out info for such components?

I would have assumed it to be impossible, believing that such things are not standardized and that each motherboard is wired specifically for the components placed on it, but it came up in discussion today and I figured this would be the best place to ask.

Thanks!

Luke

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Motherboard Master

The answer to all of your questions is no. If a motherboard is designed around an Intel chipset or video controller, a lot of other components and the BIOS also need to be modified. Intel and AMD controllers are not pin compatible, so you would have to redesign part of the motherboard.
Motherboard Expert

Yes, unfortunately no. Even if you did manage to solder it properly (which would be impossible since the number of pins, lanes, etc. is wrong) the board would not know what to do with it since it was programmed for the other.
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julian tempest said:
I would have assumed it to be impossible
You would have assumed correctly. Even if you were able to desolder and resolder a component (not an easy task in it's own right with surface-mount components designed for machine assembly and wave soldering), the chips wouldn't be physically compatible, nor would they be compatible to the BIOS.

I agree with everything that was said before me, however would like to add one more thing. Since it came up during a discussion originally and we are talking strictly hypothetically just to prove a point, then it actually is possible. However, the resources necessary will be too crazy. If you spend a 7 figure sum of money to hire engineers and programmers, get the right equipment, tear everything down and build it back up from the scratch to accommodate cpu change, then yeah who is gonna argue it's not possible? There will be little of original parts left in the end product, but hey, they will make it work. Would it be easier and cheaper just to buy new? Of course! But for argument's sake it's not impossible, it's just way beyond reason...

GhislainG said:
The answer to all of your questions is no. If a motherboard is designed around an Intel chipset or video controller, a lot of other components and the BIOS also need to be modified. Intel and AMD controllers are not pin compatible, so you would have to redesign part of the motherboard.

EXT64 said:
Yes, unfortunately no. Even if you did manage to solder it properly (which would be impossible since the number of pins, lanes, etc. is wrong) the board would not know what to do with it since it was programmed for the other.

sminlal said:
You would have assumed correctly. Even if you were able to desolder and resolder a component (not an easy task in it's own right with surface-mount components designed for machine assembly and wave soldering), the chips wouldn't be physically compatible, nor would they be compatible to the BIOS.

Yeah, that's about what I expected. I didn't figure onboard chipsets would be as pin-standardized as, say, desktop PCI and PCI Express cards. Figured it was worth asking, though.

Thanks!

jlear3 said:
if you did you'd be the genius behind amtel.
sorry had to say something....

What's Amtel? Not that I'm going to try, I'm just curious.

barmaley said:
If you spend a 7 figure sum of money to hire engineers and programmers, get the right equipment, tear everything down and build it back up from the scratch to accommodate cpu change, then yeah who is gonna argue it's not possible?...But for argument's sake it's not impossible, it's just way beyond reason...

Yeah, that's not at all what I meant. I suppose I should have included the words 'feasible' or 'cost-effective'.

This reminded me when long time ago, when the fastest GPU was the 3Dfx Voodoo. Everybody wanted one but it was around 250$ where I lived. It was very expensive, but me and a friend of mine both wanted one so we could play Quake 2 with each other at 640X480 resolution at good fps. I remeber how he found one of the computer magazines that said that 3Dfx Voodoo chip alone costs 40$ to cards manufacturers. And we were seriously considering buying that (I don't even know where:) , taking graphics chip off of S3 Virge DX card and putting 3dfx on it instead :)  LOL
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