Replacing an older laptop CPU

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Maxor1

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Ok my girlfriend has an acer aspire 5517 with an amd Athlon TF-20 socket S1 (g1) processor, at 1.60 GHz. This is a single core processor. The other processor offered on this model when new was an Athlon TK-42 dual core.


I am looking to put in an AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-60 which is also a socket s1 processor, and is a dual core at 2.0 GHz. I'm not sure but believe it is on the S1( G1) but might be one of the later generations.

I also can't find out much about the mother board in this notebook. What are my odds of motherboard support?

I understand the faster dual core will be likely to battery drain much more quickly but it spends little time actually on batteries, and she likes most everything else about the laptop besides that its "slow and can only really run one program at a time." Which I am putting down to the slower single core on it
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phyco126

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Chances are pretty slim, but not entirely out of the question. The only way to know is to try, but know that you are taking a risk when you do. Manufacturers don't like to spend money or time to create a motherboard that works with several processors. Often they will work with one or two, but not always.
 

Maxor1

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That is rather frustrating physco with a desktop (which is what most of my experience is with) I could check the model of motherboard easily, with a notebook its more problematic. I would also feel fairly confident flashing the bios, if there were versions for each. With said desktop I would also be willing to take the chance as they are both same socket processors put out within 8 months of each other. I'd want to check the motherboard model first but if I couldn't find specs I would be pretty sure It would work and I wouldn't fry a board. My experience with laptop motherboards being fairly limited I am much more hesitant. I was kind of hoping that someone would know what motherboard was used in that laptop model so I could look up supported cpu's.
 

Maxor1

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a 3gig stick of DDR2 she isn't having major ram issues it really looks to be the slow single core.
 

Maxor1

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Not to be mean but when it comes to upgrading between chipsets AMD is alot more forgiving typically than Intel. Then again I am going to be spending a grand total of $14 on the CPU so, no real loss if it doesn't work as long as the Motherboard isn't fried.
 

pauls3743

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There are just too many variables with upgrading the cpu in a laptop.
What processors will it support? Don't know, and finding out is hard, as you've found out.
What documentation is there for the motherboard? Nil, beyond what the manufacturer have made and kept for themselves.
How do you actually get replace the cpu? With great difficulty as the laptop needs to be completely torn apart as the cpu is sandwiched between every component in the laptop.
How much performance will you actually see from such a small upgrade? Very little, I'm afraid to say. :(

Here's something you could try instead.
Upgrade the memory, if it isn't already maxed out. This will be documented in your manual as to the speed and size it can accept. Also how to install it.
 

Maxor1

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Thanks paul for letting me know that it is physically a pain in the arse to change CPUs out on most laptops but I already know it. Honestly if I was looking at just a small clock speed upgrade I would agree with you that it is more hassle than its worth. However the proposed upgrade is not only givng me ~25% more in the way of clock speed but I am actually getting a second core with that much more speed. In this case it has plenty of ram for what she is using it for. It bottlenecks and bogs down hard on processing. I might see if I can find the dual core processor that was also shipped in this model and see if I can get that inexpensively. The way I see it though is I am not really venturing much in this case unless they are horribly incompatible cpu's and I mo board fry which is unlikely.....
 
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